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ticle looks at how the focus of transport policy has shifted away from
generating revenue toward the aim of internalising the external costs of transport,
ensuring that road users pay the full social and environmental costs of transport use. The
article shows that road transport is underpriced and quotes a figure of 27% as the
proportion of cost that is borne by car users when factors such as congestion and
environmental damage are priced into the analysis. Furthermore, it is argued that the
perceptions of internal costs are inaccurate, which could be relevant in explaining why
some policies do not result in the outcome expected. This article is relevant to the
research topic as it covers the theoretical foundations that any research into this area must
rest upon. Moreover, discussion of the difficulty of quantifying external costs, especially
relating to the environment, and the risks that rises in transport costs pose to the wider
economy, provides an important perspective from which the topic should be addressed.
The econometric analysis carried out by Ryan et al., (2009) provides a comprehensive
review of the fiscal and other measures used by European Union (EU) countries in
relation to CO2 emissions from passenger cars. They analysed the impact of these
measures on car sales and CO2 emissions intensity using evidence for the period 1995 –
2004. This article is important to the research topic because when looking at the policy
measures used by the UK to reduce CO2 emissions the influence of EU policy and
initiatives need to be considered. The EU policies comprise the following three areas,
firstly, voluntary agreements with vehicle manufactures to reduce CO2 emissions through
improved technologies, secondly, improving consumer information on fuel efficiency and
thirdly, fiscal policies such as vehicle related taxes to influence consumer choice in the
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direction of fuel-efficient cars. This last policy is particularly important, as there is a
proposal for a directive on the alignment of member state vehicle taxes. Furthermore, the
methodology used by Ryan et al., is relevant to the development of an econometric model
to analyse the research question. Their work attempts to determine which variables are
the most important in influencing the intensity of CO2 emissions from new cars. As well
as considering technical characteristics of cars they also consider demand side variables,
such as vehicle prices and taxes, and socio-economic factors that affect consumers’
choice of cars. Their results show that taxes on vehicles and fuel are significant in
reducing CO2 emissions and that the voluntary agreement with manufacturers is not
significant, although they recommend further research into the latter. They conclude that
more action needs to be taken if targets are to be met, thus supporting the relevance of
research into this area and its relevance to current debates.
The Department for Transport’s (2008) paper on the results of the National Transport
Model is a highly relevant source of information for the research topic. This paper reports
the results of the National Transport Model, which is an econometric forecasting model
incorporating all modes of passenger transport, and provides the most recent forecasts for
the UK regarding traffic growth, congestion and emissions. Chapter 2 of the report is
particularly r