Do light rail systems reduce traffic externalities? Empirical evidence from mid-size European cities
This paper examines the impact of urban light rail systems on congestion, travel time and pollution. Drawing on data from mid-size European cities, I estimate the impact of supply changes for the entire sample and applied a differences-in-differences analysis to a sample of cities that did not have...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de la UB |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/184019 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/184019 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Contaminació atmosfèrica Transport ferroviari Congestió del trànsit Ciutats Europa Atmospheric pollution Railroad transportation Traffic congestion Cities and towns Europe |
| Sumario: | This paper examines the impact of urban light rail systems on congestion, travel time and pollution. Drawing on data from mid-size European cities, I estimate the impact of supply changes for the entire sample and applied a differences-in-differences analysis to a sample of cities that did not have rail systems in the initial year of the considered period. I find evidence that an increase in the supply of rail transport leads to less congestion, less travel time and less pollution. Furthermore, cities with a new rail system have on average 7% less congestion, 1% less travel time and 3% less pollution than cities with no rail systems. The results suggest that light rail systems have been successful in containing the negative externalities associated with car traffic in mid-size European cities. |
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