Contribution of transportation investments to county output

The impact of highway investments on economic development is investigated. Spatial and temporal aspects of transportation investments are studied by analyzing lagged and spillover effects, and the contribution of past output levels to the current output using a dynamic model. County level data from 1990–2000, in New York/New Jersey metropolitan area is used. Results show that the spillover effects decrease with distance from the investment location, that there is a positive time lag effect between the time the investment is made and its impact on output, and that the current level of output depends heavily on past levels.     

Asset management: remedy for addressing the fiscal challenges facing highway infrastructure

In recent years, increasing claims have been advanced for asset management as a promising new approach to infrastructure management. If these claims are seen in the light of past management fads, such as zero-based-budgeting (ZBB), management-by-objectives (MBO), total quality management (TQM), and business process reengineering (BPR), asset management may be considered the latest in a long line of management fads being marketed by consultants to transportation agency managers. However, asset management can be an effective response to the fiscal challenges confronting the United States' highway infrastructure.This paper explores asset management in light of recent developments in the funding, condition, documentation, and management of the US highway infrastructure. The paper begins with a discussion of capital biases associated with traditional US federal highway funding programs. It then describes the advent of innovative financing approaches that have evolved in response to the inability of the Federal Highway Trust Fund to meet burgeoning highway renewal and replacement needs, caused in part by widespread deferred maintenance of the highway system. The paper suggests that public sources of funding for the highway system will not be adequate to renovate or replace current highways and build new capacity. Closing the expected shortfall in public highway funding will require sustained infusions of private sector funding. However, the financing of highways through public–private partnerships will require state and local transportation agencies to radically change the ways in which the highway infrastructure is managed.Within the context of gradual changes in highway management and financing, the paper suggests a critical role for asset management – in demonstrating prudent stewardship of highway infrastructure and facilitating private sector confidence in highway investments. The paper examines the implications for innovative highway financing resulting from recent developments in asset management:

• •further devolution of highway program and funding responsibilities to state and local levels of government;
• •developments in asset management processes and practices; and
• •the infrastructure reporting requirements recently developed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

The infrastructure reporting requirements of GASB's Statement No. 34 are intended to increase accountability for publicly owned infrastructure and promote improved management of long-lasting capital assets. GASB 34 also provides a basis for enabling public agencies to finance implementation of asset management techniques and renewal of infrastructure assets through securitization. Covenants associated with securitized highway bonds would provide the fiscal discipline needed to ensure that responsible agencies abide by the terms of the bond agreements – thereby assuring preventive asset maintenance and freeing up resources for debt service payments. Shadow tolling provides a useful mechanism for generating a positive revenue stream to support securitized highway bonds.The paper concludes that asset management is a proven and essential process for helping the US rebuild and expand its highway infrastructure.     

Performance analysis of rail transit investments in Turkey: İstanbul,Ankara, İzmir and Bursa

Rail transit investments require the highest amount of investment costs of all modes. Considering the high cost involved, it is particularly important that their performance justifies this high cost and that expectations from these investments are met. Therefore, in the world, it has become an important field of research to study the gap between the expectations from and outcomes of these investments in order to assess the performances.In Turkey, there is a growing interest in constructing rail transit systems in the cities. However, there has been a limited number of studies on the performance of these investments. It is not clear with what expectations these systems are built or whether these expectations are met. There seems to be an urgent need to study these rail investments, with a particular focus on their planning/investment objectives and outcomes.This paper compares the expectations with the actual outcomes. A sample group was selected among the cities currently operating rail transit systems: ?stanbul, Ankara, ?zmir and Bursa. Semi-structured interviews were made with the officers and planners that have involved in the planning or implementation phase of the systems. As the primary indicators of performance, cost and ridership forecast and outcome data are collected and considered in the comparison.It is found that systems performed rather poor in terms of expectations, such as attaining ridership forecasts, being built within budget etc. Hence there is a gap between expectations and outcomes.     

Did highways cause the urban polycentric spatial structure in the Shanghai metropolitan area?

Based on LandScan population data, land use data and highway data for the Shanghai metropolitan area from 2000 to 2015, this paper studies the impact of highways on the formation of built-up areas and subcenters to explain the emergence of the urban polycentric spatial structure. The findings are as follows. (1) The dispersion of the population strengthens the polycentric spatial structure of the Shanghai metropolitan area. From 2000 to 2015, the number of subcenters increased from 72 to 118, and their area expanded from 1347 km² to 3469 km². In addition, the main centers lost 12.7% of the population share, while the subcenters gained 12.47% of the population share. (2) Highways play a significant role in promoting urban spatial expansion and the formation of subcenters in the Shanghai metropolitan area. With every 1% decrease in distance to the nearest highway, the probability of an undeveloped area becoming a built-up area increases by 1.53–6.74%, and the probability of a built-up area becoming a subcenter increases by 11.93–20.92%. The results are robust to a series of supplementary tests, such as the replacement of explained variables or explanatory variables and the adoption of instrumental variables. (3) The Chinese government plays an important role in urban polycentric spatial development. New district and development zone policies represent two important mechanisms of highways affecting urban polycentric spatial development.     

The factors in residents' mobility in rural towns of China: Car ownership,road infrastructure and public transport services

The improvement of rural people's mobility in developing countries has informed many policies. Still, debates remain on which policies are efficient, for instance, building more roads, providing public transport or promoting car ownership. The empirical evidence for these debates at the national level remains scarce. As a result, this paper aims to provide fresh evidence for discussions by examining residents' mobility in China using nationwide survey data with 12,524 respondents from 119 rural towns. The results of the analysis show car ownership is the most significant factor influencing rural people's mobility than other factors. Higher car ownership relates to a higher travel frequency to counties or cities. Other kinds of transport vehicles (i.e. electric cars, motorcycles and electric bikes) also have positive but relatively weaker impacts on rural mobility. For public transport, it is more accessible to access bus stops, which encourages travel to higher-order centres rather than increasing the frequency of county bus services. The accessibility of high-quality road systems tends to have a negative influence and has combined effects with levels of local services. People from towns with insufficient local services and poor access to highways travel the most frequently to higher-order centres. This study highlights the critical role of road investments and car ownership enhancement policies in improving mobility. Moreover, this study also underscores the supplemental role of public transport services given the current low car ownership rates in rural towns of China and the global consensus on sustainable green transport development. It highlights the importance of engaging eco-friendly and locally adaptive transport alternatives, such as electric cars and electric bikes. It also calls for a rational distribution of bus stops and more flexible, convenient, and physically accessible public transport and carshare modes in rural China.     

Reducing road congestion: a reality check

For some little while now, transport policy seems to be focused on massive relative increases in public transport ridership and reduction of car use, resulting in a hoped-for reduction in road congestion. Starting with concerns with vehicle emissions as far back as the mid-1980s, and moving now into more of a focus on greenhouse gases and congestion, current transport policies are aimed at reducing two perceived externalities of increasing car use—vehicular emissions and congestion. This paper seeks to check the reality of these policy directions and question whether these are desirable, let alone achievable end states. The paper starts by looking at congestion and questions whether or not it is intrinsically bad. The negative and positive aspects of congestion are explored. The concepts of accessibility and mobility are discussed, particularly in relation to congestion and capacity increases, with the idea of trying to understand better what capacity increases or increasing congestion do to these two measures. The expectation must be that congestion levels are likely to continue to increase into the future, both as a result of increasing population and also increasing real wealth and changes in preferences. This section of the paper concludes that it is within the power of the market place to offset some of the negatives of congestion.In the next section of the paper, the potentials to increase public transport ridership are examined. An illustration is provided of the likely impacts of achieving a doubling in public transport ridership in a hypothetical city. It is found that the effects of such an achievement would be relatively small on the overall congestion of the road system, and that these effects would also be likely to be fairly short-lived. At the same time, the investments that would be necessary in the public transport system are enormous, and there is relatively little likelihood that one could achieve such an increase in ridership within current development patterns. The paper also addresses the potential of congestion pricing or road user charges to impact congestion. It is concluded that charging motorists a politically acceptable amount will probably still not make significant impact on overall system congestion, while the potential for serious impacts on the economy become large if the charges are made sufficiently high or the area covered is made sufficiently large. In the final section of the paper, a number of policy directions are put forward as suggestions for how to deal with the issue of congestion, capacity, and the declining share of market of public transport. These policy directions are not generally the ones that are being pursued today. The issue of congestion pricing is revisited, and a case is made for a kilometrage charge on road users to replace most current licensing schemes.     

Multinational hotel development in developing countries: an exploratory analysis of critical policy issues

Multinational hotel companies, often integrated with tour operators, travel agencies and other businesses in tourist‐generating or tourist‐receiving countries, play a key role in the development and continuity of an international tourism industry in developing countries. In order to take advantage of benefits and minimise the unwanted adverse effects from multinational hotel involvement, developing countries need the planning, implementation and evaluation of carefully designed policies linked to their particular objectives. This paper reviews the potential benefits and costs of multinational hotel companies and brings together previously scattered critical policy issues in relation to them, while suggesting possible options for developing countries to follow. Seven critical policy areas are identified: establishment of the need for foreign investment; deciding on forms of involvement; deciding on the scale of hotel development; supporting sectoral linkages; supporting indigenous employment/training; monitoring business practices; and determining foreign investment incentives and regulations. It is argued that policies should be worked out in these areas and co‐ordinated in order to achieve a balance between the benefits and costs of multinational hotel involvement in developing countries. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hostility or hospitality? A review on violence,bullying and sexual harassment in the tourism and hospitality industry

The present work reviews the current knowledge about violence, bullying and sexual harassment in the tourism and hospitality industry. It indicates the high prevalence of these aggressive behaviours, and identifies structural reasons, insufficient managerial skills and/or common beliefs as their causes. The negative impacts of bullying, violence and sexual harassment on employees include intentions to leave and psychological upset. These personal negative feelings and attitudes contribute to negative organizational performance indicators, such as high staff turnover rate and low profitability. In addition, the high prevalence of violence creates a negative image for the tourism and hospitality industry in general. The review shows that intervention plans are scattered in aims and time frames, focus mainly on managerial policies, and almost completely overlook immediate actions as well as guest violence. Given its importance, the low number of appropriate intervention tools, policies and agendas clearly suggests the urgent need for more research. The final section of the work provides an overview of three core themes that can potentially contribute to the development of an effective intervention agenda, namely, corporate social responsibility, social media and comparisons to other sectors.     

The regionalization of rail transport in France. An analysis of the interplay between actors (from the late 1990s through the 2000s)

In France, owing to the railway regionalization process, regional “governments” are finding themselves increasingly involved in transport policy-making. Based on a multidisciplinary comparative study conducted in six French regions, this paper aims to analyze the ways in which regional rail policies are constructed by examining, in particular, the way they are generated as a result of interactions between different institutional actors. These interactions are linked to tensions in three main areas: the financing of transport investments, the financing and nature of rail services and regional governance. We examine these tensions by referring to three configurations of actors: the first includes the Regions and the State, the second, the Regions and the rail actors, and the third, the Regions and other local authorities. Finally, we discuss our findings, emphasizing what they teach us about the regionalization process in France.     

Institutional aspects of integrating transport,environment and health policies

This paper focuses on the institutional dimension of integrating transport, environment and health policies. It is divided into four main parts. The first part reviews the theoretical literature on policy integration, looking both at general and sector-specific literature. The second part of the paper looks at an initiative to encourage dialogue between policy-makers in the transport, health and environmental sectors—a joint programme of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe: the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme. In the third part of the paper some of the major institutional barriers to the integration of transport policy with other policy sectors is examined. The fourth part of the paper identifies examples of processes for overcoming these institutional barriers that are currently being used in different governments across Europe.     

The politics of congestion mitigation

Most research on congestion overlooks the political context of traffic congestion and congestion mitigation policies. While failed congestion policies around the globe are products of misguided premises and flawed analyses, they are also the products of political processes that emphasize highly visible congestion relief projects and programs over actually relieving congestion. Accordingly, this paper makes and defends four propositions. First, that public officials tend to exaggerate the consequences of (widely unpopular) metropolitan traffic congestion for political gain. Second, that (widely popular) public transit investments are unlikely to meaningfully reduce congestion. Third, that public officials can cynically use congestion as a rationale for funding for high-profile, politically-popular transportation (and, increasingly, public transit) projects. And fourth, that the experience to date suggests that various forms of transport and parking pricing offer the best hope for meaningfully reducing congestion in the coming years.     

Accelerating sustainable mobility and land-use transitions in rapidly growing cities: Identifying common patterns and enabling factors

Urban growth has been increasing rapidly across the globe, in particular in low and middle-income developing countries. As city populations and GDP per capita rise exponentially, cities tend to experience similar challenges related to urban development and transport/mobility.One of the most problematic issues emerges when urban growth drives car-oriented urban development. This is characterised by a range of unsustainable patterns such as low-density development, urban sprawl, lack of plans and infrastructure to accommodate collective transport and active travel, and significant efforts and investments to meet the demand for private motorised vehicle use. For emergent cities, the risk is that these developments lead to highly inefficient, unhealthy and unsustainable urban systems that are difficult to remedy.This paper aims to identify recurrent governance and policy factors across sectors, as well as macro factors, that tend to contribute to car-dependent urban mobility systems in rapidly growing cities. It draws on qualitative and quantitative research findings from five under-researched Eastern European and Middle Eastern cities: Tallinn, Bucharest, Skopje, Adana and Amman. Data examining the evolution of urban mobility in these cities were collected as part of the Horizon2020 EU funded project CREATE.The paper investigates the extent to which car-dependent urban development processes can be avoided in rapidly growing cities, to support transitions towards liveable and sustainable cities. Finally, it provides policy recommendations targeting growing cities with low levels of car-use, in particular in Sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the importance of acting swiftly to achieve targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda or the Paris Agreement, by supporting policies fostering efficient, sustainable and inclusive urban mobility and land-use across sectors and levels of governance.     

The impact of highway safety regulation enforcement activities on motor vehicle fatalities

This paper analyzes the influence of highway safety regulation enforcement efforts on motor vehicle fatalities. It estimates a regression model in which such deaths depend on these efforts as well as economic conditions, driver characteristics, government regulations, and locational factors, using 1973–2000 annual Ohio data. Statistically significant results indicate that the enforcement measure of drunk driving arrests saves lives. They also suggest that highway deaths increase with the following: better economic conditions, greater alcohol consumption, larger proportions of young and old drivers, higher speed limits, and more driving on rural roads. The trend in deaths is downward.     

国有高速公路公司的社会责任与价格管制

现行高速公路投融资体制决定了国有高速公路公司有特殊的市场地位和社会责任,价格管制是平衡其社会责任和经济责任的核心。在确定高速公路通行费率的博弈中,高速公路公司具有信息优势,具备实施价格策略性行为的条件,政府难以用简单的价格管制政策有效约束其行为,必须建立均衡其社会责任和经济责任的激励机制。     

LRT and street tram policies and implementation in turkish cities

Urban transport sustainability policies aim to encourage a greater use of public transport and an improvement in service provision. However, governments are usually strapped for capital investment funds, and there are planning and financing problems that either delay LRT and street tramway improvements and/or hinder their utilisation. During the past decade, rail developments have dominated Turkish urban and national transport policies: many new lines have been opened and others are under construction. Turkey now has eight cities with LRT or tramway lines (in addition to the three major cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir). Based on analyses of unpublished data from transport master plans, and from interviews conducted with planning experts who worked on such master plans, and from political leaders, this paper assesses how effectively these smaller cities have planned and financed their LRT and trams, and how efficiently they are operated. How well Turkey performs with its urban LRT and tramway developments within the context of an international “railway renaissance” is also critically assessed. In Turkey, the PPP modality of financing (mostly in the form of BOT) is favoured for highway investment whereas many of the railway projects still require international loans. A greater role for the private sector in Turkey is recommended to reinforce this embryonic railway renaissance and to ensure greater operational and financial sustainability.     

A selected review on the negative externalities of the freight transportation: Modeling and pricing

The planning of freight transportation activities creates benefits as well as costs. Among those costs, some of them, namely externalities, fall on other people/society that have no direct relevance to the operations of transportation. Such externalities are accrued expenses which should be addressed by actual pricing policies to enable an efficient and sustainable freight transportation system. This paper reviews externalities in quantitative terms, and then provides pricing studies of these costs per unit of freight transported along with the most recent estimations. The associated negative externalities are structured by transportation mode (road, rail, maritime, and air).     

Vertical integration and exclusivities in maritime freight transport

A key recent theme in maritime freight transport is the involvement of shipping lines in terminal management. Such investments are costly but allow liners to provide better service. Most of these new terminals are dedicated terminals but some are non-exclusive and let rivals access them for a fee. In this paper, we show that a shipping line that builds its own terminal finds it strategically profitable (i) to continue routing part of its cargo through the open port facilities, and (ii) to keep its terminal non-exclusive. In this way, the liner investor pushes part of the rival’s freight from the open to the new terminal. Besides, under non-exclusivities, the shipping lines offer a wider variety of services, total freight increases and the resulting equilibrium fares are higher than with a dedicated terminal.     

Attracting travellers to the high-speed train: a methodology for comparing potential demand between stations

The High-Speed Railways (HSR) which are currently operative in 12 countries throughout the world include a wide range of stations with a highly varied capacity to attract travellers. Although there are various reasons for these differences, we have focused on the ones that can be quantified for further comparison. The main purpose of this study was twofold. First of all, we sought to identify stations with a low capacity to attract travellers and to explain the reasons for their concentration in certain countries rather than others. Secondly, we looked for a simple, but widely acceptable, method with which to calculate the capacity to attract users to HSR stations. This would help to establish a better way of allocating financial resources for public investment. This approach enabled us to identify those stations that had little or no potential at all and which had been established for essentially political reasons in countries where the concept of territorial cohesion had been applied in an inappropriate way. This led us to a number of observations relating to the railway policies undertaken in the countries studied and to underline the need for greater international coordination in areas like Europe and for better justified HSR policies. The calculations presented in this article use data relating to the urban populations which live in the vicinity of the world’s HSR stations, the distance from each of these stations to the nearest urban centres and the level of the corresponding regional GDP. All of this information has been used to build a GIS to facilitate analysis and pave the way towards a general comparative approach in which stations would be classified according to their capacity to attract travellers. Such an approach could also be used in areas in which lines are currently under construction and/or where future projects – such as the TEN-T in Europe – have already been approved but not yet executed. Our approach will make it easier to obtain data to show the potential success of, and need for, a HSR connexion as a preliminary step within the decision making process. This constitutes a significant contribution to the debate about the need to assess political decisions concerning HSR investments. It also highlights the need to encourage improved intermodality around railway stations and particularly around those located in non-metropolitan areas.     

Road maintenance policies in Sub-Saharan Africa: unsolved problems and acting strategies

This paper examines road maintenance policies supported by the official development assistance (ODA) during the 1980s and 1990s in Sub-Saharan Africa. It looks at the sectoral analysis of the problems, which was carried out by the two largest multilateral donors in these countries: the European Commission and the World Bank. The diagnosis reveals the contradictions and inadequacies of these policies. Finally, a contribution is made, suggesting the main conditions to be fulfilled to improve future ODA policies for road maintenance.