Agents’ behaviour in financing italian transport infrastructures

The aim of the paper is to critically describe the behaviour of the main Italian transport infrastructural agents (national roads and rails, highway, airports concessions) in the field of infrastructure financing. All the actors are trying to avoid the effects of regulation and, at the same time, to reinforce their dominant position and power. The thesis of the paper is that the funding and building of new infrastructures is often the pillar of this strategy, since this is the field where the legal framework is weaker. A short review of the present normative is followed by the description of the behaviour of the main agents. Recent planning documents will be commented, pointing out the tendency of the regulated monopolists to find out new strategies to maximise their objectives. Among these, the proposal of new infrastructures is the field where monopolists are more active and where regulation should be more effective.regulation; investment; infrastructure; airports; roads; highways; railroads; price cap

Effectiveness of mobility limitation policies against long term approaches in reduction of emitted pollutants

The paper aims to provide an analysis for different urban mobility policies in terms of local and global pollutants reduction. The paper will estimate the amount of total pollutants emitted in a chosen area and the delta generated by limitation policies (like total area blocks, vehicle plates based limitations, non EUROx blocks, diesel only blocks, city centre blocks, etc…) or by some more long term policies (generally adopted park pricing, finalised car fleets substitutions, public transport fleets renewal, public transport electrification, mobility management). The analysis will provide the amount of typical day emissions with and without the policies, showing which ones are more useful, also considering local starting point (fleets, local transport share, …). This allows a general “rank” of possible procedures in terms of emissions reduction in relation with total and transport only sector emissions, showing the real effectiveness of limitation policies, commonly used to manage temporary emergencies in urban pollutants concentration, but that sometimes risk to become a structural policy approach. Some considerations will be also done on the topic of costs and damages distribution and efficiency for these policies, giving suggestions for more effective and fair mid and long term ones. The method uses locally adapted Copert III coefficients for road vehicles and ad hoc produced emission coefficients for electric public transport, basing on local energy production mix and public transport modes and vehicles. The area analysed will be the Milan province (Italy). It’s characterised by a wide mid-density urbanisation zone, with some important urban sprawl problems and large use of private cars, around the compact urban area with a massive attraction power and good mass transit services. The car use is more relevant and damage causing for the mobility in the ring area, starting from XXth century urbanisation to the farthest places of radial urban area. The historical centre, even if quite crowded, is proportionally less affected, even if his attraction power is the highest of the region, due to subway and transit systems and effective park pricing. Short term actions used for pollution reductions are limitations. These seem to be effective, but in very short term only (day by day pollution concentration reductions), while long term effects are negligible. Considering long term policies and projects in the area, some more effective actions are in action or wait to start: mass transit investments, park pricing extension outside the very centre of Milan city and incentives for LPG, NG cars and small electric vehicles introduction, even if not widely applied. The analysis carried for Milan city and suburbs can be easily extended to other urban areas or to a whole region, simply changing the fleets, the flows reduction assumptions done and the typical characteristics of transit system, emission coefficients and energy mix.policy; emissions; environment; block; Milan; transport; PM; CO2

Principles for Fairness and Efficiency in Enhancing Environmental Services in Asia: Payments, Compensation, or Co-Investment?

The term payments for environmental services (PES) has rapidly gained popularity, with its focus on market-based mechanisms for enhancing environmental services (ES). Current use of the term, however, covers a broad spectrum of interactions between ES suppliers and beneficiaries. A broader class of mechanisms pursues ES enhancement through compensation or rewards. Such mechanisms can be analyzed on the basis of how they meet four conditions: realistic, conditional, voluntary, and pro-poor. Based on our action research in Asia in the Rewarding Upland Poor for Environmental Services (RUPES) program since 2002, we examine three paradigms: commoditized ES (CES), compensation for opportunities skipped (COS), and co-investment in (environmental) stewardship (CIS). Among the RUPES action research sites, there are several examples of CIS with a focus on assets (natural + human + social capital) that can be expected to provide future flows of ES. CES, equivalent to a strict definition of PES, may represent an abstraction rather than a current reality. COS is a challenge when the legality of opportunities to reduce ES is contested. The primary difference between CES, COS, and CIS is the way in which conditionality is achieved, with additional variation in the scale (individual, household, or community) at which the voluntary principle takes shape. CIS approaches have the greatest opportunity to be pro-poor, as both CES and COS presuppose property rights that the rural poor often do not have. CIS requires and reinforces trust building after initial conflicts over the consequences of resource use on ES have been clarified and a realistic joint appraisal is obtained. CIS will often be part of a multiscale approach to the regeneration and survival of natural capital, alongside respect and appreciation for the guardians and stewards of landscapes

The role of regulation in financing transport infrastructures in Italy

The paper discusses the present regulatory framework in Italy concerning transport infrastructures financing and provides some policy indications. The Italian situation is characterised by non homogeneity among the transport modes and insufficient, or even perverse, incentives to efficiency. Also, the norms promote the tendency to overinvestment and “gold plating” because applied within a weak planning framework. After a theoretical introduction to the financing mechanisms (public funding, PPP, price cap, etc.), the paper is structured by modes. For each infrastructure type (national roads, highways, railways, ports and airports), the most common funding practices are commented, underlining their characteristics, limits and implications. National roads and railways are financed by general budget on the basis of a planning activity usually carried by the agent itself. Conversely, highways, airports and ports are partially financed by fares under conditions of legal monopoly granted by concessions. However, the formulas for fares determination are questionable and sometimes provide incentives to overinvestment. The last section will provide recommendations for a more efficient regulation.regulation; investment; infrastructure; airports; roads; highways; railroads; price cap; ports; concession

Italo al capolinea sarebbe un fallimento per tutti

Le difficoltà di Ntv riaprono la questione della concorrenza nel trasporto ferroviario. La competizione indotta da Italo ha senz’altro comportato benefici per i cittadini, in termini di prezzo e di qualità dei treni. Le meccaniche regolatorie e la recente delibera dell’Autorità dei trasporti

Ecco quando conviene l’alta velocità

La linea ferroviaria ad alta velocità Torino-Napoli è stata inaugurata nel 2009. E la concorrenza dei treni Italo è arrivata nel 2012. È tempo dunque di fare un bilancio dei benefici sociali ottenuti rispetto ai costi sostenuti per realizzarla

A proposal for a world database on transport infrastructure regulation

The paper presents the structure and the concepts at the basis of a database on world transport infrastructure regulation, to be launched. The database will be built promoting a “soft” survey on the world regulatory practices, to be filled by scholars and experts on a voluntary basis. The goal of the database is to stimulate research on best practices and interaction among regulators, regulated and scholars. The work is still under construction. The database structure is ready and the survey is already launched, but incomplete. This paper is a preliminary document which provides a detailed description of the aims and of the database structure, in order to circulate the project and collect suggestions from the academic community. The structure of the paper is as follows. After a presentation of the aims of the work, section 2 provides a literature review on existing databases. Section 3 details the project, describing the characteristics of the survey, the strengths and weaknesses of the approach, the network to be activated. Section 4 is giving more details on the actual structure of the database and of the corresponding survey. Section 5 gives notice of the first results obtained with a preliminary survey and a preliminary review of literature on some selected countries. Conclusions will outline the next steps of the research.transport; regulation; investment; infrastructure; database; survey

Financing transport infrastrucure projects in Italy: a critical analysis of the main approaches

This paper aims at analysing the methodology used for financing large infrastructure projects in Italy. In particular, it focuses on the Italian highway sector, where in the last years many projects have been launched using new financial instruments. The paper discusses three of these “instruments”. The first one is the Project Financing, discussed starting from a general review, analyzing also the different typologies used, the risks involved and their allocation among the various subjects that take part in the PF mechanism. A special case concerns the recently introduced model used for the Italian highways, known as “PF with takeover compensation”. There are two other important mechanisms used for financing infrastructure projects in Italy: the exploitation of road demand rigidity and the spreading of the investment over the entire network, favouring larger concessions. We conclude that all these three mechanisms present deep flaws in terms of transparency and of contradiction with economic feasibility criteria (that have to dominate the public investment rationale).transport; investment; infrastructure; project financing; highway.

Transport megaprojects in Italy. A comparative analysis of economic feasibility studies into EIAs.

The paper presents a survey conducted on the environmental impact assessments and the feasibility studies for fifteen selected infrastructural transport projects all over the Italian territory and approved under the so called “Objective Law”. The survey collects data concerning the demand forecasts, the definition of alternatives and the cost benefit analysis, with their level of detail. The aim of such work is to derive some general considerations about the quality, the transparency and the contents of the assessment, in the context of the Italian normative framework. For the analysed projects, it is possible to recognise a lack of contemplation to the definition and in the construction of the demand forecast model, the use of extremely standardised schemes of comparison, the presence of double counting and some theoretical errors concerning costs evaluation. Moreover, the parallel analysis of different projects on the same study-area shows, in some cases, the absence of any coordination among projects, as well as different outputs from the transport demand forecast model; this creates problems in validating and comparing the results of each analysis. After an introduction to the normative framework, the adopted methodology is presented. After that, the paper – reflecting study objectives – includes first, an analysis of alternatives definition and tools used for the decision support system; second, the discussion and comparison of the demand forecasts quality; third, the approach used for the quantitative economic assessment. Then, as example, the standardised railways operator procedure has been analysed and commented. Finally some conclusions will be drawn

IMPROVING HYDROLOGIC MODEL REALISM USING STABLE WATER ISOTOPES IN THE SWISS ALPS

Climate change is modifying global precipitation patterns and bringing about unprecedented changes in the different facets of the water cycle. In order to be better prepared for the potentially adverse impacts of climate change on water resources, we need to improve our understanding of the water cycle. Environmental tracers such as stable water isotopes provide a useful medium to help untangle the complex web of Earth System processes. Stable water isotopes are naturally present in rainfall and snowfall, making them an ideal environmental tracer to track the journey of a water particle along its entire hydrologic life cycle. In this thesis, I use stable water isotopes to improve the representation of hydrological processes occurring within mountainous landscapes in rainfall-runoff models. In the first chapter, I undertake a comprehensive review of ways in which stable water isotopes have been used in snow hydrology, with a special focus on mountainous environments. This review explains the different transformations that a water particle undergoes once it enters the landscape through rainfall or snowfall. In the second chapter, I build a novel Bayesian mixing model that derives valuable information from stable water isotope data, while taking into account the numerous limitations of field hydrology. In the third chapter, I propose a new hydrologic modeling framework that uses information derived from stable water isotopes, as illustrated in Chapter 2, to build more reliable rainfall-runoff models by constraining both the celerity and velocity behavior of catchments. This modeling framework is comprehensively evaluated in a Swiss Alpine catchment called Vallon de Nant. Finally, in the fourth chapter, I use stable water isotopes, streamflow recession analysis, and a conceptual groundwater model to show how climate change may increase groundwater recharge in the Swiss Alps. This thesis therefore improves our understanding of the dominant hydrologic processes occurring in mountainous environments, and provides a novel approach to parameterize these processes within rainfall-runoff models. The key findings are summarized in the final chapter, where I also highlight practical challenges in isotope hydrology, and propose future research directions