Transportation Policy

"""Is the EU a taker of global policy regimes or can it impose itself as their shaper? What is the EU’s capacity to export its policy to the global policy arena? This chapter will address those questions from the perspective of EU air transport policy. This case is crucial for the global economic activity and, due to the negative externalities that aviation produces, has major implications for other global issues, such as mitigating climate change.  This case study shows that the EU uses a variety of mechanisms and pathways to export its norms, both vertically and horizontally, and positions itself as an increasingly important actor in the global governance of air transport.

Historically, the EU has been a latecomer in aviation policy and has been importing international standards. Nonetheless, this has changed dramatically over time.  Since the mid-1980s the EU has been rapidly developing its aviation policy to establish a comprehensive regime covering practically all aspects of air transport. International norms are still being imported into European policy, however, and the European Commission uses this import strategically to enforce compliance and harmonization across the EU as well as to foster higher standards using the international norms as the baseline. Simultaneously, the EU has been able to shape the global aviation policy regime through persuasion and its technical input for the drafting of international norms,. The EU has also been successful in exporting its aviation policy to third countries, particularly within the wider European neighborhood, through conditionality and ‘soft’ mechanisms of influence. Finally, as illustrated by the case of the recent extension of the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme to aviation, the EU does not hesitate to shake up the global policy regime through bold unilateral action to promote its vision and policy solutions, even if the effectiveness of this method of export is questionable. 
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Abstract: The car is the second (40%) most common mode of transportation in Malaysia. The rapid increase in the use of personal transportation has its roots in the weak Malaysian public transport system. As a result, traffic congestion, accidents, air pollution and need for parking space among other evils, have escalated. In this study, policies aimed at discouraging the use of private transportation were studied.

"A presentation of the project by "voies navigables de France" and the French government of upgrading the canal from the Seine river to Northern and Central Europe (Oise-Escaut) to a high capacity infrastructure.
A discussion of this project in the context of the Trans-European Networks -Transport (TEN-T) framework
A critical examination of the financing solution chosen: a PPP in which public subsidies might mostly serve to ease private profits.
Key Words: canal, Seine river, infrastructure, France, PPP (public private partnership), Bouygues, Vinci, Eiffage, Le Havre, Rouen, Dunkerque, Rotterdam, Anvers, hinterland"

Politische Entscheidungsprozesse werden nicht nur in den Medien, sondern auch in der Politikwissenschaft oft als rationale Problembearbeitungen interpretiert (vgl. Jann/Wegrich 2009). Die Politikproduktion in modernen Demokratien weicht aber in vielfacher Hinsicht von einer solchen Vorstellung ab. So ist bereits die Identifikation von Problemen davon abhängig, welche Ziele verfolgt werden. Diese Ziele sind nicht nur unterschiedlich, sondern häufig sogar gegensätzlich. Verkehrspolitik ist somit eng mit den jeweiligen Machtverhältnissen verbunden. In der Bundesrepublik ist vor allem die parteipolitische Zusammensetzung der Bundesregierung für die Machtverhältnisse relevant, die konkreten verkehrspolitischen Entscheidungen und deren Auswirkungen sind jedoch von einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Faktoren abhängig, die bisher nur teilweise bekannt sind. Dennoch lassen politikwissenschaftliche Modelle es zumindest zu, diese Faktoren zu identifizieren, um die wahrscheinlichen verkehrspolitischen Problemwahrnehmungen und möglichen Szenarien für verkehrspolitische Handlungsoptionen zu identifizieren.

Project promoters, forecasters, and managers sometimes object to two things in measuring inaccuracy in travel demand forecasting: (1) using the forecast made at the time of making the decision to build as the basis for measuring inaccuracy and (2) using traffic during the first year of operations as the basis for measurement. This paper presents the case against both objections. First, if one is interested in learning whether decisions about building transport infrastructure are based on reliable information, then it is exactly the traffic forecasted at the time of making the decision to build that is of interest. Second, although ideally studies should take into account so-called demand “ramp up” over a period of years, the empirical evidence and practical considerations do not support this ideal requirement, at least not for large-N studies. Finally, the paper argues that large samples of inaccuracy in travel demand forecasts are likely to be conservatively biased, i.e., accuracy in travel demand forecasts estimated from such samples would likely be higher than accuracy in travel demand forecasts in the project population. This bias must be taken into account when interpreting the results from statistical analyses of inaccuracy in travel demand forecasting.

This case study analysis seeks to understand the relative efficacy of two classes of policies intended to increase the ridership and productivity of public transit service. One seeks to improve transit effectiveness by freezing transit service in the older parts of metropolitan areas, such as the CBD and surrounding dense neighborhoods, where growth is to be directed. The other seeks to connect employment and population, wherever it locates, as directly as possible by transit routes. The case study compares transit performance in two regions. One region has a traditional CBD. Connecting CBD employment with neighborhoods is the major objective of transit policy. The other region has no CBD. It is a large post modern suburb liberally laced with employment everywhere.  Connecting all employment with all residential areas is the major objective of transit policy. The two regions are otherwise similar. The analysis shows that the transit system that seeks to serve all jobs carries almost 400 percent more ridership per capita than does the transit system that seeks to serve primarily CBD jobs, while each bus mile operated in the dispersed transit system carries about 35 percent more passengers than each bus mile in the CBD-focused transit system.

The article first describes characteristics of major infrastructure projects. Second, it documents a much neglected topic in economics: that ex ante estimates of costs and benefits are often very different from actual ex post costs and benefits. For large infrastructure projects the consequences are cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and the systematic underestimation of risks. Third, implications for cost–benefit analysis are described, including that such analysis is not to be trusted for major infrastructure projects. Fourth, the article uncovers the causes of this state of affairs in terms of perverse incentives that encourage promoters to underestimate costs and overestimate benefits in the business cases for their projects. But the projects that are made to look best on paper are the projects that amass the highest cost overruns and benefit shortfalls in reality. The article depicts this situation as ‘survival of the unfittest’. Fifth, the article sets out to explain how the problem may be solved, with a view to arriving at more efficient and more democratic projects, and avoiding the scandals that often accompany major infrastructure investments. Finally, the article identifies current trends in major infrastructure development. It is argued that a rapid increase in stimulus spending, combined with more investments in emerging economies, combined with more spending on information technology is catapulting infrastructure investment from the frying pan into the fire.

The car is among the most important high-carbon systems locked-in during the twentieth century, that fuel climate change and thus threaten to impact disproportionately on future generations. In this paper, I argue that the very nature of car dependence – conceived as a dynamic, macro-social process consisting of constantly increasing levels of car ownership and use that resists any attempt to induce change – urges scholars to focus on the trade-offs between intra- and inter-generational equity. In fact, every increase in the level of car dependence in a given society widens the disadvantage gap between those who are part of the car system and those who are left out of it, but at the same time reduces the number of the latter. For this reason, its implications for intra-generational equity are very equivocal. On the other hand, most of the policies envisaged to fight car dependence (especially economic instruments) are likely to have negative impacts on intra-generational equity, and thus often meet strong resistance. This is likely to bring to a 'transport policy stalemate', where no serious attempt is made to reduce car use and all hopes are concentrated on a 'technological fix' to eventually solve all problems. In this context, calls from social scholars to focus on the (intra-generational) social equity dimension of transport may inadvertently concur to deepen the paralysis. At the end of the day, the complexity of the situation may turn out to be perfectly convenient for the current generation, but disastrous for posterity.

One of the approaches gaining ground in policy design is the implementation of combinations of policy measures as policy packages with the aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the designed policies. In this paper, we describe the recent advancements in the developments of a virtual environment for the exploration and analysis of policy packages. The virtual environment uses an agent-based modelling approach for the generation of different configurations of policy measures in the policy packages. The benefit of using the approach is the proactive and flexible generation of policy packages as the agents can react to the changes that occur and create packages that are more robust. The system allows faster examination of more alternatives, further exploration of the design space, and testing the effects of changes and uncertainties while formulating policies. The results demonstrate the benefit of using agent-based modelling approaches in the design of complex policies.

By its simplest definition, a weed is a plant out of place, much as dirt is soil or some other material out of place. Identifying a plant as a weed is a straightforward matter in an agricultural or horticultural setting, but it becomes a bit trickier as the intensity of human input and the particulars of human expectation change across a spectrum ranging from pavement to wilderness. The terms we use to think and communicate about that spectrum are mostly metaphors, and loaded ones at that. What are the costs and benefits of saying that plants invade, and are there alternatives we should consider?

The introduction of Electric Vehicles (EVs) into the passenger vehicle market has, in recent years, become viewed as a primary solution to the significant carbon emissions attributed to personal mobility in the current transportation system. These vehicles range from those which can be viewed as existing within the current technological regime, such as hybrid vehicles, to those which, by their nature, exist on a different technological pathway and are categorized as disruptive innovations. The greatest emission reduction potentials currently exist in these disruptive innovation pathways, notably pure battery electric powertrain systems. The UK and EU Governments have played an active role in steering the development and market introduction of EVs. Policies have been formulated and introduced to engage the consumer by raising awareness of these alternative options, incentivise adoption through fiscal measures and establish the necessary infrastructure. However, a great deal of uncertainty remains regarding the effectiveness of these policies and the viability of the EV technology in the mainstream automotive market. This paper investigates the prevalence of uncertainty concerning demand for EVs. This is achieved through the application of a conceptual framework which assesses the location of uncertainty. UK and EU Government policy documents are assessed through a rapid evidence review alongside contributions from academia to determine how uncertainty has been reduced. Specific attention is paid to the complexities of governmental policy making in an uncertain environment and how policy makers have responded to this challenge. Preliminary results from the analysis are presented and discussed alongside an overview of the selected methodology utilised in the evaluation.

Developments in freight transport and transport infrastructure have a strong influence on economic growth. The Baltic States have recently undergone a transformation from planned economies to market orientation. The interest in the Baltic States originates from their importance as new markets within the European Union, and their transit function for trade with Russia. Rising trade volumes and increasing freight transport are forecasted in the near term for the region. This study aims at developing an understanding of the regulatory, structural and developmental conditions and trends affecting the transport infrastructure in a region in economic transition, namely the Baltic States, in the light of its current economic development. Comparisons are made with Buchhofer’s [Buchhofer, E., 1995. Transport infrastructure in the Baltic States during the transformation to market economies. Journal of Transport Geography 3(1), 69–75] assessment of transport infrastructure in the Baltic States in the early years of transformation to market economies.

This paper focuses on problems and their causes and cures in policy and planning for large-infrastructure projects. First, it identifies as the main problem in major infrastructure developments pervasive misinformation about the costs, benefits, and risks involved. A consequence of misinformation is cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and waste. Second, it explores the causes of misinformation and finds that political-economic explanations best account for the available evidence: planners and promoters deliberately misrepresent costs, benefits, and risks in order to increase the likelihood that it is their projects, and not those of their competition, that gain approval and funding. This results in the ‘survival of the unfittest’, in which often it is not the best projects that are built, but the most misrepresented ones. Finally, it presents measures for reforming policy and planning for large-infrastructure projects with a focus on better planning methods and changed governance structures, the latter being more important.