Designing a carbon-trading incentive scheme for mode shifts in multi-modal transport systems

Authors

Bing Liu
Xiaolei Ma
Wei Liu
Zhenliang Ma

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2024

Subject Area

economics - revenue, economics - value of time, policy - environment, ridership - behaviour, ridership - commuting, ridership - mode choice, technology - emissions, planning - travel demand management, planning - methods

Keywords

Travel demand management, greenhouse gas emissions, mode shift

Abstract

The pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions triggers the imperative for efficient travel demand management. Previous studies have explored budget-based and aggregated incentive programs, which place a significant financial burden on governments and tend to be limited in contributing to effective behavior change in practice due to budget issues. This study proposes a personal carbon trading travel incentive (PCTTI) mechanism, to encourage private car commuters shifting to using public transit. The incentive budget for PCTTI is sourced from the revenue generated through selling carbon emission reductions resulting from commuters’ travel mode shifts. To determine the optimal incentives, we developed an incentive scheme optimization model based on the Stackelberg game model. Numerical analysis reveals the significant potential of the PCTTI to reduce carbon emissions and travel costs across various scenarios within a multi-modal transportation system. This potential is evident amidst changes in the fixed costs of car travel, carbon trading prices, the use of different travel modes, the value of time, and the prevalence of electric vehicles. The advantages are most pronounced when the carbon trading price exceeds 40 CNY/ton, and when the usage of public transit, the value of time, and the proportion of electric vehicles each fall below 0.4, 50 CNY/hour, and 0.4, respectively.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transportation Research Part E Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13665545

Recommended Citation

Liu, B., Ma, X., Liu, W., & Ma, Z. (2024). Designing a carbon-trading incentive scheme for mode shifts in multi-modal transport systems. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 192, 103789.