Congestion pricing, air pollution, and individual-level behavioral responses

Low Emission Zones and Traffic Congestion: Evidence from Madrid Central

“…Börjesson et al (2012) analyse the Stockholm congestion charge and show that, after 2008 when some vehicles were exempted from the toll, the sales of these vehicles increased. Focusing on Bergen, Isaksen and Bjorn (2021) find that commuters who were more exposed to the congestion charge on their way to work were more likely to purchase an electric vehicle. In addition, Percoco (2014) shows that Milan's Ecopass led to the same result.…”

“…It is true that the restrictions forbid access to some drivers, but LEZs has a non-trivial effect on traffic because of people's behavioural responses. In fact, the policy might lead to a fleet renewal (Börjesson et al, 2012;Isaksen & Bjorn, 2021;Percoco, 2014;Wolff, 2014), making the number of affected drivers lower than expected. Furthermore, if the area of implementation is small, it is not time-consuming for people to avoid the restricted area and just drive a bit longer, and thus overall traffic in the city might even increase.…”

Zero-Emission Delivery Zones: Decarbonizing Urban Freight and Goods Delivery in U.S. Cities

“…Source: a Lehe 2019; Isaksen and Johansen 2021;b Börjesson and Kristoffersson 2018;c Sánchez-Díaz et al 2017;d Fu and Jenelius 2018;e Morfeld et al 2014;f Holman et al 2015.…”

Tackling car emissions in urban areas: Shift, Avoid, Improve

“…Such interventions may be less costly in cities than in other areas, both because low-emission substitutes are more available in dense areas and because the benefits from avoided local pollution are likely to be greater (Carozzi and Roth, 2019;Creutzig et al, 2020). Nevertheless, policy proposals aiming at restricting the use of polluting cars in cities, whether motivated by air quality concerns or climate objectives, are controversial (Viegas, 2001;Delhaes and Kersting, 2019;Isaksen and Johansen, 2020;Bremner, 2021).…”