The impact of ‘competition for the market’ regulatory designs on intercity bus prices

Spain regulates its intercity bus market by means of a ‘competition for the market’ mechanism, whose design has been modified several times in the last years. This implies that current services are operated under contracts whose conditions are heterogeneous. We take advantage of such fact to empirically measure the impact that regulatory designs may have on fares paid by the users. The results show very large differences between routes whose contracts were awarded under relatively open conditions compared to regionally regulated routes or very old contracts whose concessions were extended and have not been retendered

Políticas de transporte y congestión en áreas urbanas : Un panorama

En gran parte de las áreas urbanas el transporte genera unas fuertes externalidades negativas que aumentan los costes totales por encima de su nivel óptimo. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar hasta qué punto el precio puede ser el mecanismo básico que garantice un uso eficiente de la infraestructura. Una revisión de la literatura reciente permite concluir que un sistema óptimo de precios da lugar a importantes ganancias de bienestar. Sin embargo, un sistema de precios óptimos incurre en unos costes de transacción excesivos y la tecnología necesaria todavía no está disponible. Afortunadamente, la evidencia empírica también es concluyente al afirmar que un sistema de precios más simple sigue generando aumentos de bienestar. El mecanismo de precios óptimo depende del nivel de los costes externos y de las características de la área urbana. En cualquier caso, es preciso una política de transporte integrada que contemple las decisiones de precios y de inversión para todos los medios de transporte.In most urban areas transport generates great negative externalities that increase total cost above its optimal level. The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent pricing can be a basic mechanism to guarantee an efficient use of the infrastructure. A recent literature review concludes that an optimal pricing system generates significant welfare gains. However, an optimal pricing system implies excessive transaction costs and, furthermore, use of necessary technology that is not available. Fortunately, the empirical evidence strongly concludes that a more simple pricing system continues generating welfare gains. The optimal pricing mechanism depends on the level of external costs and on the characteristics of the urban area. In any case, it is necessary to have an integrated transport policy that covers price decisions and investment on all types of transport

El transporte público urbano : financiación y uso

Este artículo tiene por objetivo analizar el uso y los mecanismos de financiación del transporte público en las áreas urbanas en España y, a la luz de los argumentos económicos que justifican su subvención, sugerir posibles vías de actuación que garanticen la estabilidad financiera. Como resultado del análisis se defiende, en primer lugar, disponer de una metodología común que permita calcular el nivel y estructura de tarifas eficiente en cada ciudad. En segundo lugar, buscar mecanismos que incentiven un comportamiento eficiente de las administraciones públicas y de los operadores de transporte y, por último, diversificar el origen de los recursos necesarios para financiar el transporte urbano.This paper aims to analyze the use and financing mechanisms of public transport in urban areas in Spain and, in the light of the economic arguments that justify its subsidy, suggest possible ways of action that guarantee financial stability. As a result of the analysis, it is defended, first of all, to have a common methodology that allows calculating the level and efficient rate structure in each city. Second, seek mechanisms that encourage public administrations and transport operators efficiency and, finally, diversify the source of the resources necessary to finance urban transport

Efectivitat de les polítiques temporals per reduir el consum de gasolina

A finals de febrer de 2011, el govern va anunciar un conjunt de mesures encaminades a reduir el consum de gasolina. Les seves previsions eren que aquest caigués en un 15%. Un estudi a partir d'informació públicament disponible ha detectat que aquestes mesures (reducció dels preus dels trens de rodalies, límits més estrictes de velocitat i inclusió de biofuel en el carburant) van obtenir un efecte inferior al previst pel govern a causa del seu caràcter temporal.A finales de febrero de 2011, el gobierno anunció un conjunto de medidas encaminadas a reducir el consumo de gasolina. Sus previsiones eran que éste cayera en un 15%. Un estudio a partir de información públicamente disponible ha detectado que dichas medidas (reducción de los precios de los trenes de cercanías, límites más estrictos de velocidad e inclusión de biofuel en el carburante) obtuvieron un efecto inferior al previsto por el gobierno debido a su carácter temporal.In late February 2011, the government announced a set of measures to reduce fuel consumption. His forecast was that it fell by 15%. A study based on publicly available information detected that these measures (reduction of prices of train tickets, stricter speed limits and inclusion of biofuel) had a lower effect than those predicted by the government due to their temporary character

Transport Financing and Regional Development

This chapter reviews different issues that arise when transport finance is considered from a regional perspective. It initially deals with infrastructure investment as a regional policy tool, discussing the factors that explain the differences in its effectiveness. Such factors depend on local and project characteristics. Then, the role that transport accessibility has in improving labour market outcomes is analysed. It is observed that although the impacts can be expected to be positive, this does not mean that any transport project may be justified on these grounds. Afterwards, issues related to pricing and taxation by governments that interact with each other are dealt with. Such interactions may result in fiscal or expenditure externalities, of either horizontal or vertical nature. Finally, the role that transport policies may have in alleviating poverty is reviewed summarising the characteristics of policies applied in different contexts

Changes in fuel economy: An analysis of the Spanish car market

This paper estimates the role that technological change and car characteristics have played in the rate of fuel consumption of vehicles over time. Using data from the Spanish car market from 1988 to 2013, we estimate a reduced form equation that relates fuel consumption with a set of car characteristics. The results for the sales-weighted sample of vehicles show that energy efficiency would have improved by 32% and 40% for petrol and diesel cars respectively had car characteristics been held constant at 1988 values. However, the shift to bigger and more fuel-consuming cars reduced the gains from technological progress. Additionally, using the results of the fuel equation we show that, besides a natural growth rate of 1.1%, technological progress is affected by both the international price of oil and the adoption of mandatory emission standards. Moreover, according to our estimations, a 1% growth in GDP would modify car characteristics in such a way that fuel consumption would increase by around 0.23% for petrol cars and 0.35% for diesel cars

The impact of "competition for the market" regulatory designs on intercity bus prices

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABAltres ajuts: BBVA FoundationSpain regulates its intercity bus market by means of a 'competition for the market' mechanism, whose design has been modified several times in the last years. This implies that current services are operated under contracts whose conditions are heterogeneous. We take advantage of such fact to empirically measure the impact that regulatory designs may have on fares paid by the users. Controlling for the different determinant of bus prices at route level the results show very large differences between routes whose contracts were awarded under relatively open conditions compared to regionally regulated routes or old contracts whose concessions were extended in 1987 and have not been retendered since then. The observed difference between the cheapest and the most expensive services is to a great extent explained by the difference in the regulatory designs used to award each contract

Job Accessibility, Employment and Job-Education Mismatch in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

This paper analyses the effect of job accessibility by public and private transport on labour market outcomes in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Beyond employment, we consider the effect of job accessibility on job-education mismatch, which represents a relevant aspect of job quality. We adopt a recursive system of equations that models car availability, employment and mismatch. Public transport accessibility appears as an exogenous variable in the three equations. Even though it may reflect endogenous residential sorting, falsification proofs suggest that the estimated effect of public transport accessibility is not entirely driven by the endogenous nature of residential decisions

Demand and revenue implications of an integrated public transport policy: the case of Madrid

One of the most popular options for promoting public transport use is the provision of an integrated and high quality public transport system. This was the strategy adopted by the regional government in Madrid in 1986 and since then public transport patronage has increased by more than 50%. This paper has two objectives. The first is to identify the factors underlying the significant increase in the demand for public transport in Madrid. To do this we estimate an aggregate demand function for bus and underground trips, which allows us to obtain the demand elasticities with respect to the main attributes of public transport services and also to calculate the long-term impact of changes in those explanatory variables on patronage. The second objective is to evaluate the impact on revenue derived from the introduction of the travel card scheme, and to discuss the consequences on revenue of changes in the relative fare levels of different types of ticket without substantially affecting patronage. This latter issue is addressed by estimating a matrix of own and cross-price elasticities for different ticket types

La predicción de la demanda en evaluación de proyectos

La predicción de la demanda juega un papel clave en la evaluación de proyectos. Sin embargo, la evidencia reciente indica que la predicción a largo plazo está sujeta a fuertes incertidumbres. Este artículo discute algunos aspectos relevantes relacionados con la predicción de la demanda a largo plazo y, en especial, la incertidumbre. En primer lugar, el artículo revisa los principales aspectos que la predicción de la demanda debe tomar en consideración para evitar errores que pueden distorsionar los resultados de la evaluación. A continuación, se analiza de forma sucinta las ventajas e inconvenientes de los modelos de demanda a efectos de predicción, con especial referencia a la predicción a largo plazo y a la elección modal. En tercer lugar, se caracterizan los errores de predicción y se presenta como ejemplo ilustrativo el impacto de la incertidumbre en la predicción a largo plazo para una autopista de peaje. Por último, se resumen los modelos de predicción de la demanda aplicados en España.Demand forecasting is a key factor in project evaluation. However, according to recent empirical evidence, long-term predictions are subject to high levels of uncertainty. This paper discusses some relevant topics related to long run demand forecasting with special emphasis on uncertainty. Firstly, we offer a review of the main issues that demand forecasting should consider in order to avoid errors that might distort the result of the evaluation. Secondly, we analyze the pros and cons of alternative modelling approaches, particularly, long term forecast and modal split models. The paper goes on to describe the characteristics of the forecasting errors and provides, as an illustrative example, the impact of uncertainty on long term forecasting for a tolled motorway. Finally, we summarize the forecasting models used in Spain