Transport Pricing to Promote E-biking and Reduce Externalities: Insights from a GPS-Tracked Experiment

Jakob Roth, Laura Schwab, Beat Hintermann, Thomas Götschi, Adrian Meister, Lucas Meyer de Freitas and Kay W. Axhausen

Working papers from Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel

Abstract: This study presents results from a randomized controlled trial involving 1,085 participants in Switzerland that have access to an E-bike, a car, and public transport. The participants’ transport choices are monitored by means of a GPS-based tracking app. The treatment consists in a monetary incentive that approximates the main external costs and benefits associated with transport in the spirit of a Pigovian tax. This tax reduces transport-related external costs by 6.9 %, which corresponds to 78 Swiss francs per person and year (currently equivalent to 94 US dollars). The main underlying mechanism is a mode shift away from driving towards E-biking, public transport and walking. The results are primarily driven by individuals who own an S-pedelec with support up to 45 km/h, rather than users of the more common E-bikes that provide support up to 25 km/h. The pricing also induces a travel shift towards less congested time windows

Keywords: Transport; Field experiment; GPS tracking; bicycle; E-bike; external costs; Pigovian taxation; transport pricing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H23 H31 I18 Q54 Q58 R41 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-mac, nep-pbe and nep-tre
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2025/05

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