Presentations on public transport usage and truck transport costs

At the congress, Joschka Flintz presented joint work with Mark Andor and Colin Vance from RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research on the effects of temporarily free public transport on individual mobility behavior. The study is based on a field experiment with around 420 participants whose mobility behavior was recorded over a three-month period using a smartphone app. Within the sample, a randomly selected group received a free monthly public transport ticket. Initial findings suggest that the ticket increased the use of public transport by about two trips per month. However, this effect was not accompanied by a corresponding reduction in car use and did not persist once the validity period had ended.

Martin Simmler presented initial insights from a joint study with Damiaan Persyn on the impact of road freight transport costs on traffic flows and local economic activity. The authors exploit the 2018 expansion of Germany’s truck toll network and simulate corresponding changes in transport costs arising when goods are moved between municipalities. The results indicate a significant decline in truck traffic in response to higher costs. Moreover, the findings point to negative employment effects in material-intensive industries, partly explained by a regional relocation of economic activity.

Contact: Dr. Martin Simmler