Private Transport Sector Research Articles

Towards BitCO2, an individual consumption-based carbon emission reduction mechanism

Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for electricity generation, heating, and transport, are the primary drivers of a large amount of greenhouse gases emission. The individual consumers, able to influence the supply-chains behind the commodities their chose to fulfil their needs is the driver behind production and, consequently, its impacts. Thus, the active and willing participation of citizens in combatting climate change may be pivotal to address this issue. The present work is aimed at presenting and modelling a novel market-based carbon emission reduction mechanism, called BitCO2, designed to incentivize individual consumption choices toward lower carbon footprints. This mechanism is tested for the Italian private transportation sector thanks to an ad hoc developed System Dynamics model. The Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) adoption, if compared with the Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle (ICEV) one, cause less CO2 emissions per km travelled. After a certain number of travelled km, a BitCO2 token is assigned to BEV owners for each ton of avoided CO2. This token can be exchanged in a dedicated market and used to get a discount on insurance services. Assuming a Social Cost of Carbon of 9.22 [2.13–22.3] €/tonCO2eq, model results show that the BitCO2 mechanism would allow for a cumulated CO2 emission reduction of 973 [68.9–5’230] ktonCO2eq over 20 years of operation with a peak of 39.3 [5.34–189] thousand additional BEV registration per year.

Promoting “NEVs Pilot Policy” as an Effective Way for Reducing Urban Transport Carbon Emissions: Empirical Evidence from China

To reduce urban transport carbon emissions, the Chinese government issued the NEVs Pilot Policy in 2009 to promote NEVs in both the public and private transport sectors. Using panel data from 53 prefecture-level cities in China spanning from 2006 to 2020, this study evaluates the effectiveness of the NEVs Pilot Policy on urban transport carbon emissions based on the difference-in-differences (DID) model. Additionally, it analyzes the influencing mechanism of this policy, as well as the varying policy effect among heterogeneous cities. The empirical results show that the NEVs Pilot Policy has effectively reduced urban transport emissions by an annual average of 29.3%. Annual per capita emissions were lowered by an average of 0.31 t, and the annual emission intensity was also reduced by an average of 2.04 t per unit GDP. We also found that its dynamic effectiveness has lagged but cumulatively increased over time. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis indicates that the policy effect is mainly achieved by adjusting the vehicle structure (VS) and lowering the energy intensity (EI). The heterogeneity analysis also reveals that the effectiveness of NEVs Pilot Policy varies significantly among different cities. The economic level, the political status, and the urban transport development are found to be the key factors that determine its effectiveness. Based on these findings, this study proposes some targeted policy suggestions to promote NEVs in different cities.

Environmental perspective of decarbonization actions in the Italian UNESCO site of the Vineyard landscape of Piedmont Region

ABSTRACT The current EU regulatory framework is forcing the need for a substantial and significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in all the main economic sectors since climate change effects have been more tangible in recent years. The adoption of actions and measures to reduce CO2 emissions are thus essential for preventing global warming. For this reason, a simplified bottom-up approach is presented here to estimate the potential environmental benefit achievable, in terms of CO2 emissions saving, when a set of proposed energy efficiency measures were adopted in relevant economic sectors of the UNESCO area of Vineyard Landscape in Piedmont Region in Italy. Specifically, representative case studies were assumed for each economic sector being studied to identify the energy efficiency measures to be adopted. Then, progressive scenarios with different territorial diffusion of the proposed measures were performed. The analysis shows that a CO2 emission reduction from 7.1% to 32.4% can be potentially obtained by considering different diffusion pathways of the identified energy efficiency measures in the residential, accommodation, private transport, and food industry sectors, so that the UNESCO area can effectively contribute to contrast global warming. The proposed simplified approach can be replicated in other similar context to obtain rough estimation of emission savings due to territorial diffusion of energy efficiency measures considering available regional and local databases.

Forest protection in the EU's renewable energy directive and nature conservation legislation in light of the climate and biodiversity crisis – Identifying legal shortcomings and solutions

Forests ecosystems have an indispensable value for global climate and biodiversity protection. Alongside manifold other functions, forests ecosystems are important suppliers of raw materials in a post-fossil world. However, without effective legal restrictions, the increasing demand for woody biomass for energy production counteracts effective forest conservation in Europe and third countries. Against this background, this article assesses the governance effects of the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the EU nature conservation legislation, particularly the directives forming the Natura 2000 network, and the proposed Nature Restoration Law. To this end, a qualitative governance analysis is applied. In a first step the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive are assessed regarding intra- and extraterritorial effects and their ability to avoid typical governance problems. Thereafter, to investigate achievable steering effects, EU nature conservation legislation is analysed. The legal analysis shows that typical governance problems reoccur, rendering the effectivity of the assessed command-and-control regulations too low to protect forest ecosystems in line with international climate and biodiversity targets. Only the proposed Nature Restoration Law might unfold a larger legal steering effect in the future, if a number of shortcomings are addressed. However, as typical governance problems can never be fully avoided, it remains necessary to reduce pressures on forest ecosystems by additional market-based instruments These instruments should be applied on European policy level to induce sufficiency in the private transport sector and in relation to consumption patterns for energy and food.

Effects of personal carbon trading scheme on consumers' new energy vehicles replacement decision: An economic trade-off analysis

Carbon emissions from private transportation and resident travel are exhibiting a fast upward trend that requires immediate action. Personal carbon trading (PCT) in private transportation sector is considered to be an effective market tool based on the “cap and trade” principle to guide residents to carry out low-carbon travel behaviour. This study proposed a replacement decision model under the PCT scheme and applied the theories of life cycle cost (LCC) to address the issue of new energy vehicles (NEVs) replacement decision. The results of the numerical analysis and mathematical model solution demonstrate that the adoption of a PCT scheme can accelerate the conversion of consumers to adopting new energy vehicles. When the carbon market price fluctuates erratically, consumers are unlikely to decide to replace their fuel vehicles. The process of consumers' decision making to switch to NEVs will accelerate through the increase in gasoline prices. Conversely, the increase in market discount rates will make the replacement decision of consumers more uncertain and discourage them from making early replacement decisions. The gradual withdrawal of financial subsidies will have a certain delaying effect on consumers' decision-making behaviours. Moreover, the results of sensitivity analysis support the robustness of our research findings. Finally, we summarize the conclusions, implications and limitations.

Analysis of Charging Infrastructure for Private, Battery Electric Passenger Cars: Optimizing Spatial Distribution Using a Genetic Algorithm

To enable the deployment of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as passenger cars in the private transport sector, suitable charging infrastructure is crucial. In this paper, a methodology for the efficient spatial distribution of charging infrastructure is evaluated by investigating a scenario with a 100% market penetration of BEVs of (around 1.3 million vehicles) in Berlin, Germany. The goal of the evaluated methodology is the development of various charging infrastructure scenarios—including public and private charging—which are suitable to cover the entire charging demand. Therefore, these scenarios are investigated in detail with a focus on the number of public charging points, their spatial distributions, the available charging power, and the necessary capital costs. For the creation of these charging infrastructure scenarios, a placement model is developed. As input, it uses the data of a multi-agent transport simulation (MATSim) scenario of the metropolitan area of Berlin to evaluate and optimize different distributions of charging infrastructure. The model uses a genetic algorithm and the principle of multi-objective optimization. The capital costs of the charging points and the mean detour car drivers must undertake are used as the optimization criteria. Using these criteria, we expect to generate cost-efficient infrastructure solutions that provide high usability at the same time. The main advantage of the method selected is that multiple optimal solutions with different characteristics can be found, and suitable solutions can be selected by subsequently using other criteria. Besides the generated charging scenarios for Berlin, the main goal of this paper is to provide a valid methodology, which is able to use the output data of an agent-based, microscopic transport simulation of an arbitrary city or area (or even real driving data) and calculate different suitable charging infrastructure scenarios regarding the different optimization criteria. This paper shows a possible application of this method and provides suggestions to improve the significance of the results in future works. The optimized charging infrastructure solutions for the Berlin scenario show capital costs of between EUR 624 and 2950 million. Users must cover an additional mean detour of 254 m to 590 m per charging process to reach an available charging point. According to the results, a suitable ratio between the charging points and vehicles is between 11:1 and 5:1. A share of fast charging infrastructure (>50 kW) of less than ten percent seems to be sufficient if it is situated at the main traffic routes and highly frequented places.

Transport resilience to weather and climate: an interdisciplinary view from Rio de Janeiro

Weather causes damage and disruption to public transport, especially in developing megacities where transport demand is high, trip-lengths can be long, and poor socio-economic conditions exacerbate impacts. Here, an analytical framework overviews urban transport resilience to current weather and future climate in Rio de Janeiro. It describes how heavy rainfall and high temperatures impact on rail, metro and Bus Rapid Transit networks, and characterises the triggers, actors and linkages that combine to create barriers or pathways to transport resilience. There are three improvements to weather and climate resilience, namely, (a) the creation of Centre of Operations Rio (Centro de Operações Rio; COR) to co-ordinate daily operations and disaster response, (b) a series of innovations in operational integration enabled by co-locating services within COR and (c) infrastructure investment prior to the Olympic Games, which increased transport provision. The results highlight the need for integration and leadership across the private transport sector and demonstrate how resilience to current weather and future climate is intrinsically linked to sustainable urban mobility and should be considered in state and municipal planning strategies for housing, public services, and commercial and industrial development. Without adaptation, climate change will exacerbate existing systemic problems identified by the framework.

Socio-Psychological and Design Features Related to Transport Choices: A Focus Group Research in the Metropolitan Area of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy).

Due to the environmental and health impact of the private transport sector, social scientists have largely focused on psychosocial and contextual factors associated with people's choice over transport means. This study aims to contribute to this line of research by applying a user-centered approach, with the objective of taking into account the specific environmental and social context of the metropolitan area of Cagliari city (Sardinia, Italy). To accomplish this aim, four groups of people were matched according to their shared starting point: car users vs. public transport users (Study 1), and light-rail users vs. non-light-rail users (Study 2). Groups were interviewed using a focus group method. Participants were invited to discuss their everyday travel experiences and to exchange their ideas on different sustainable (e.g., bicycles and public transport) and less sustainable (i.e., private cars) means of transport. Both consolidated drivers/barriers in the field of environmental psychology (e.g., perceived behavioral control, social norms) and public transportation design features (e.g., lighting) have been investigated. Other than highlighting the importance of socio-psychological factors to promote more sustainable transport choices like in previous studies, the present research offers an insight into how these aspects and factors are shaped and experienced in the narratives of residents.

Smart grid energy district based on the integration of electric vehicles and combined heat and power generation

The issues dealing with climate change also caused by the private transport sector are attracting more and more attention in European Countries. This work aims to simultaneously address the issue related to the management of the energy demand of the private transport sector and building sector in the framework of the smart grid energy districts.The investigated smart grid is designed for meeting the energy demands of a district, including the energy demand for space heating and cooling, as well as the electric energy of a lot of buildings, occupied by people who only use electric vehicles. The system is equipped with a cogenerator, which is expected to operate according to the base-load operation strategy, constantly producing the rated power for whatever power demanded. Two charging strategies are analyzed and compared with the aim of detecting which strategy better exploits the power produced by the cogenerator. The performed dynamic simulations of the whole system are carried out by means of TRNSYS tool. TRNSYS allows one to use a detailed library of components which carefully model and simulate the devices included in the proposed system model. Suitable control strategies are also developed in order to improve the energy, environmental and economic performance of the smart grid. The results show that this layout allows one to considerably reduce the primary energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of the investigated district. As matter of fact, the proposed smart energy grid achieves a primary energy saving index of about 32%, with a payback period of about 6 years. These promising results suggest that the proposed smart energy grid may be useful for addressing the issue related with environmental impact of building sector and private transport sector.

The socio-demographic dimensions of the private transportation emissions

It is known that the transportation sector accounts for a considerable share of the emissions and the primary energy consumption of the countries as a whole, thus determining an increas-ing attention towards the decarbonisation pathways of the transportation sectors. The energy consumption at the country-scale can be interpreted as the integral of the socio-demographic layer and the behavior spectrum. Thus, ad-hoc policy schemes need to rely on multi-scale ap-proaches, describing the household-scale and, subsequently, scaling-up towards the country-scale. In this long-term aim and perspective, the present communication contributes to the ex-isting discussion regarding relationships between the household/socio-demographic character-istics and the transportation patterns. In particular, focusing on the Italian case study, this communication explores the relationships between the household/socio-demographic variables and the carbon dioxide emissions related to the private transportation sector. To this end, this paper build on micro-data obtained by the Italian Institute of statistics and it applies a four-step statistical method to select suitable variables, explore the significant determinants and perform an household segmentation. It is found that the geographic area (in terms of the macro-scale as well as the micro-scale geographic locations) as well as income-related variables are likely to be factors influencing the carbon dioxide emissions related to the private transportation sector.

Carried by Migrants– Frictions of Migration and Mobility Patterns in the Conflicting Assemblage of the Russian Private Transport Sector

It is well known that labor migrants from different countries all over the Eurasian Union are the backbone of crucial economy sectors in the Russian Federation as, inter alia, construction, agriculture or trade. This article deals with another less mentioned but similarly significant labor market, which substantially changed its assemblage during the last couple of years, namely commercial urban transport services. In the last two decades, the marshrutka sector underwent major reforms and formalization processes that, on the one hand, brought operators back into the tax net and ensured a certain extension of control to the local transportation departments but, on the other hand, worsened the labor conditions of the transportation workers. Drawing from the empirical evidence of my fieldwork in southern Russia, I describe currently problematized mobility assemblages and embed the actor’s articulations in broader conflicts within the marshrutka business and transportation regulation policy. I further analyze how labor migrants have been forced to accept unfavorable working conditions in the enterprises as a direct result of politically triggered reforms in the marshrutka business. The paper provides insights into the social arena of the marshrutka, which serves as a societal encounter of urban conflicts and transformation mirroring (un-)intended effects of the local transportation reformation attempts.

Assessment of flexible electric vehicle charging in a sector coupling energy system model – Modelling approach and case study

The transition of the motorized private transport sector from fossil fuel to electricity-based technologies is a widely discussed strategy that can contribute towards the achievement of the set climate protection targets. To accurately analyse the challenges and opportunities associated with this transition, the entire energy system needs to be considered in a holistic way. This study introduces two different methodological approaches for the assessment of battery electric vehicles. Both are implemented into the sector coupling, structure optimising model REMod and assessed for a future, nearly CO2 neutral German energy system.The results show that realistic driving profiles could lead to simultaneous vehicle charging, which result in higher peak loads and eventually require an increase in power plant capacity. The model shows that once vehicles are charged irrespective of the residual load, electricity-demanding technologies throughout all sectors are progressively replaced by hydrogen or other gas-based technologies, as these options do not lead to an increase in electricity demand. This development negatively impacts the deployment of electric heat pumps and battery electric vehicles, which would play a major role otherwise. The cost-optimal system configuration can be achieved through implementation of a controlled charging strategy, shaving power load and supply peaks, integrating more power from variable renewable energy sources and reducing the yearly overall system costs by several billion Euros.

The cost of electrifying private transport – Evidence from an empirical consumer choice model of Ireland and Denmark

There is a growing consensus that moving to a low carbon future within the transport sector will require a substantial shift away from fossil fuels toward more sustainable means of transport. A particular emphasis has been given to battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), with many nations investing in improving their charging infrastructure and incentivising electric vehicle purchasing through offering grant schemes and tax relief to consumers. Despite these incentives, the uptake of BEVs and PHEVs has been low, while some countries, such as Ireland and Denmark, are in the process of removing the tax relief currently in place. This initial retraction has already been met with a fall in sales of BEVs and PHEVs, which is expected to continue decreasing as these incentives are further reduced. This study develops a socio-economic consumer choice model of the private transport sector based off national empirical data for Ireland and Denmark to analyse the long-term effects of these subsidy retractions, and to further analyse the policy measures and associated cost of moving toward a low carbon private transport sector.

Evaluation of ridesharing impacts using an integrated transport land-use model: a case study for the Paris region

Abstract Ridesharing has attracted considerable attention in recent years, as a simple, relatively inexpensive, yet efficient way to curb greenhouse gas emissions in the private transport sector. This is in particular the case in the Paris region: as the road network is increasingly congested, leading to more and more frequent heavy air pollution episodes, local authorities seek to promote ridesharing in order to improve travel conditions and mitigate the environmental impact of road traffic. This research seeks to assess through sensitivity analysis what is the potential of ridesharing regarding these two points, namely reducing congestion and mitigating pollutant emissions, in the case of the Paris region. The effects of various ridesharing scenarios will be investigated by using an integrated transport land-use model and by considering each of the following mechanisms successively: 1) traffic assignment, 2) mode choice, 3) distribution. Results include a quantitative assessment of what level of ridesharing is reached to observe significant improvements regarding congestion and pollutant emissions, and on which trip segments (e.g., purpose and range) should one focus the efforts to do so. A step by step decomposition of the effects will also help better understand the various implications of ridesharing on the urban system as a whole.

Reducing CO2 from cars in the European Union

The European Union (EU) recently adopted CO2 emissions mandates for new passenger cars, requiring steady reductions to 95 gCO2/km in 2021. We use a multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which includes a private transportation sector with an empirically-based parameterization of the relationship between income growth and demand for vehicle miles traveled. The model also includes representation of fleet turnover, and opportunities for fuel use and emissions abatement, including representation of electric vehicles. We analyze the impact of the mandates on oil demand, CO2 emissions, and economic welfare, and compare the results to an emission trading scenario that achieves identical emissions reductions. We find that vehicle emission standards reduce CO2 emissions from transportation by about 50 MtCO2 and lower the oil expenditures by about €6 billion, but at a net added cost of €12 billion in 2020. Tightening CO2 standards further after 2021 would cost the EU economy an additional €24–63 billion in 2025, compared with an emission trading system that achieves the same economy-wide CO2 reduction. We offer a discussion of the design features for incorporating transport into the emission trading system.

Are Malaysians eager to use their cars less? Forecasting mode choice behaviors under new policies

In Malaysia, transportation accounts for almost 70% of carbon monoxide emissions. This study sought to discover whether intelligently changing policies for the private and public transport sectors can affect mode choice of private car owners in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Results of a random parameter logit model identified the most significant parameters affecting respondents’ utility measures. These were introducing a congestion fee in private transport mode; and also access, comfort and the frequency of the available public transport. Respondents’ marginal value estimates showed that they are willing to pay up to 175% of their hourly wage to have a more frequent and more accessible public transport. Moreover, the value of travel time showed that persons with longer commute time by car and bus are willing to pay more to save travel time. This is estimated about 25–50% of hourly wage of respondents. Simulation of results indicate that introducing the congestion fee has the largest impact both in modal shift and in reducing the number of cars used in the Klang Valley area. Overall results of this study suggested that any government intervention through innovative transport policy implementation such as pricing and providing more efficient public transport could result in 70% modal shift among current car users to public transport.

Diesel exhaust: current knowledge of adverse effects and underlying cellular mechanisms.

Diesel engine emissions are among the most prevalent anthropogenic pollutants worldwide, and with the growing popularity of diesel-fueled engines in the private transportation sector, they are becoming increasingly widespread in densely populated urban regions. However, a large number of toxicological studies clearly show that diesel engine emissions profoundly affect human health. Thus the interest in the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these effects is large, especially concerning the nature of the components of diesel exhaust responsible for the effects and how they could be eliminated from the exhaust. This review describes the fundamental properties of diesel exhaust as well as the human respiratory tract and concludes that adverse health effects of diesel exhaust not only emerge from its chemical composition, but also from the interplay between its physical properties, the physiological and cellular properties, and function of the human respiratory tract. Furthermore, the primary molecular and cellular mechanisms triggered by diesel exhaust exposure, as well as the fundamentals of the methods for toxicological testing of diesel exhaust toxicity, are described. The key aspects of adverse effects induced by diesel exhaust exposure described herein will be important for regulators to support or ban certain technologies or to legitimate incentives for the development of promising new technologies such as catalytic diesel particle filters.

Assessing the rebound effect using a natural experiment setting: Evidence from the private transportation sector in Israel

Subsidizing energy-efficient technologies is considered by energy and environmental organizations to be one of the most effective policies for decreasing energy consumption. In the transportation sector such policies are becoming ever more popular, and have been implemented in a considerable number of countries in recent years. Because these policies promote energy-efficient cars with lower usage costs, they may rebound and increase the distances traveled by households that have switched to energy-efficient cars. From an econometric perspective, a subsidization policy can be used as a valid instrument to identify the households’ choice of energy efficiency levels of the cars they own. This identification, in turn, can be utilized to account for endogeneity in the estimation of a rebound effect. The present study uses a natural experiment setting of such a policy implemented in Israel in 2009. The empirical results indicate a fairly large average rebound effect of 40%. The results also indicate that while the policy indeed encouraged the purchase of energy-efficient cars, households that bought a new or used car during the surveyed period did not generate a rebound effect of a different magnitude compared with other households that did not. We discuss the implications of our findings.

Differential demand response to gasoline taxes and gasoline prices in the U.S.

This paper offers new evidence concerning the difference in consumers’ reactions to changes in gasoline taxes relative to market-induced changes in gasoline prices. Using microdata from the 2007 to 2009 rounds of the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, we estimate a complete system of demand augmented with information on gasoline excise taxes. By relying on a complete system of demand, we are able to estimate elasticities that take behavioral responses into account. Crucially, the model allows gasoline taxes to affect demand in two distinct ways: through relative prices and as long-run policy signals. Different increases in gasoline taxes are considered for simulation. A 13.2¢/gallon tax increase, corresponding to a $15/tCO2 carbon tax, is found to cause, in the long run, a reduction in gasoline demand that is about seven times as big as that induced by an equal market-induced price increase. The same measure of differential demand response is derived for tax increases different in size as well as by income quintile and by region. We discuss the implications of our findings for the design of corrective taxation in the private transport sector.

Hire Authority: Turning Statutory Regulation into Private Regulation for the UK's Taxi Industry

Over the past two years, there has been a worldwide regulatory backlash against new smartphone-app-based Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) operators, with Uber probably being the most emblematic one. While a few regulatory clarifications can be justified, the vast majority of measures have been transparent attempts to obstruct the growth of this sector to protect the interests of politically well-organised, competition-averse incumbents. Contrary to conventional wisdom, smartphone-enabled apps have not created an ‘unregulated’ private transport sector – on the contrary, they have fostered the emergence of regulatory brands. Organisations such as Uber do not just offer transport services, they also offer a set of rules and regulations under which these services are provided. This is regulation – but it is private regulation, or regulation by the market, as opposed to statutory regulation. The scope for competition has also been broadened as drivers compete with each other for custom; passengers compete for rides; and apps compete for users on both sides of the transaction. As with other Internet-based innovations, transport apps have increased economies of scale in private transport. London provides a suitable setting for reform. The milestones to be achieved include the abolition of taxi privileges and the equal treatment of black cabs and private hire operators. The London Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) would be granted powers to regulate the quantity of black cab drivers and the fares to be charged (similar to how Uber and private hire firms oversee their own drivers and vehicles). It is important to note that the LTDA would not be given a monopoly – black cab drivers could over time decide to form competing brands and associations within the trade. Statutory regulations would be limited to criminal background checks; the monitoring of fraud and illegal behaviour; and a periodic review of the state of competition in the market. These tasks could be conducted by Transport for London (TfL), with the assistance of the Competition and Markets Authority in the latter function.