The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy

In this paper we discuss to what extent transport policy fails to integrate five types of external effects, and what kind of research needs follow from the objective to make transport sustainable. The discussion is a synthesis of the findings collected and synthesized in the framework of Focus Group...

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Main Authors: Veli Himanen, Adriaan Perrels, Martin Lee-Gosselin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: TU Delft Open 2006-01-01
Series:European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
Online Access:https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/4324
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spelling doaj-9043e529d9574b01800223df02baa6c82021-07-26T08:49:18ZengTU Delft OpenEuropean Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research1567-71412006-01-016110.18757/ejtir.2006.6.1.43243827The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policyVeli Himanen0Adriaan Perrels1Martin Lee-Gosselin2Relate PartnershipGovernment Institute for Economic Research (VATT), HelsinkiUniversité LavalIn this paper we discuss to what extent transport policy fails to integrate five types of external effects, and what kind of research needs follow from the objective to make transport sustainable. The discussion is a synthesis of the findings collected and synthesized in the framework of Focus Group 4 of the STELLA project. The assignment of Focus Group 4 was to draw up a set of recommendations for future transport policy-oriented research dealing with external effects, on the basis of a series of specialist workshops. Five different kinds of so-called external effects of transport were identified beforehand, being environment, safety and security, public health, land use and congestion. Safety and security as well as congestion are external effects in the sense that they are not ‘internalised’ in the price of the transport service, but they do affect predominantly others within the transport system. This means that with some delay the transport market still reacts to changes in the intensity of these effects, albeit biased or insufficient. The public goods character of both externalities however implies that public intervention is needed to attain better performance of these external effects, partly via internalisation of the external effects and partly via planning (i.e. by evaluating the trade-offs ex ante). The other external effects, however, are not only insufficiently internalised in the transport price, but they are also predominantly affecting parties outside the transport system. Consequently, changes in the intensity of these effects do not feed back directly into the transport market. In that case public intervention has even a more complicated task, since it takes more time and is more complicated to learn what are actually the right balances for the trade-offs between adequate access and, in turn, sustainability, spatial quality, and public health.https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/4324
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Veli Himanen
Adriaan Perrels
Martin Lee-Gosselin
spellingShingle Veli Himanen
Adriaan Perrels
Martin Lee-Gosselin
The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
author_facet Veli Himanen
Adriaan Perrels
Martin Lee-Gosselin
author_sort Veli Himanen
title The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
title_short The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
title_full The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
title_fullStr The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
title_full_unstemmed The adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
title_sort adequate integration of sustainability into transport policy
publisher TU Delft Open
series European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
issn 1567-7141
publishDate 2006-01-01
description In this paper we discuss to what extent transport policy fails to integrate five types of external effects, and what kind of research needs follow from the objective to make transport sustainable. The discussion is a synthesis of the findings collected and synthesized in the framework of Focus Group 4 of the STELLA project. The assignment of Focus Group 4 was to draw up a set of recommendations for future transport policy-oriented research dealing with external effects, on the basis of a series of specialist workshops. Five different kinds of so-called external effects of transport were identified beforehand, being environment, safety and security, public health, land use and congestion. Safety and security as well as congestion are external effects in the sense that they are not ‘internalised’ in the price of the transport service, but they do affect predominantly others within the transport system. This means that with some delay the transport market still reacts to changes in the intensity of these effects, albeit biased or insufficient. The public goods character of both externalities however implies that public intervention is needed to attain better performance of these external effects, partly via internalisation of the external effects and partly via planning (i.e. by evaluating the trade-offs ex ante). The other external effects, however, are not only insufficiently internalised in the transport price, but they are also predominantly affecting parties outside the transport system. Consequently, changes in the intensity of these effects do not feed back directly into the transport market. In that case public intervention has even a more complicated task, since it takes more time and is more complicated to learn what are actually the right balances for the trade-offs between adequate access and, in turn, sustainability, spatial quality, and public health.
url https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/4324
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