Martin Koning

Estimating Crowding Costs in Public Transport

Preferences for transport activities are often considered only in terms of time and money. Whilst congestion in automobile traffic increases costs by raising trip durations, the same is less obvious in public transport (PT), especially rail-based. This has lead many economic analyses to conclude that there exists a free lunch by reducing the attractiveness of automobile transport at no (or little) cost for PT users. This article argues that congestion in PT - crowding - is also costly. Using survey data from the Paris metro we estimate the degree to which users value comfort in terms of less crowding. Using a contingent valuation method (CVM) we describe marginal willingness to pay over different parts of the distribution of in-vehicle crowding and consider moderating factors. We conclude that the total welfare cost for a trip rises from e2.42 for a seated passenger to e3.69 under the most congested conditions. We apply our results to the cost-benefit analysis of a recent investment in PT in Paris and consider broader implications for transport policy. In particular, we highlight that PT congestion is a first-order urban externality.

Empirical Analysis of Freight Transport Prices Using the French Shipper Survey ECHO

This article presents an empirical analysis of the prices’ structure in the road freight industry. For that purpose, we use the French ECHO survey that provides detailed information on the characteristics of shippers and transport operators. First, we show that road freight prices are not a simple linear function of shipments’ attributes. Second, the main determinants of these prices are related to “technical” attributes of the transport services (load weight, travel duration, distance) but also to the characteristics of the shipped goods (density value, commodities constrains). Lastly, the influence of “non-traditional” factors (intensity of the shipper-operator relationship, size of the shipper, intra-group shipments) is highlighted.