A Handbook of Transport Economics

Abstract

The stated purpose (by its editors) of this book is presentation of state-of-the-art applications of economic theory–based analytical techniques spanning a wide range of transport-related functions, problems, and policy choice alternatives. To accomplish this objective, the book opens with a stage-setting foreword and an introduction. Following are 36 chapters, distributed across five general subject categories (parts): I. Transport and Spatial Economy; II. Demand for Transport; III. Cost of Transport; IV. Optimal Public Decisions; and V. Competition and Regulation. The editors assert (p. 2) that the chapters, taken together, provide a one-volume source for “scholars, students, consultants and decision makers to learn and master … the main themes, issues and methods in the economics of transport.” Taken individually, each chapter is intended by design (p. 3) “to be read on its own as a self-contained treatment of one topic in transport economics” but with the caveat that “many of the topics are so interconnected that a piecemeal reading will fail to provide a full picture of the linkages and challenges facing the transport sector as a whole.” A chapter-by-chapter description and critique of the contents of each of the 36 chapters, contributed by a total of 64 authors and coauthors, exceeds the ambit of this review. However, several summary observations can be offered.For roughly the first six decades of the twentieth century, transport economics, as a designated field of application for economic theory and economic theory–based analytical tools, was dominated by studies on four interrelated points of focus: (1) determination of the cost of transport service (including both infrastructure and operating cost elements) as incurred by transport firms; (2) ascertainment of transport firms' cost structure characteristics and unit cost patterns (e.g., as indicative of economies and diseconomies of scale and economies of density); (3) relationships between (a) transport firms' cost and market struc- ture conditions, (b) transport service pricing policies and practices, and (c) public policy choices toward regulation of transport providers' economic behavior; and (4) linkages between the cost of transport service (as incurred by freight shippers and passengers) and the location of commercial and residential economic activity. This dominance of focus no longer prevails. While cost and pricing methods and issues still receive attention, their former center-stage prominence has given way to coverage of a vastly expanded range of transport-related phenomena as exemplified by the complex of chapter titles in this Handbook, for example: “Valuation of Travel Time Savings”; “Dynamic Traffic Modeling”; “Transport and Energy”; “The Economics of Information in Transport”; “Public-Private Partnerships in Transport”; “Airport Governance and Regulation: Three Decades of Aviation System Reform”; “Equity Dimensions of Transport Policies”; “Economics of Transport Logistics”; and “Advances in Discrete Choice: Mixture Models.”The editors state that many of the chapters contain discussion about how the findings reported therein “can be used by decision makers in the public and private sectors for the general purpose of improving transport policy objectives and the means of achieving them” (p. 2). However, the technical levels of much of the material presented in the Handbook will make it either partly or wholly inaccessible for readers not well grounded in statistical and quantitative research methods and in introductory textbook-level knowledge of basic economic principles as applied to transport-related activities and conditions. The editors acknowledge this in their introduction (p. 3) by stating that “The Handbook has been structured to complement the organization of the textbook by two of the editors, Emile Quinet and Roger Vickerman's Principles of Transport Economics (Edward Elgar 2004).” This leads to the question of for whom or what categories of prospective users this Handbook is likely to be seen as having value sufficient to warrant purchase. Most contemporary university business school–based faculty members give either minimal or no attention to transport economics subject matter in either the classroom or their research activities. Attention to the field now rests largely with (1) academicians in economics and other disciplines focused on transport-related phenomena such as economic geography, urban and regional planning, and public administration, and (2) staff analysts in government agencies, consulting firms, and research institutes. For such persons, the contents and price of this Handbook offer good value as a reference source and as a text for use at the advanced undergraduate and graduate course levels.