What are the Economics of Road Pricing and Congestion?

Does Traffic Congestion Reduce Employment Growth? (33 page pdf, Kent Hymely, Journal of Urban Economics, Sept. 17, 2008) Also discussed here: Congestion’s Impact on Urban Economies (Surface Transportation Innovations #101, Reason Foundation, March 2012) Today, we review a paper that examines what economic benefits result from the application of road tolls or congestion charges on [...]

Does the Economy Affect Air Pollution and Health for Seniors?

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Understanding Pro-cyclical Mortality Use a mirror (45 page pdf, Ann Huff Stevens, Douglas L. Miller, Marianne E. Page, Mateusz Filipski, National Bureau of Economy, Dec. 2011) Also discussed here: Why Boom Times Kill (Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias,  Dec. 19, 2011) We know that the elderly are more [...]

Air pollution and congestion charges in London, England

Pay as you go: managing traffic impacts in a world-class city (55 page pdf, John Whitelegg, Eco-Logica Ltd, Lancaster, Dec. 2, 2011)     The report reviewed today looks back at almost a decade of experience with London’s congestion charge system and analyses the reasons for its success as well as its weaknesses. Several interesting [...]

How Expensive are Roads Built only for Cars?

Combating the Myth That Complete Streets Are Too Expensive (Tanya Snyder, World Streets DC, Dec. 8, 2011) Today, we look at reasons to build streets for uses other than driving (such as cycling and walking) and find that this is not only economical but also adds to the overall quality of life for cities that [...]

Do the Suburbs Have a Future?

The Death of the Fringe Suburb (Christopher B. Leinberger, New York Times, Nov. 25, 2011) Today we look at the future of traditional North American cities with sprawling suburbs and large malls that can only be reached by car. Population trends toward an older society, the rise of carbon fuel costs and the desire for [...]

Economic Response to Cordon Congestion Pricing

The Economics of Cordon Tolling: General Equilibrium and Welfare Analysis (50 page, pdf, Alex Anas and Tomoru Hiramatsu, State University of New York at Buffalo, Oct.8. 2011) The focus today is one an analysis of the toll-avoidance reactions of commuters who live within or outside a cardon in a large city in the USA (Chicago). [...]

Autolib: emission-free car sharing

Paris launches electric car-sharing scheme (BBC News, Sep. 30, 2011) You have to give Paris credit for innovation after reading today’s article. After the stunning success of its bike sharing program,Velib, comes Autolib, a program using electric cars for short trips. As anyone who has visited France  in recent years can tell, cities there –unlike [...]

Why Do Cities Require So Many Offstreet Parking Spaces?

Glut of parking spaces in city (Jeremy Smerd, Crains New York, Oct. 2, 2011) The article reviewed today from New York City makes an excellent point- why do cities require developers to build  so many parking spaces for occupants of their buildings.  Many times the private parking spaces go unused, especially in large cities with [...]

The Cost of Climate Change for the Health of Canadians

Paying The Price: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada (Ch. 5 Human Health) (168 page pdf, National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Sep. 2011) Today we review a a significant report from Canada’s National Round Table on the Environment and Economy that puts an added cost of 1-10 billion dollars [...]

Putting a Value on Sustainable Transportation

The power and value of green in promoting sustainable transport behavior ( 11 page pdf, David Gaker, David Vautin1, Akshay Vij and Joan L Walker, Environ. Res. Lett., Jul. 26, 2011) The article reviewed today looks at what value is put on positive actions or decisions taken concerning sustainable transportation  options such as in buying [...]

Estimating Revenue from New Toll Roads

Toll Avoidance and Transportation Funding (9 page pdf, Clark Williams-Derry, Sightline Institute, September 2011) Today we return to a review of a paper on experiences with tolling in many different places in the U.S.A. and, in this case, the tendency of this advocating tolls to overestimate revenue by 20-30%. Although this does not mean that [...]

The Costs of Using Roads

The price of transport – Overview of the social costs of transport (187 page pdf, J.P.L. (Joost) Vermeulen, B.H. (Bart) Boon, H.P. (Huib) van Essen, L.C. (Eelco) den Boer, J.M.W. (Jos) Dings, F.R. (Frank) Bruinsma, M.J. (Mark) Koetse , CE Transform, Delft, commissioned by Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Dec. 2004) [...]

Treat Roads as Utilities?

Commercializing Highways (2 page pdf, Robert W. Poole, Jr, Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) Review, Dec. 2000) The paper reviewed today is more than a decade old but has many quotes that lay the basis for road pricing, starting with the concept of highways managed as arms length utilities instead of top-down politically managed, as [...]

Getting People out of Cars- What does it Take?

Public attitudes to transport: Knowledge review of existing evidence (171 page pdf, Glenn Lyons, Phil Goodwin, Mark Hanly, Geoff Dudley, Kiron Chatterjee, Jillian Anable, Peter Wiltshire, and Yusak Susilo, Final report to the Department for Transport , Centre for Transport and Society, Bristol University, June 2008) The report reviewed today looks at the ways that [...]

What does Traffic Congestion Cost us?

Smart Traffic Congestion Reductions – Comprehensive Analysis Of Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Benefits (39 page pdf, Todd Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Aug.22, 2011) Today’s focus is on Todd Litman’s analysis of congestion costs and how this analysis can be used to select the most effective way of reducing congestion. The traditional way of [...]

Peformance Prices for Parking

Progress in immobility – How optimization of stationary traffic can improve traffic flow (8 page pdf, Donald Shoup, ITS magazine- The Magazine for Intelligent Traffic Systems I 2/2011, Siemens, July 2011) The patron saint of parking, Donald Shop, is the focus of today’s review. He points out the many issues caused by free parking and [...]

Investing in Toll Roads Internationally

For Whom the Road Tolls: Reviewing Listed Toll Roads, Bridges and Tunnels (Seeking Alpha, May 3, 2011) Today’s review article contains an investment analysis of 23 toll roads in 8 countries which differ significantly both in national financial policies and in the amounts invested and the returns and dividends. While Italy has the largest market [...]

Deciding on When and How to Toll Roads

Big Numbers Win Prizes (Robert Bain, Apr. 8, 2009) Making the decision to begin tolling and then choosing which way to toll is a challenge that many municipalities and countries face today. Today’s review article looks at 21 ways that toll revenue and traffic are exaggerated or incorrectly estimated- and suggests ways to approach the [...]

Australian Tax and Environmental Price Reform

Tax Reform: Next Steps for Australia (42 page pdf, Commonwealth of Australia 2011) Australia, Germany and the UK and a few other countries have governments whose policies are influenced by a party that promotes environmental and economic sustainabilility and keeps in power the party leading government, as long as its policies reflect the political reality. [...]

Can Simulation Modelling Steer Us toward Sustainability?

Virtual Sustainability (16 page pdf, Sims Bainbridge, W. Sustainability 2010, 2, 3195-3210, Sep. 30,2010) Models simulating  the ways that people interact with the natural world and themselves have long been used to create scenarios that allow environmental and economic policies to be tested. The World 2 model was developed Jay W. Forrester in 1970, using [...]

Why More and Safer Bike Paths Make Sense

The Bicycle Dividend (Nancy Folbre, Economix, New York Times, Jul. 4, 2011) We return to a focus today to the benefits of cycling, on the one hand, compared to the high costs to society of driving cars. To see Key Quotes and Links to key reports about this post, click HERE

Health Costs of Air Pollution from Traffic in U.S. Cities

The Public Health Costs of Traffic Congestion -A Health Risk Assessment (10 page pdf, Jonathan I. Levy, Jonathan J. Buonocore, & Katherine von Stackelberg, Harvard Center for Roisk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health, May 2011) The report reviewed today describes research on the impact of air pollution in 83 American cities, estimated as $31 [...]

How gas prices affect where you live

The Effect of Gasoline Prices on Household Location (32 pge pdf, Raven Molloy and Hui Shan, Federal Reserve Board, Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2010-36, Washington, D.C., June 2010) Today’s focus is on an analysis of the impact of gas fuel costs on where home buyers chose to live. The report’s general conclusion was that [...]

Review of Road Pricing Around the World

Acceptability of road pricing (152 page pdf, John Walker, Royal Automobile Association Foundation , May 2011) The report reviewed today comes from the UK with the world’s first successful congestion pricing program in 2002, but after voters rejected road pricing in two cities more recently. It analyses what the public are looking for- essentially fair [...]

How Does Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) Compare to Pubic Transit?

Op-Ed. On relative costs of PRT, auto and public transit (Eric Britton, World Streets, Apr. 29, 2011) One of my favourite sources of information about transportation modes and the maestro for the World Streets blog, Erik Britton, borrows some recent facts from another key transportation guru, Todd Litman, to present a list of factors that [...]

Abogo and the Cost of Commuting from the Suburbs

ABOGO (Abogo is a tool that lets you discover how transportation impacts the affordability and sustainability of where you live)   Today’s post highlights an internet service to estimate the cost of living in or around and far from the centre of cities, based on the cost of transportation- expressed both in terms of dollar [...]

Is there (or should there be) a War on Cars?

The First Casualty of a Non-Existent War: Evaluating Claims of Unjustified Restrictions on Automobile Use, and a Critique of ‘Washingtons War On Cars and the Suburbs’ (35 page pdf, Todd Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Mar. 11, 2011)   Todd Litman’s latest report is the focus of today’s post. He analyzes the claims by a [...]

What do the Rising Gas Prices and Car Dependence mean for the Suburban Poor?

Automobile Poverty – Part 1 (Steve Mouzon, The Original Green, Feb. 28, 2011) Today we review an interesting post that looks at the economics for low income people who chose to live in the suburbs and as a result depend on cars for transportation with an overhead cost of at least $7,000 a car per [...]

How Much Energy Does a Car Consume, Well to Wheel?

Energy Chain Analysis of Passenger Car Transport (28 page pdf, Morten Simonsen and Hans Jakob Walnum, Energies, Feb. 17, 2011)   Today’s review article looks at the entire energy chain direct and indirect used to build, run and support the automobile. A major conclusion is that no fuel alternative offers more energy efficiency in exchange [...]

Global City Indicators

The Current Status of City Indicators – Discussion Paper (72 page pdf, World Bank, Dec. 8, 2006)     The World Bank discussion paper reviewed today describes the development of an indicator data base in 2008 for cities of the world which can be used to monitor progress on such as the Millennium Goals. The [...]

Low and Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB)

Sustainable Buildings: An Ever Evolving Target (22 page pdf, Yvan Dutil, Daniel Rousse and Guillermo Quesada, Sustainability, Feb. 16, 2011) The review article today speaks to the need to reduce the energy needs of buildings globally by as much as a factor of 10, in order to reduce CO2 emissions 50% by 2050 (80% in [...]

What Causes Sprawl?

Do Large Residential Subdivisions Induce Further Development? A Spatially Explicit Hazard Analysis of Land Use Change in Charlotte (Bev Wilson &Yan Song, Journal of the American Planning Association., pages 5 – 22, December 2011 Also discussed here: Sprawl Breeds Sprawl (Angie Schmitt, Streetsblog, Feb 8, 2011) Today’s article looks objectively at what causes sprawl (development [...]

The Top Sustainable Canadian Cities

  The 2011 Most Sustainable Cities in Canada (Corporate Knights, Feb. 9, 2011) Also discussed here: The Metabolic Metropolis (editorial) (Corporate Knights, Feb. 8, 2011) And here: Expanded Results (1 page pdf, Corporate Knights, Feb. 8, 2011) Today’s review article is important because of the characteristics and programs that the top ranking cities use to [...]

Parking On Demand- Lessons Learned from Europe

Europe’s Parking U-Turn: From Accommodation to Regulation (84 page pdf, ITDP, Spring 2011) Also discussed here: European Parking U-Turn Reaps Rewards: Ideas for the Rest of the World (Sustran-discuss, Jan. 19, 2011) Some advocates for congestion pricing advocate improved approaches for managing urban parking as an intermediary step. Today’s report under review summarizes some innovative [...]

Designing a Sustainable City with Local Farming and Waste Management

  Optimizing Urban Material Flows and Waste Streams in Urban Development through Principles of Zero Waste and Sustainable Consumption (29 page pdf, Sustainability 2011, 3(1), 155-183, Jan. 11, 2011) Also discussed here: Zero Waste Australia Today’s review article caught my attention because it focussed on urban farming and waste reduction and the large contributions to [...]

Paying for Roads and Pricing Transportation

Image via Wikipedia Do Roads Pay for Themselves? Setting the Record Straight on Transportation Funding (45 page pdf, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Jan. 2011) Also discussed here: do roads pay for themselves? (Human Transit, Jan. 6, 2011) Although the report reviewed today examines how roads are paid for in the USA (and how that is [...]

Sprawl and Property Taxes

Sarasota’s Smart Growth Dividend- Doing the numbers proves that compact, centrally located, mixed use development yields the most property taxes (APA Planning Books, Dec. 2010) From the heartland of where many think of by the term “sprawl”, Florida, comes a very interesting analysis comparing the tax revenues from suburban sprawl and box stores to the [...]

Urban Physics

A Physicist Solves the City (New York Times Sunday Magazine, Dec. 19, 2010) Today’s review article goes right to the heart of what makes a city sustainable pollution free and healthy. It describes the work of a physicist who turns his attention to describing urban characteristics with the same approach used in physics. As a [...]

Do Gains in Eco-efficiency outweigh Consumption?

Image via Wikipedia Is Eco-Efficiency a Sufficient Strategy for Achieving a Sustainable Development? The Norwegian Case (16 page pdf, Sustainability 2010, 2, 3623-3638, Nov. 24, 2010) From the nation whose Prime Minister (Bruntland)brought us the concept of “sustainable development” comes an article which examines the extent to which the environmental impact of consumption outweighs gains [...]

How Critical is Population Density for Public Transit?

Image via Wikipedia http://mams.rmit.edu.au/j4oa4rdaow29.pdf (13 page pdf, State of Australian Cities Conference, Perth, 25 November 2009) The author of the article under review today analysed density and transport patterns in Canada, the US and Australia He challenges the long-used assumption by urban planners that the viability of transit depends on high urban population density, pointing [...]

Greening Cities with Immigrants

Image via Wikipedia From a “Green Farce” to a Green Future – Refuting False Claims About Immigrants and the Environment (21 page pdf, Center for American Progress, Oct. 2010) Immigration is a sensitive political issue in many countries, particularly in the report reviewed today which focuses on the situation in the USA.  The report challenges [...]

Powering Small Smart Devices with Light and Motion

Image via CrunchBase University of Bolton scientists create smart material to generate energy from the elements (ASM International, Nov. 3, 2010) Also discussed here: Scientists Create Photovoltaic-Piezoelectric Fiber To Power Gadgets With Light & Motion (The Green Optimistic, Nov. 2, 2010) And here: Photovoltaic-Piezoelectric Fiber Could Power Your Laptop (Solar Novus, Nov. 1, 2010) And [...]

The Changing Meaning of Sustainability

Image via Wikipedia What is Sustainability? (13 page pdf, Sustainability 2010, 2(11), 3436-3448, Nov.1, 2010) The authors of the article under review today tackled a large challenge in examining what “sustainable development” meant when introduced in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission and what it has become in being applied with such concepts as Triple Bottom [...]

Living Planet City

Living Planet City How Green Energy can work for your City – from World Wildlife Federation

How Urbanization, Growth and Aging Affect Climate Change

Global demographic trends and future carbon emissions (6 page pdf, Proceedings National Academy of Sciences, Oct. 11, 2010) Also discussed here: Population Bomb: new study discusses population impacts upon global warming emissions (Watts Up With That?, Oct. 12, 2010) The article reviewed today looks at the net impact on greenhouse gases and climate change between [...]

Heating Urban Areas with Geothermal Energy

Image via Wikipedia The geothermal potential of urban heat islands (7 page pdf, Environmental Research Letters, Volume 5, Number 4, Oct. 12, 2010) Geothermal energy sources have long been seen as a way of heating (and cooling) buildings, one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions when carbon fuels are used. The urban heat [...]

Can a Distance Based Tax Replace the Gas Tax?

Miles Not Gallons Could Be Key to Road Upkeep (The Idea Lobby, Oct. 6, 2010)     Also discussed here: Chapter 3. Vehicle-Miles Traveled (EIA Transportation) Today’s review article looks at a more effective way of assessing road users for the cost of maintaining roads than by the existing gas tax which does not distinguish [...]

The Case for Free Public Transit

Image via Wikipedia Should All Public Transit Be Free? (Big Think- Think Tank, Oct. 1, 2010) Also discussed here: Wellbeing Lower Among Workers With Long Commutes (Gallup, Oct. 1, 2010) And here: “fare-free would “create a tipping point toward more people using public transportation” (Free Public Transit-The beginning of the end of autosprawl, Oct. 1, [...]

Which Transit Option is Optimal: Streetcars, Buses or Light Rail?

Image via Wikipedia Why a Streetcar Is Something to Be Desired – Rule 1 for sustainable communities: Restore the streetcar city (The Tyee, Sept. 16, 2010) The article reviewed today has an excerpt from Patrick Condon’s new book “Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies for the Post Carbon World”. It contains a comparative cost [...]

Cool Roofs

Image via Wikipedia White roofs promoted to save energy (Clarion Ledger, Sept. 17, 2010) Also discussed here: Cool Roof Rating Council Today’s key article describes the “cool roof” plan to reduce the energy (and emissions) used for air conditioning by reflecting sunlight, using light coloured roof surfaces. This simple method reduces as much emissions in [...]