Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working papers in Transport Economics,
CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI)
No 2016:13: Explaining “peak car” with economic variables
Anne Bastian (), Maria Börjesson () and Jonas Eliasson ()
Additional contact information
Anne Bastian: KTH, Postal: Centrum för Transportstudier (CTS), Teknikringen 10, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Maria Börjesson: KTH, Postal: Centrum för Transportstudier (CTS), Teknikringen 10, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Jonas Eliasson: KTH, Postal: Centrum för Transportstudier (CTS), Teknikringen 10, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract: Many western countries have seen a plateau and subsequent decrease of car travel during the 21st century. What has generated particular interest and debate is the statement that the development cannot be explained by changes in traditional explanatory factors such as GDP and fuel prices. Instead, it has been argued, the observed trends are indications of substantial changes in lifestyles, preferences and attitudes to car travel; what we are experiencing is not just a temporary plateau, but a true “peak car”. However, this study shows that the traditional variables GDP and fuel price are in fact enough to explain the observed trends in car traffic in all the countries included in our study: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden and (to a large extent) Australia and Germany. We argue that the importance of the fuel price increases in the early 2000’s has been underappreciated in the studies that shaped the later debate. Results also indicate that GDP elasticities tend to decrease with rising GDP, and that fuel price elasticities tend to increase at high price levels and during periods of rapid price increases.
Keywords: Peak car; Fuel price elasticity; GDP elasticity; Travel demand
JEL-codes: D61; H54; R41; R42; R48
24 pages, April 19, 2016
Full text files
CTS2016-13.pdf
- Published as
- Anne Bastian, Maria Börjesson and Jonas Eliasson, (2016), 'Explaining “peak car” with economic variables', Transportation Research A, vol 88, pages 236-250
- CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI)
- VTI
- KTH
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