The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic
The expansion of high-speed passenger rail service is often argued as a potentially effective, lower-carbon substitute for intercity air travel. Previous studies on the impact of high-speed rail on air travel in Europe and Asia have primarily examined the impact of travel time and price on market sh...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Elsevier
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110725 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6941-2124 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8624-7041 |
| _version_ | 1826204233394814976 |
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| author | Clewlow, Regina Ruby Lee Sussman, Joseph M Balakrishnan, Hamsa |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Clewlow, Regina Ruby Lee Sussman, Joseph M Balakrishnan, Hamsa |
| author_sort | Clewlow, Regina Ruby Lee |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The expansion of high-speed passenger rail service is often argued as a potentially effective, lower-carbon substitute for intercity air travel. Previous studies on the impact of high-speed rail on air travel in Europe and Asia have primarily examined the impact of travel time and price on market share for a specific city pair (or a handful of city pairs). There has been little focus on the extent to which high-speed rail (HSR) has reduced total short-haul air travel demand (versus market share), or on the potential impacts of high-speed rail on system-wide air travel demand. This paper presents an empirical, econometric analysis of air travel demand in Europe, utilizing an expanded data set to explore: (1) the impact of rail travel times, population density, and market characteristics on air traffic; and (2) the impact of high-speed rail and low-cost-carriers on system-wide air traffic. Although improvements in rail travel times have resulted in reductions in short-haul air travel, variations in city and airport characteristics significantly influence the substitution between air and rail. This paper also finds that HSR substitution has resulted in a modest reduction in system-wide air travel demand, whereas the expansion of low-cost carriers has led to a significant increase in total European air traffic. As concerns about the climate impacts of transportation grow, these results have significant implications for future transport and energy policy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:51:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/110725 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:51:02Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1107252022-10-01T11:32:25Z The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic Clewlow, Regina Ruby Lee Sussman, Joseph M Balakrishnan, Hamsa Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Sussman, Joseph M. Clewlow, Regina Ruby Lee Sussman, Joseph M Balakrishnan, Hamsa The expansion of high-speed passenger rail service is often argued as a potentially effective, lower-carbon substitute for intercity air travel. Previous studies on the impact of high-speed rail on air travel in Europe and Asia have primarily examined the impact of travel time and price on market share for a specific city pair (or a handful of city pairs). There has been little focus on the extent to which high-speed rail (HSR) has reduced total short-haul air travel demand (versus market share), or on the potential impacts of high-speed rail on system-wide air travel demand. This paper presents an empirical, econometric analysis of air travel demand in Europe, utilizing an expanded data set to explore: (1) the impact of rail travel times, population density, and market characteristics on air traffic; and (2) the impact of high-speed rail and low-cost-carriers on system-wide air traffic. Although improvements in rail travel times have resulted in reductions in short-haul air travel, variations in city and airport characteristics significantly influence the substitution between air and rail. This paper also finds that HSR substitution has resulted in a modest reduction in system-wide air travel demand, whereas the expansion of low-cost carriers has led to a significant increase in total European air traffic. As concerns about the climate impacts of transportation grow, these results have significant implications for future transport and energy policy. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). Grant OISE-738129) 2017-07-17T15:53:12Z 2017-07-17T15:53:12Z 2014-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0967-070X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110725 Clewlow, Regina R., Joseph M. Sussman, and Hamsa Balakrishnan. “The Impact of High-Speed Rail and Low-Cost Carriers on European Air Passenger Traffic.” Transport Policy 33 (2014): 136–143. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6941-2124 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8624-7041 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.01.015 Transport Policy Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier Prof. Sussman |
| spellingShingle | Clewlow, Regina Ruby Lee Sussman, Joseph M Balakrishnan, Hamsa The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic |
| title | The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic |
| title_full | The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic |
| title_fullStr | The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic |
| title_short | The impact of high-speed rail and low-cost carriers on European air passenger traffic |
| title_sort | impact of high speed rail and low cost carriers on european air passenger traffic |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110725 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6941-2124 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8624-7041 |
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