Total cost analysis: An alternative to benefit-cost analysis in evaluating transportation alternatives

This paper explains the theory in support of total cost analysis (TCA) to compare transportation system alternatives. The full costs of each alternative are first aggregated, including travel time costs and monetizable environmental and social costs. Many costs which are considered on the benefits side of the equation in benefit-cost analysis (BCA) as "cost savings" are brought over to the costs side. Total cost differences among alternatives are then traded off against their estimated non-monetized benefits or impacts, just as a consumer trades off product quality against cost before deciding which product he or she will buy. One advantage of TCA over traditional BCA is that the concept of "total cost" is more easily understood by the public and by political decision-makers than BCA concepts such as "net present worth", "benefit-cost ratio" and "internal rate of return". A second advantage is that there is no suggestion that all "benefits" have been considered; decision-makers are free to use their own value judgements to trade off total cost against non-monetizable social, environmental and economic impacts, just as they trade off quality and convenience against cost when purchasing goods and services in their roles as consumers. The TCA approach is demonstrated in this paper through a case study of two systemwide alternatives for the Baltimore, MD urban area.     

Uncertain demand,modal competition and optimal price-capacity adjustments in air transportation

A new microeconomic model for the operation of an airline facing modal competition with uncertain total demand is developed to analyze optimal price capacity combinations. The novelty is the treatment of the capacity restriction, which is not viewed as affecting negatively individual preferences (e.g. probability of a full flight), but does influence aggregate utility. A mode choice model is used to represent unrestricted individual preferences assuming full availability (phone call demand); air capacity is treated as a variable that acts on the actual choice set. Restricted choices and total demand stochasticity are integrated in welfare calculations (users' benefits and profits). Numerical examples are given and results are analyzed in terms of load factors fare levels, and sensitivity to the stochasticity of requests.This research was partially funded by FONDECYT, Chile, Direction Génerale de l'Aviation Civile, France, the Andes Foundation and the Fulbright Commission.     

A cross-country study of fairness and infringement on freedom as determinants of car owners' acceptance of road pricing

Jakobsson et al. (2000) found that in Sweden public acceptance of road pricing decreases if it is perceived to be unfair and to infringe on freedom. The present study reports a survey investigating whether the same effects are found in the Asian countries of Japan and Taiwan. The results indicate that fairness plays the same role. However, income had a direct effect on acceptance in Taiwan but not in Japan or Sweden.     

A dynamic model for marginal cost pricing of port infrastructures

ABSTRACT

A dynamic model for marginal cost pricing of port infrastructures links costs to system performance by combining a power-law function with time-dependent queueing analysis. Additionally, the model incorporates the marginal cost of capacity, including the effects of economies of scale. This allows the calculation of the marginal cost price under a dynamic framework. The model accounts for nonlinear behaviour of port demand, which is sensitive to price and service levels. The effects over time of cost and service levels on the port’s operational performance are quantified. The proposed model allows determining the optimal timing for capacity investment. The model is a starting point for the application of marginal cost pricing to ports. However, for practical application of such pricing method it is necessary to apply a system’s approach, as productivity and costs must be assessed at the terminal’s component level. This should allow the derivation of a marginal cost function at the terminal’s component level.     

Challenges and Benefits in the Design of Coastal Walking and Cycling Amenities: Toward a More Integrated Coastal Management Approach

The planning and development of pedestrian and cycling amenities in coastal urban environments is a challenging process because a wide range of policies and considerations must be taken into account. Among these, the concepts of sustainability and more recently, resilience, have been gaining prominence. Green Infrastructure design approaches can integrate aspects of both sustainability and resilience, providing multiple services within single development projects. This study focuses on Dublin and examines a range of amenity projects at various stages of development that relate to the provision of new coastal walking and/or cycle routes. These are initially contextualized at the city level before focusing specifically on challenges and benefits associated with the design and implementation of such projects. Based on our findings, recommendations are made for optimizing the potential of future projects to effectively integrate with other initiatives so as to deliver broader policy objectives. A simple sequential model is presented that should assist developers and decision-makers to take a more integrated, multidisciplinary approach to meeting policy goals when planning and developing coastal amenities. Finally, this is remodeled into a set of considerations that are generally applicable to coastal development proposals of significant scale.     

The value of options for time charterparty extension: an artificial neural networks (ANN) approach

The most frequently associated options in the physical shipping market are options to extend the charter period on time charters and additional shipment options on contracts of affreightment. The value of freight options, in practice, is estimated mostly by referring to forward curves. An option on freight has different properties from its financial counterparts, and the straightforward adoption of theoretical models does not produce promising results. In this paper, extension options, which have the property of options on futures, were transformed into regular European options before the application of the Black-Scholes model (BSM). The efficient market hypothesis, which justifies the parity of the performance of a long-term charter to that of repetitive short-term charters, worked as the basis for the transformation. The option values determined by the BSM were compared with actual realized values. Additionally, the artificial neural networks (ANN) was employed to derive the option values. This study is meaningful as the first-time application of both the closed-form solution and the ANN to the valuation of physical freight options. The research results can contribute to the quality of chartering decisions. The results could also be used in quantifying credit risk, as extension options tend to be granted to charterers with more creditability.     

Adapting without Retreating: Responses to Shoreline Change on an Inlet-Associated Coastal Beach

Coastal barrier systems around the world are experiencing higher rates of flooding and shoreline erosion. Property owners on barriers have made significant financial investments in physical protections that shield their nearby properties from these hazards, constituting a type of adaptation to shoreline change. Factors that contribute to adaptation on Plum Island, a developed beach and dune system on the North Shore of Massachusetts, are investigated here. Plum Island experiences patterns of shoreline change that may be representative of many inlet-associated beaches, encompassing an equivocal and dynamically shifting mix of erosion and accretion. In the face of episodic floods and fleeting erosive events, and driven by a combination of strong northeast storms and cycles of erosion and accretion, the value of the average Plum Island residence increases by 34% for properties on the oceanfront where protection comprises a publicly constructed soft structure. Even in the face of state policies that ostensibly discourage physical protection as a means of adaptation, coastal communities face significant political and financial pressures to maintain existing protective structures or to allow contiguous groups of property owners to build new ones through collective action. These factors mitigate against adapting to shoreline change by retreating from the coast, thereby potentially increasing the adverse effects of coastal hazards.     

基于广义费用函数的城际铁路分时定价策略研究

随着我国城市群的发展,区域内部各城市之间的客流需求不断增长,城际铁路作为城市间出行的主要方式,客流在高峰、低谷时段具有明显的不均衡性。为了更加平稳有序地提供高质量服务,充分发挥票价调节供需匹配关系的作用,对城际铁路分时定价策略进行研究,构建不同时刻、不同运输方式的旅客出行广义费用函数,建立双层规划模型,优化不同时段城际铁路票价,并结合Frank-Wolfe算法和带有惯性权重的粒子群算法,求解双层规划模型。最后,以京津城际铁路为例,验证了分时定价策略可以使客流分布更加均衡,并提高铁路运输部门收益。     

线性需求下铁路客运差别定价模型研究

为提高席位资源利用率,研究了线性需求下我国铁路客运差别定价策略的优化模型。以收益最大化为目标,基于最优化理论和完全价格歧视策略,确定旅客群体最优细分数目以及每个旅客群体的最优票价,得出在客运淡季,铁路旅客最优细分数目为3~5个,各旅客群的最优票价由铁路客运市场细分数目决定。应用该模型为某城际高铁进行差别定价,试验结果表明,该模型可达到调节客流、增加收益的目的。     

考虑高铁客运产品间交叉弹性的动态票价策略

将由特定高铁列车所提供的起讫点间的旅客运输服务定义为单个高铁客运产品。随着高速铁路越来越公交化,同一起讫点间客运产品间的可替代性越来越强,票价的调整有了更精细化的要求。用经济学中的交叉弹性理论描述客运产品间的可替代程度,用指数需求函数描述客运产品的需求与票价的关系,构建并求解高铁动态票价优化模型,对客运产品间不同可替代程度下的最优动态票价策略进行研究。结果显示:高铁客运产品间的可替代性会影响票价策略的选择,且客运产品间可替代程度的增加是否有利于客票收益的提高与可行折扣票价集合的选取有关。