Raffael Argiolu

Managing Traffic by Privatization of Road Capacity: A Property Rights Approach

Abstract Road congestion remains a serious problem, despite all the efforts to limit road use and to manage growing road traffic volumes. Economic approaches (such as pricing) are introduced based on traditional welfare economic theory. Although they are sometimes very successful, the magnitude of traffic issues also requires alternative and unconventional approaches. Perhaps a more innovative perspective is needed. The paper discusses an alternative economic approach starting from property rights theory. It is translated in transport systems in concepts of infrastructure capacity slot management, where slots are dynamically priced and exclusively allocated to individual users. Debates and practices regarding this approach in air traffic and rail traffic are further developed than in the field of road traffic. The paper aims to explore the potential benefits and disadvantages of the property rights approach for road traffic. Attention is paid to major institutional and technical conditions. The conclusion is that the approach theoretically has clear advantages and seems technologically feasible. Nevertheless, serious political and institutional issues have to be solved first.

Intelligent transport systems and preferences for office locations

This paper explores the effect of three intelligent transport systems (ITS)-related transport concepts on location preferences of office-keeping organisations in urbanised areas. To measure these effects, a hierarchical information integration experiment was conducted in the Netherlands. Representatives of office-keeping organisations in selected city regions were questioned about the attractiveness of hypothetical ITS-based accessibility profiles of office locations. A general preference model was estimated to test the hypothesis that the introduction of ITS-based transport concepts will significantly influence the preferences of office-keeping organisations regarding office locations. It appears that all the included ITS attributes have a significant impact on the accessibility preferences of office-keeping organisations in urban regions. Moreover, location preferences change slightly after the introduction of the three ITS-related transport concepts.

Innovating urban public transport: some recent developments in the Netherlands

Authorities of urban areas are faced with growing traffic and environmental problems due to an ever-increasing use of cars within the urban area. The challenge is to limit and guide car use. The search for innovative strategies to cope with this challenge in the Netherlands focuses on the integration of three policy ingredients. These are: (a) influencing travel behaviour by offering seamless multi-mobility services, (b) the application of advanced information- and telecommunication technology and (c) the spatial concentration of new economic and residential developments along high quality public transport axes. This chapter discusses these ingredients separately and describes a project in the Dutch city of Eindhoven where these ingredients come together. The project, called ‘Phileas’ is a public transport service based on a fully new developed semi-automated bus on a network of dedicated lanes, offering a high level of information to the travellers and connecting new spatial developments by this public transport network.

ITS-based transport concepts and location preference: Will ITS change 'business as usual'?

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are expected to solve problems regarding safety, congestion and environmental issues. Currently, automotive industries develop many applications, which are implemented in car driving, freight transportation and public transport. Our theory is based on the assumption that especially further integration of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and travel based Information and Communication Systems (ICT) results in new and more attractive ITS concepts. These concepts will influence the performance of both passenger and goods transportation. Consequently, these integrated ITS concepts might in the long run influence the spatial dynamics and more specifically the development of firm locations. To test this hypothesis we use a systemic approach of scenario building. The construction and validation of these scenarios must result in both plausible and attractive images of future ITS. We need these images to conduct a survey and test our hypothesis. The scenarios will provide different futures of an urban region, with differences in accessibility and image of the transportation system. Besides the reaction of firms, we are also interested in responses of actors that develop locations, so-called suppliers. Both suppliers of and demanders for locations create our future space.

URBAN LAND USE CHANGES AND ICT-BASED INNOVATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT

R&D in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) develops fast. Applications focus on all levels of the transport system: driver behaviour, infrastructure, traffic management and travel choices. Smart combinations of these applications in coherent ITS concepts will be the challenge for the future. Applied to urban systems, it is assumed that different ITS concepts will work out different with respect to urban patterns of economic activities. So far this possible impacts has hardly been a subject of research. This paper elaborates on the first step of a project that research on this relationship. In the paper attention is paid to the possible distinctions between ITS concepts. An illustration of such a concept, designed for public transport in a city in the Netherlands, is briefly described.