JUE insight: Ticket to paradise? The effect of a public transport subsidy on air quality

Niklas Gohl and Philipp Schrauth

Journal of Urban Economics, 2024, vol. 142, issue C

Abstract: This paper provides novel evidence on the impact of public transport subsidies on air pollution. We obtain causal estimates by leveraging a unique policy intervention in Germany that temporarily reduced nationwide prices for regional public transport to a monthly flat rate price of 9 Euros. Using DiD estimation strategies on air pollutant data, we show that this intervention causally reduced a benchmark air pollution index by more than eight percent and, after its termination, increased again. Our results illustrate that public transport subsidies – especially in the context of spatially constrained cities – offer a viable alternative for policymakers and city planers to improve air quality, which has been shown to crucially affect health outcomes.

Keywords: Air pollution; Public transport; Transport subsidies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q53 Q58 R12 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juecon:v:142:y:2024:i:c:s0094119024000135

DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2024.103643

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