A spatial Difference-in-Differences estimator to evaluate the effect of change in public mass transit systems on house prices

Evaluating the impact of public mass transit systems on real-estate values is an important application of the hedonic price model (HPM). Recently, a mathematical transformation of this approach has been proposed to account for the potential omission of latent spatial variables that may overestimate the impact of accessibility to mass transit systems on values. The development of a Difference-in-Differences (DID) estimator, based on the repeat-sales approach, is a move in the right direction. However, such an estimator neglects the possibility that specification of the price equation may follow a spatial autoregressive process with respect to the dependent variable. The objective of this paper is to propose a spatial Difference-in-Differences (SDID) estimator accounting for possible spatial spillover effects. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of a suitable weights matrix accounting for spatial links between observations. Finally, an empirical application of the SDID estimator based on the development of a new commuter rail transit system for the suburban agglomeration of Montréal (Canada) is presented and compared to the usual DID estimator.     

A two-phase model for dry port location with an application to the port of Dalian in China

This paper provides guidance for an optimal and reasonable dry port layout for the port of Dalian in China. We present a two-phase framework on the location of dry ports, which solves the selection of candidate inland cities and optimal dry port location choice, respectively. Fuzzy C-Means Clustering is applied to select alternative cities in the vast hinterland of the seaport of Dalian, with a view to identify evaluation factors that affect the location selection decision. A cost-minimisation linear programming solution is proposed, with the aid of a genetic algorithm, to choose the optimal location as well as capacity level among the candidate inland cities.     

Environmental impacts of transformative land use and transport developments in the Greater Beijing Region: Insights from a new dynamic spatial equilibrium model

This paper reports the insights into environmental impacts of the ongoing transformative land use and transport developments in Greater Beijing, from a new suite of dynamic land use, spatial equilibrium and strategic transport models that is calibrated for medium to long term land use and transport predictions. The model tests are focused on urban passenger travel demand and associated emissions within the municipality of Beijing, accounting for Beijing’s land use and transport interactions with Tianjin, Hebei and beyond. The findings suggests that background trends of urbanization, economic growth and income rises will continue to be very powerful drivers for urban passenger travel demand across all main modes of transport beyond 2030. In order to achieve the dual policy aims for a moderately affluent and equitable nation and reducing the absolute levels of urban transport emissions by 2030, road charging and careful micro-level coordination between land use, built form and public transport provision may need to be considered together for policy implementation in the near future.     

A discrete–continuous model of households’ vehicle choice and usage, with an application to the effects of residential density

This paper develops a new method to solve multivariate discrete–continuous problems and applies the model to measure the influence of residential density on households’ vehicle fuel efficiency and usage choices. Traditional discrete–continuous modelling of vehicle holding choice and vehicle usage becomes unwieldy with large numbers of vehicles and vehicle categories. I propose a more flexible method of modelling vehicle holdings in terms of number of vehicles in each category, using a Bayesian multivariate ordinal response system. I also combine the multivariate ordered equations with Tobit equations to jointly estimate vehicle type/usage demand in a reduced form, offering a simpler alternative to the traditional discrete/continuous analysis. Using the 2001 National Household Travel Survey data, I find that increasing residential density reduces households’ truck holdings and utilization in a statistically significant but economically insignificant way. The results are broadly consistent with those from a model derived from random utility maximization. The method developed above can be applied to other discrete–continuous problems.     

An agent‐based simulation model to assess the impacts of introducing a shared‐taxi system: an application to Lisbon (Portugal)

This paper presents a new concept of urban shared‐taxi services. The proposed system has a new organisational design and pricing scheme that aims to use the capacity in traditional taxi services in a more efficient way. In this system, a taxi acting in ‘sharing’ mode offers lower prices to its clients, in exchange for them to accept sharing the vehicle with other persons who have compatible trips (time and space). The paper proposes and tests an agent‐based simulation model in which a set of rules for space and time matching between a request of a client and the candidate shared taxis is identified. It considers that the client is only willing to accept a maximum deviation from his or her direct route and establishes an objective function for selecting the best candidate taxi. The function considers the minimum travel time combination of pickup and drop‐off of all the pool of clients sharing each taxi while allowing to establish a policy of bonuses to competing taxis with certain number of occupants. An experiment for the city of Lisbon is presented with the objectives of testing the proposed simulation conceptual model and showing the potential of sharing taxis for improving mobility management in urban areas. Results show that the proposed system may lead to significant fare and travel time savings to passengers, while not jeopardising that much the taxi revenues. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.