The report indicates that an intensified emphasis on economic instruments targeting private car traffic for the transition to an environmentally sustainable transport system in the transport policy of many Western countries has led to increased interest in these instruments in accessibility research. Characteristic of the literature under review is that the expected consequences of these instruments are discussed in relation to empirical results from accessibility studies, but the instruments as such have not yet been the object of empirical research within this field to any large extent. Throughout the literature the economic instruments are regarded as increasing inequities in transport in terms of accessibility. Essentially, the explanation offered is that the context in which these economic instruments operate, and which controls their outcomes, is a society that is car-oriented in respect of land use patterns and transport infrastructure. This means that groups whose finances are under strain face severe barriers in accessing society’s goods and services and in reaching a reasonable standard of living and quality of life without using a car to get around. Accessibility research does not reject the economic instruments as such. What it criticizes is that these instruments do not seem to be accompanied by wide-ranging changes in land use planning and investment in alternative transport infrastructure. According to the literature it is precisely this gap that can be expected to increase inequities in transportation. To prevent this happening, equity and accessibility objectives need to be strengthened in the transition work towards environmentally sustainable transportation. Accessibility research emphasizes that knowledge is generally poor on car reliance and the accessibility of alternative modes, how accessibility is distributed across individuals and groups with different transport conditions and needs, in conjunction with land use patterns and transport infrastructure. The lack of knowledge is partly due to that accessibility requires analysis of empirical factors which have traditionally been considered not belonging to the transport sector. In much transportation research the focus is on movement as such. This focus also characterizes R&D on economic instruments, thus resulting in investigating equity and distributional effects of mobility. Accessibility requires the study of how people’s travel is linked to how society is organized in space and time. In order to investigate equity and distributional effects of economic instruments in terms of accessibility, models and methods that can handle sociospatial conditions need to be applied, such as the development within accessibility research on social impact assessments and accessibility planning. (Author/publisher) This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://www.vti.se/en/publications/economic-instruments-for-greening-of-…
Abstract