Lessons from EU research projects

1
Lessons from EU research projects

• Catharina Sikow-Magny
• DG TREN

2
Major milestones in the policy process
Eurovignette
Revision
Rail
Norway, Singapore, motorway tolls
London, Durham, Switzerland, Austria, Stockholm,
Germany, UK
4th and 5th Framework transport research
programmes
3
Research on infrastructure charging

• 4th 5th Framework transport research programmes
• 6th FP about to start
• App. 25 projects or 25 M
• From theory and cost derivation to implementation
  and demonstrations

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7 Questions

• What is marginal cost pricing?
• How to estimate monetary values of intangibles?
• What are the benefits of efficient pricing?
• Does pricing has an impact in real life?
• Can pricing schemes be made acceptable?
• What to do with revenues?
• How to finance investments?

5
Lessons from research (1)

• Marginal cost pricing leads to efficient use of
  transport system (TRENEN, PETS)
• Marginal costs can be calculated and comprise
  (ExternE, TRENEN, PETS, FISCUS, UNITE, RECORDIT,
  FP6)
• Wear tear of infrastructure
• Congestion and scarcity
• Environmental damage
• Accidents

6
Lessons from research (2)

• Main obstacle public and political acceptability
  (AFFORD, PATS, MC-ICAM)
• Simple technological solutions are feasible and
  deliver a big share of theoretical benefits, cf.
  London (TRENEN, CONCERT-P, DESIRE)
• Policy packaging an effective solution in real
  world (FATIMA, SPECTRUM, FP6)

7
Lessons from research (2bis)

• Modelling demonstration projects to show
  benefits (PETS, TRENEN, AFFORD CONCERT-P,
  PROGRESS, CIVITAS)
• Stepwise implementation to (MC-ICAM, FP6)
• gain acceptance
• learn about distributional effects
• to give time to adapt

8
Lessons from research (3)

• Efficient financing with Ramsey-pricing or
  two-part tariffs (REVENUE, FP6)
• Congestion pricing to finance capacity expansion
• Charges on environmental damage to reduce
  distortive taxes
• Ear-marking of revenues often in practice

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Principles of the EC long term charging policy

• Based on user-pays and polluter-pays
  principles
• External costs internalisation
• infrastructure, congestion scarcity, accident,
  environment
• Ensure a more efficient and incentive-led
  infrastructure use
• Provide new financial resources
• Ramsey-pricing, two-part tariffs
• Non discriminatory.

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Issues for further research

• Pricing financing - acceptability
• Pricing incentives to producers behavioural
  changes of users
• Private sector public sector production
• Pricing long-term impacts (location)
  geographical and social equity
• Mitigation measures

11
Issues for further policy

• Urban experimentation interoperability
• Road cost recovery ratio by region price
  differentiation according to vehicle type, place
  and time of day
• Rail environmental scarcity costs
• Air charge differentiation, level
• Maritime charge differentiation, level