- Potentials and effects of a European-wide CO2-Certificate Trading Scheme upon road traffic in Austria (MACZE)    click here to open paper content202 kb
by    Stark, Juliane & Dietrich, Tobias & Maier; Sammer, Lechner; Sonntag; | juliane.stark@boku.ac.at   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
Road transport is responsible for about 30% of Austrian carbon dioxide emissions. A pan-European CO2-Certificate trading system could reduce these emissions to a fixed limit (e.g., Kyoto targets). The paper deals with the effects on traffic behaviour.
Abstract
Road transport is responsible for about 30% of Austrian carbon dioxid emissions. Considering the actual Kyoto targets and the trend of increasing traffic volume, promising strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have to be found. Financial measures might be unpopular but effective for restraining the use of private cars which leads to the question of the potential, risks and consequences of a European-wide CO2-Certificate trading system in the transport sector. Effects of such a trading system on the Austrian road traffic will be estimated within the research project ''MACZE'' (funded by the federal ''Klima- und Energiefonds''). The transdisciplinary project consortium consists of the Institute for Transport Studies (University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna) and the Institute for Regional Development and Environment (Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Therefore a quantitative model will be designed to assess the effects on road traffic for different scenarios, consisting of two parts: On the one hand an econometric fuel consumption model will be developed describing the relation between fuel consumption, fuel price and availability of CO2-certificates. On the other hand an econometric traffic demand model will be developed describing the relation between traffic demand (in urban, suburban and rural regions) and fuel price from the user’s point of view.

To derive relevant parameters (travel behaviour variables), a stated preference analysis is conducted. The analysis includes in-depth interviews with car users. The target persons are faced with different fuel price scenarios and have to decide hypothetically (discrete choice) how they will react on specific circumstances (theory of individual utility maximisation).

To gain insider information and feedback in terms of barriers and factors of success, a focus group analysis will follow considering relevant actors in the transport sector.
Keywords
Road transport; carbon dioxid emissions; travel behaviour;
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2009: Low Carbon Cities
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