Tradable network permits: A new scheme for the most efficient use of network capacity

Akamatsu et al. (2006) proposed a new transportation demand management scheme called “tradable bottleneck permits” (TBP), and proved its efficiency properties for a single bottleneck model. This paper explores the properties of a TBP system for general networks. An equilibrium model is first constructed to describe the states under the TBP system with a single OD pair. It is proved that equilibrium resource allocation is efficient in the sense that the total transportation cost in a network is minimized. It is also shown that the “self-financing principle” holds for the TBP system. Furthermore, theoretical relationships between TBP and congestion pricing (CP) are discussed. It is demonstrated that TBP has definite advantages over CP when demand information is not perfect, whereas both TBP and CP are equivalent for the perfect information case. Finally, it is shown that the efficiency result also holds for more general demand conditions.     

Consumer preferences for battery electric vehicles: A choice experimental survey in China

To accelerate the diffusion of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), consumer preferences for different products and policy attributes must be determined. Although previous studies have investigated consumer preferences for some product attributes, including purchase price, operation cost, driving range, and charging time, limited studies have discussed the broader aspects of product attributes, such as battery warranty and depreciation rate. Moreover, market-oriented incentives, including the personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme and the tradable driving credits (TDC) scheme, can theoretically be effective alternatives to expensive purchase subsidies. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence that confirms the influence of these two schemes on BEV adoption. To fill these gaps, we conducted a stated preference choice experimental survey in China and investigated the effect of product attributes, existing policy incentives, and two emerging market-oriented incentives on BEV adoption. Our results reveal that along with the main product attributes, battery warranty has a significant positive effect on inducing mainstream consumers to adopt BEVs while no preference difference occurs among existing policy incentives after purchase subsidies are abolished. For young consumers, almost all incentives that reduce the operation cost (e.g., PCT) or increase convenience (e.g., TDC) can increase their adoption of BEVs. These findings can provide important implications for the government with regard to designing novel incentives and promoting BEV adoption.     

Tradable credits for managing car travel: a review of empirical research and relevant behavioural approaches

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in Tradable Credits (TC) as an alternative measure to manage the growth of personal car use. This paper summarises the results and methodologies of studies that have sought to anticipate the behavioural responses to several proposed TC schemes that target personal travel. In a critical reflection on this work and in an attempt to inspire future research, we argue that future empirical studies on TC behaviours can greatly benefit from insights from the fields of behavioural economics and cognitive psychology. Therefore, in the second part of the paper, we bring together behavioural concepts from these fields that are relevant in a TC decision-making context. Based on observations from current TC studies and the behavioural mechanisms identified in the second part of the paper, we propose promising directions for future research on understanding the impact of TC on personal car travel.     

Tradable emission permit system for urban motorists: The neo-classical standard model revisited

This article deals with the feasibility of a tradable emission permit system (TEPs) for urban motorists. The objective is to develop a new microeconomic theoretical model to reduce urban pollution. We suppose that the city's regulating authority sets up a tradable emission permit system based on the number of kilometres covered by private cars. By the use of a Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) function, we determine the equilibrium under an environmental constraint and analyse the effects of a TEPs on social welfare. The aim is to find the optimal quantity of permits leading to the desired environmental objective. The analytical and numerical results of the model show the instrument's feasibility and efficiency. An important variable in the model must be taken into account: the knowledge of environmental damage. This variable will clearly influence the tool's success.     

A novel permit scheme for managing parking competition and bottleneck congestion

Morning commuters may have to depart from home earlier to secure a parking space when parking supply in the city center is insufficient. Recent studies show that parking reservations can reduce highway congestion and deadweight loss of parking competition simultaneously. This study develops a novel tradable parking permit scheme to realize or implement parking reservations when commuters are either homogeneous or heterogeneous in their values of time. It is found that an expirable parking permit scheme with an infinite number of steps, i.e., the ideal-scheme, is superior to a time-varying pricing scheme in the sense that designing a permit scheme does not require commuters’ value of time information and the performance of the scheme is robust to the variation of commuters’ value of time. Although it is impractical to implement the ideal-scheme with an infinite number of steps, the efficiency loss of a permit scheme with finite steps can be bounded in both cases of homogeneous and heterogeneous commuters. Moreover, considering the permit scheme may lead to an undesirable benefit distribution among commuters, we propose an equal cost-reduction distribution of parking permits where auto commuters with higher value of time will receive fewer permits.     

基于信用的拥挤收费方案介绍与评价—— FAIR 道路

拥挤收费是缓解道路交通拥挤最有效的方案之一,但其公平性饱受争议,导致社会接受程度不高.近年来提出了一些基于信用的拥挤收费方案,通过向低收入出行者发放货币信用,来补贴收费道路对其通勤出行造成的负面影响.以FAIR道路为例,首先定性地介绍其基本概念与系统设计,与传统道路拥挤管理方案比较其优缺点.然后,通过出行者行为建模在算例道路上模拟FAIR 方案,定量地评价实施效果.结果显示,FAIR 道路能显著地缓解交通拥堵,但方案的一些具体设计（信用政策）值得决策者关注.在我国道路交通拥挤日益严重,传统拥挤收费遇到巨大阻力的今天,研究结果值得我国公路和城市道路管理者参考和借鉴.     

Optimal biofuel supply chain design under consumption mandates with renewable identification numbers

The Renewable Identification Number (RIN) system is a tracking mechanism that enforces the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard by monitoring obligated parties’ compliance with the biofuel consumption mandates. This paper incorporates the RIN system into the design of a biofuel supply chain that addresses independent decisions of non-cooperative farmers, biofuel manufacturers, and blenders. Game-theoretic models are developed to examine the impacts of the RIN system on individual stakeholders’ decisions (e.g., on farmland use, bio-refinery investment, biofuel production) and the competition between food and biofuel industries, in both a perfectly competitive scenario and a monopoly scenario. For the perfectly competitive scenario, Nash equilibrium can be obtained by solving a convex optimization problem. For the monopoly scenario, a bi-level Stackelberg leader–follower model is developed, from which we found that a rigid mandate on blenders may suppress the total biofuel production. To avoid such unintended consequences, a relaxed unit-RIN based penalty scheme is proposed and shown to improve the overall biofuel supply chain performance. Managerial insights are drawn from a numerical case study for the state of Illinois.     

Continuous price and flow dynamics of tradable mobility credits

This study examines the price and flow dynamics under a tradable credit scheme, when the credits can be traded in a free market. A continuous dynamic model in a finite time horizon is proposed to describe the travelers’ learning behavior and the evolution of network flows and credit price, and then the existence and uniqueness of the equilibria are established. The conditions for stability and convergence of the dynamic system as the time horizon extends to infinity and the impact of limited implementation time horizon on the system behavior are investigated.     

Exchange rate changes and the cost competitiveness of international airlines: The Aviation Trade Weighted Index

Discussions of how changes in exchange rates impact on international airlines tend to be ambivalent. In this paper, it is shown that the relative cost competitiveness of an international airline will decline when there is an exchange rate appreciation in its home country - as will be the case for other tradable goods and services. The extent to which this happens depends on which countries the prices of the inputs are set in and also on which countries' airlines it is closely competing with. The impact is greater if there is an appreciation relative to those countries whose airlines the home airlines are closely competing with. In the trade literature, this is recognised in the Trade Weighted Index of exchange rates, which weights exchanges rates according to their importance in a country's trade flows. In this paper, an Airline Trade Weighted Index is developed - the weights for this index depend on airline traffic and revenues on routes to and from a country. The ATWI is calculated for Australian international airlines, and it indicates that there has been a significant loss of competitiveness in recent years, due to the appreciation of the Australian dollar relative to currencies of key airline competitor countries.     

基于可交易出行路票的城市交通需求管理

可交易出行路票作为近年兴起的交通需求管理新思路持续受到学者的密切关注和深入研 究。本文结合2016年以来利用可交易出行路票进行城市交通需求管理方面的研究进展，从可交 易出行路票的公众接受度、出行管理建模分析以及基于组合手段的交通管理机制研究等3方面进 行文献综述和分析。研究表明：5年前关于可交易出行路票的研究主要围绕可交易出行路票的理 论建模或仿真分析展开；近5年来面向可交易出行路票的理论研究更加宽广和深入，面向应用层 面的研究也更加受到关注。然而，现有大多数研究仍缺乏从实际应用的可实施角度进行深入研 究和探讨，在此基础上，本文进一步对可交易出行路票的定义以及蕴含的4个关键要素：出行路票 的发放总量、初始发放方案、收取方案和路票市场交易机制进行综述和分析，指出不足之处并给 出可交易出行路票定义、4个关键要素以及交易方案层面的主观理解和认识，强调对这些基本要 素不仅需从实际应用角度来厘清和重新认识这4个关键要素的内涵、作用范围和相互作用关系， 还需要结合具体城市实际情况和交通管理目标进一步研究与分析。最后，对可交易出行路票的 热点研究问题进行总结和展望，强调关于可交易出行路票对出行者个体行为的影响分析，基于碳 中和发展路径的可交易出行路票量化交易技术等方面是今后重点关注的研究方向。