 Accessibility for money? An evaluation of subsidized air transport services in Europe and the United StatesFalko Mueller Transport Policy, 2021, vol. 106, issue C, 153-164 Abstract: The United States Essential Air Service (EAS) programme and Europe's imposition of Public Service Obligation (PSO) air services are nationally funded and intended to increase access to remote areas. In 2018, the programmes together, involved subsidy payments in excess of US$590 million. Applying a generalized travel-cost-based methodology, this paper analyses to what extent 264 subsidized air services in 12 countries contribute to the locational accessibility of remote regions. It also assesses the routes' viability in the presence of transport alternatives at nearby airports. The results indicate that the accessibility contributions of subsidized services vary considerably across countries. More than 45 routes are identified for which no measurable accessibility improvements are found. In total, only 15% of all services appear to yield accessibility contributions sufficient to justify the corresponding subsidies. The implications of the findings for future policymaking is discussed. Keywords: Essential air service; Public service obligation; Locational accessibility; Generalized travel costs (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:trapol:v:106:y:2021:i:c:p:153-164 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.03.023 Access Statistics for this article Transport Policy is currently edited by Y. Hayashi More articles in Transport Policy from Elsevier |
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