Does Supporting Passenger Railways Reduce Road Traffic Externalities?

Rafael Lalive, Armin Schmutzler and Simon Luechinger

No 9335, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Many governments subsidize regional rail service as an alternative to road traffic. This paper assesses whether increases in service frequency reduce road traffic externalities. We exploit differences in service frequency growth by procurement mode following a railway reform in Germany to address endogeneity of service growth. Increases in service frequency reduce the number of severe road traffic accidents, carbon monoxide, nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide pollution and infant mortality. Placebo regressions with sulfur dioxide and ozone yield no effect. Service frequency growth between 1994 and 2004 improves environmental quality by an amount that is worth approximately 28-40 % of total subsidies. An analysis of household behavior shows that the effects of railway services on outcome variables are driven by substitution from road to rail.

Keywords: Pollution; Public transport; Railways; Road accidents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q53 R41 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-reg, nep-tre and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Working Paper: Does Supporting Passenger Railways Reduce Road Traffic Externalities? (2013)
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