Substituting a tramway to a bus line in Paris: Costs and benefits

In Paris, an old bus line on the Maréchaux Boulevards has been replaced by a modern tramway. Simultaneously, the road-space has been narrowed by about a third. A survey of 1000 users of the tramway shows that the tramway hardly generated any shift from private cars towards public transit mode. However, it did generate important intra-mode transfers: from bus and subway towards tramway, and from Maréchaux boulevards towards the Périphérique (the Paris ring road) for cars. The various benefits and costs of these changes are evaluated. The welfare gains made by public transport users are more than compensated by the time losses of the motorists, and in particular, by the additional cost of road congestion on the Périphérique. The same conclusion applies with regard to CO2 emissions: the reductions caused by the replacement of buses and the elimination of a few cars trips are less important than the increased pollution caused by the lengthening of the automobile trips and increased congestion on the ring road. Even if one ignores the initial investment of 350 M[euro], the social impact of the project, as measured by its net present value is negative. This is especially true for suburbanites. The inhabitants (and electors) of Paris pocket the main part of the benefits while supporting a fraction of the costs.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X11000254
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/29485010
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from Elsevier
• Authors:
  • Prud'homme, Remy
  • Koning, Martin
  • Kopp, Pierre
• Publication Date: 2011-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 563-572
• Serial:
  • Transport Policy
  • Volume: 18
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0967-070X
  • Serial URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/096707X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Beltways; Benefit cost analysis; Bus lines; Carbon dioxide; Modal shift; Traffic congestion; Trolley cars; Welfare economics
• Geographic Terms: Paris (France)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01342097
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Jun 21 2011 9:27AM