Publication: How Should Passenger Travel in Mexico City Be Priced?
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Published
2010
ISSN
00941190
Date
2012-03-30
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This paper uses an analytical-simulation model to examine the optimal pricing of the passenger transportation system in Mexico City. The model incorporates travel by auto, microbus, public bus, and rail, as well as externalities from local and global air pollution, traffic congestion, and road accidents. In our benchmark case, the optimal gasoline tax is $2.72 per gallon, or 16 times the current tax. However, a per mile toll would reduce traffic congestion, the largest externality, more directly, and we put the optimized auto toll at 20.3 cents per mile. Tolls on microbuses also improve efficiency, though the gains are on a smaller scale, as are those from reforming public transit fares.
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Publication Pricing Externalities from Passenger Transportation in Mexico City(2009-10-01)The Mexico City Metropolitan Area has been suffering severely from transportation externalities such as accidents, air pollution, and traffic congestion. This study examines pricing instruments to reduce these externalities using an analytical and numerical model. The study shows that the optimal levels of a gasoline tax and a congestion toll on automobiles could generate social benefits, measured in terms of welfare gain, of US$132 and US$109 per capita, respectively, through the reduction of externalities. The largest component of the welfare gains comes from reduced congestion, followed by local air pollution reduction. The optimal toll and tax would, however, double the cost of driving and could be politically sensitive. Still, more than half of those welfare gains could be obtained through a more modest tax or toll, equivalent to $1 per gallon of gasoline. 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Third, there is the issue of full-cost pricing that requires the pricing of environmental externalities for guiding both individual and public decision-making.Publication Brazil Low Carbon Case Study : Transport(Washington, DC, 2011)This report summarizes the results for the transportation sector from a larger study, the low carbon study for Brazil, developed by the World Bank as part of its initiative to support the integrated efforts of Brazil to reduce global and national greenhouse gases emissions, while promoting long-term development. The study covers four key areas with potential low carbon options: 1) Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), including deforestation, 2) transport systems, 3) production and use of energy, particularly electricity, oil, gas and bio fuels, and 4) municipal waste, solids and liquids. This study aims to underpin Brazil's efforts to explore methods for reducing total emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) arising from all areas of human activity. More specifically, this study seeks to highlight low-carbon alternatives for Brazil´s transport sector. These alternatives could contribute positively to the world's climate, as well as benefit Brazil's socio-economic development. The technical inputs for evaluating potential carbon emissions reduction will be submitted to the Brazilian government to assist it in the design and deployment of joint planning strategies in key sectors, including transport. To ensure that the study targets the most important areas, it adopts an overarching approach. 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