Roundtables on Transport Economics     Better Economic Regulation: The Role of the Regulator. Round Table 150 Efficient provision of transport infrastructure is critical to economic growth. The long asset lives of much transport infrastructure indicates governance through regulation, rather than through contract or public ownership. This can ensure predictability in long-term relationships whilst preserving some flexibility to deal with changes in external circumstances. The transparency created by a fully independent regulator is invaluable for ensuring sufficient investment is forthcoming, while maintaining reasonable conditions for user access. Discussion at the Roundtable focussed on how to achieve effective independent regulation and how to reconcile independence with the legitimate control of policy by the executive part of government. Summary and Conclusions 117 pages; OECD, Paris, May 2011 €31 ;  $44 ;  £28 ;  ¥4000 ISBN 978-92-821-0327-2 Other languages:         Improving the Practice of Transport Project Appraisal. Round Table 149 Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is indispensable for making good decisions on what transport projects to fund. It essentially aims to figure out which projects offer the best value for money. However, the practical relevance of CBA does not always live up to its appeal in principle. One problem is that there is sometimes disagreement over what to include in CBA, both on the cost side and the benefits side of the analysis. As a result, value for money is not always fully transparent. More politically, value for money is only a partial criterion for decision-making, leading to disagreement about the relative importance of the results from CBA compared to other inputs to the decision-making process.. This report examines the extent to which these shortcomings can be addressed. In terms of what to include in CBA, discussion focuses on equity and distributional impacts, productivity effects, agglomeration benefits and external costs. The focus then turns to how best to present guidance on project selection to decision makers. The report includes papers on the way CBA is used in three countries – France, Mexico and the United Kingdom – and how it is evolving in response to changing policy priorities. Summary and Conclusions 112 pages; OECD, Paris, April 2011 €43 ;  $60 ;  £38 ;  ¥5500 ISBN 978-92-821-0129-2 Other languages:         Stimulating Low-Carbon Vehicle Technologies. Round Table 148 Governments around the world are increasingly intervening in automobile markets to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions of CO2 from new vehicles. This report reviews the rationale for such intervention and examines measures for maximum effectiveness and minimum cost. The Round Table brought together economists, policy makers and auto engineers with the aim of advancing understanding of why car markets currently fail to deliver sufficient fuel economy. It started by questioning whether any additional measures would be necessary once an appropriate price for carbon dioxide is established via fuel taxes. It confirmed that there are indeed market imperfections that merit additional government intervention. Fuel economy and CO2 regulations are an essential part of the package. The key to maximising the benefits of such regulations is long-term planning. The longer the timeframe, the less industry investment is handicapped by uncertainty. Subsidies to electric vehicles are more problematic because of the risks of prematurely picking winning technologies and creating subsidy dependence. And electricity production has yet to be decarbonised. However, intervention to steer innovation in this direction is merited so long as the risks of not attaining climate policy targets are seen as higher than the risks of intervention. Summary and Conclusions 164 pages; OECD, Paris, January 2011 €65 ;  $91 ;  £58 ;  ¥8400 ISBN 978-92-821-0291-6         Implementing Congestion Charges. Round Table 147 Recent advances in the scientific understanding of urban traffic congestion have only strengthened the already solid case for congestion charges as an element of a successful urban transport policy. But examples of real-world congestion charging systems remain few and far between. What can be done to improve the chances of their more widespread adoption in practice? This report draws lessons from attempts to introduce congestion charges. Technology is not an obstacle, and technologies should serve policy purposes instead of define them. Charging systems are not cheap and thus should only be used where congestion is severe. Public acceptance is seen to be the key to successful implementation. Although environmental benefits and careful deployment of toll revenues may improve acceptance, a charging system should never lose sight of its principal aim, which is to reduce congestion. Summary and Conclusions 147 pages; OECD, Paris, September 2010 €65 ;  $91 ;  £58 ;  ¥8400 ISBN 978-92-821-0284-8         Integration and Competition between Transport and Logistics Businesses. Round Table 146 Some very large multinational transport and logistics firms have emerged to provide integrated transport services to shippers in the globalised economy. Do these firms escape regulatory oversight from national competition authorities because of their sheer scale? Do they pose additional threats to competition when they merge with or acquire other companies in the supply chain? The Round Table brought competition experts together with researchers on maritime shipping, rail freight and logistics to identify critical competition issues and appropriate regulatory responses. An examination of the strategies of transport and logistics companies reveals that vertical integration can yield efficiencies but usually reflects a need to improve the use of expensive fixed assets rather than control all parts of the supply chain. This usually explains why shipping lines acquire terminal operators. Horizontal acquisitions, where similar companies serving the same market merge, are more likely to raise competition concerns. Problems are particularly prone to arise at bottleneck infrastructure facilities. The Round Table report provides an economic framework for examining competition in global transport and logistics businesses, it discusses the adequacy of the remedies available to regulators when competition is threatened and explores the role of competition authorities and Transport Ministries in ensuring markets are efficient. Summary and Conclusions 184 pages; OECD, Paris, March 2010 €65 ;  $91 ;  £58 ;  ¥6.400 ISBN 978-92-821-0259-6         Competitive Interaction between Airports, Airlines and High-Speed Rail Round Table 145 How should airports be regulated to contain market power? This report first examines whether they need to be regulated at all. It concluded that because regulation is inevitably imperfect and costly, policy makers should establish conditions for competition to emerge between airports in preference to comprehensive regulation, whenever possible. Economic regulation is sometimes necessary, such as when airports are heavily congested. The report determines which approaches are likely to work best and also assesses strategies for managing greenhouse gas emissions. It finds that although including aviation in an open emission trading scheme could help mitigate emissions efficiently across the economy, it should not be expected to produce major cuts in CO2 emissions in aviation itself. Finally the report identifies the economic conditions under which high-speed rail can provide a competitive substitute for aviation, revealing the limited relevance of rail to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from this part of the transport market. Summary and Conclusions 208 pages; OECD, Paris, November 2009 €70 ;  $94 ;  £59 ;  ¥8.700 ISBN 978-92-821-0245-9         Terrorism and International Transport: Towards Risk-Based Security Policy Round Table 144 Security is critical to transport systems as they are often appealing targets for terrorist attacks. The significant costs of potential damage make effective security policies a key concern for transport decision makers. This Round Table examines the contribution economic analysis can make to improving security. The analysis covers the impact of uncertainty in assessing security policies and on the cost effectiveness of security measures in aviation and maritime shipping. Much can be criticised in current policies, which are often seen as unduly expensive and inadequately assessed. This Round Table identifies methods for quantifying the benefits of security measures and assessing their effectiveness, and examines techniques to allocate resources to targeting the highest risks. Applying these techniques would achieve better levels of security with current resources. Summary and Conclusions 150 pages; OECD, Paris, May 2009 €50 ;  $67;  £42 ;  ¥6200 ISBN 978-92-821-0231-2         Port Competition and Hinterland Connections Round Table 143 This Round Table discusses the policy and regulatory challenges posed by the rapidly changing port environment. The sector has changed tremendously in recent decades with technological and organisational innovation and a powerful expansion of trade. Although ports serve hinterlands that now run deep into continents, competition among ports is increasingly intense and their bargaining power in the supply chain has consequently weakened. Integration of supply-chain operations on a global scale has greatly increased productivity but raises issues of both competition and sustainability. Concentration among shipping lines and terminal operators may generate market power. National competition authorities have the power to address this but might not fully appreciate the international dimension. Greater port throughput meets with decreasing resistance from local communities because of pollution and congestion. In addition, local regulation is warranted but made difficult by the distribution of bargaining power among stakeholders. Higher-level authorities could develop more effective policies. Summary and Conclusions 176 pages; OECD, Paris, July 2009 €52 ;  $69.60;  £44 ;  ¥6480 ISBN 978-92-821-0224-4     The Cost and Effectiveness of Policies to Reduce Vehicle Emissions Round Table 142 Transport sector policies already contribute to moderating greenhouse gas emissions from road vehicles. They are increasingly designed to contribute to overall societal targets to mitigate climate change. While abatement costs in transport are relatively high, there are plausible arguments in favour of further abatement in this sector. Fuel taxes are a good instrument. Fuel economy standards are potentially justified because of the limited performance of markets in terms of improving fuel economy. The empirical basis to decide upon combinations of fuel economy standards and fuel taxes, however, remain weak. This Round Table Fuel taxes are a good instrument. Fuel economy standards are potentially justified because of the limited performance of markets in terms of improving fuel economy. The empirical basis to decide upon combinations of fuel economy standards and fuel taxes, however, remain weak. Summary and Conclusions 180 pages; OECD, Paris, December 2008 €65 ;  $92 ;  £50 ;  ¥9.700 ISBN 978-92-821-0212-1         Privatisation and Regulation of Urban Transit System. Round Table 141 Urban public transport services generally run at a large deficit. This has led public authorities to seek efficiencies, notably through private sector involvement. Private entry is complicated by the essential network characteristics of public transport, with parts of the network potentially profitable and others perennially unprofitable. Support for the sector traditionally seeks to provide basic mobility services to all segments of society, including low-income users. Intervention is also required to manage the natural tendency towards concentration and market power in the provision of these transport services. Policy towards urban public transport is increasingly aimed at managing congestion on the roads and mitigating CO2 emissions by substituting for travel by car. The sprawl of cities complicates the regulatory environment as responsibilities tend to be split among different institutional levels. Achieving coherent transport networks that are efficient and financially sustainable is a challenge for any public authority. This Round Table examines experience in integrating private management and capital with public transport policy objectives in a number of developed economies. For network operators, the Round Table concludes that innovation is the key to surviving the rapidly changing policy and regulatory environment. 152 pages; OECD, Paris, October 2008 €50 ;  $77;  £39 ;  ¥8 000 ISBN 978-92-821-0199-5         The Wider Economic Benefits of Transport Macro-, Meso- and Micro-Economic Transport Planning and Investment Tools Round Table 140 The standard cost-benefit analysis of transport infrastructure investment projects weighs a project's costs against users' benefits. This approach has been challenged on the grounds that it ignores wider economic impacts of such projects. Since there is empirical evidence that these effects can be substantial, relying on the standard approach potentially produces misleading results. At the International Transport Forum Round Table, leading academics and practitioners addressed these concerns and examined a range of potential approaches for evaluating wider impacts - negative as well as positive. They concluded that for smaller projects, it is better to focus on timely availability of results, even if this means forgoing sophisticated analysis of wider impacts. For larger projects or investment programs, customized analysis of these effects is more easily justifiable. Creating consistent appraisal procedures is a research priority. Summary and Conclusions 208 pages; OECD, Paris, July 2008 €75 ;  $116 ;  £54 ;  ¥10.400 ISBN 978-92-821-0160-5         Oil Dependence: Is Transport Running Out of Affordable Fuel? Round Table 139 Oil consumption is increasingly concentrated in transport, and relatively limited fluctuations in transport demand can have increasingly significant effects on oil prices. Oil prices rose to all time highs at the beginning of 2008, exceeding $100 a barrel for the first time since the 1979 oil crisis. The underlying driver was demand for oil from rapidly developing economies and especially China, where transport accounts for the largest part of oil consumption. OPEC market power is increasing as production of conventional oil outside OPEC has reached a plateau. Oil from tar sands in Canada and elsewhere is available in very large quantities, and is competitive at sustained prices above $40 a barrel. But processing such oil doubles CO2 emissions on a well-to-wheels basis compared to using conventional oil to fuel transport. This Round Table assesses the policy instruments available to address oil security and climate change and examines their interaction with measures to manage congestion and mitigate local air pollution. A number of incompatibilities and trade-offs are identified underlining the importance of integrated policy-making. This report includes an examination of the factors that drive oil prices in the short and long term and a discussion of the outlook for oil supply. Summary and Conclusions 210 pages; OECD, Paris, May 2008 €75 ;  $116 ;  £54 ;  ¥10.400 ISBN 978-92-821-0121-6 Free PDF                       Biofuels: Linking Support to Performance. Round Table 138 Biofuels received USD 15 billion in subsidies on OECD Member countries in 2007, but did they deliver benefits in terms of climate change or oil security? Present policies make no link between support for biofuels and their environmental performance, and biofuels do not all perform equally well. In fact, much of the current ethanol and biodiesel production may result in higher overall emissions of greenhouse gases than using conventional transport fuels - gasoline and diesel. The papers published in this report examine the economics of biofuels and assess the potential of conventional biofuel production in OECD countries, Brazilian ethanol exports and some second generation biofuels to supply world markets with transport fuels. This Round Table analyses the critical issues for governments in determining support for biofuels, particularly the level of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the life-cycle of these fuels and the wider environmental impacts of farming biomass. It also reviews recent progress in developing certification systems for biofuels - an essential tool for tying support to achievement in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, although certification cannot be expected to prevent rainforest destruction for the development of biofuels crop plantations. The report concludes with a short list of recommendations for policy reform if support for biofuels is to contribute effectively to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Summary and Conclusions 224 pages; OECD, Paris, March 2008 €75 ;  $105 ;  £54 ;  ¥10 400 ISBN 978-92-821-0179-7 Free PDF