The postal market today is characterized by a change in emphasis from delivery of written items to delivery of parcels. When volumes shift from previously monopolized markets to more competitive areas, concerns grow about how to maintain and finance the universal service obligation (USO).

The price elasticity of demand for different postal products varies. To generate sufficient revenues to meet the overall budget target while minimizing welfare losses, regulators may employ Ramsey pricing: that the relative difference between price and marginal cost should be inversely proportional to the price elasticity of each product. The quantity for each product with marginal cost pricing and linear demand will be k% higher than the sales of that product under Ramsey pricing. The required markup over marginal cost for each product relative to the elasticity of demand to cover costs depends on the economies of scale, the average price elasticity, and the differences in price elasticity of the goods in question.

In this chapter, we show how Ramsey pricing can be applied, and its effects on profitability and welfare with numbers from Sweden. We compare the benefits of this type of pricing to other alternatives as a compensation fund or a subsidy. Regardless of which methods of financing are used, some forms of regulated prices based on Ramsey pricing are beneficial from both welfare and financing points of view.

In the postal industry, applying Ramsey pricing can contribute to the financing of the USO, seen as a common cost, and at least prolong the time before other types of financing are needed while minimizing welfare losses. To achieve the benefits, adjustments in regulation may be needed, such as promoting long-run cost adjustments, removing too strict price-caps, and requiring that each single product covers only its own costs.

It is widely recognized that the transport system contributes significantly to current environmental problems such as global warming, as well as to health issues caused by emissions and lack of exercise. For the transport system to contribute to sustainable development, the link between economic growth and growth in motorized transport must be broken. Since high population densities and shorter distances provide greater potential for efficient public transport as well as for walking and biking, the highest potential for change is in urban areas. As a large proportion of urban travel consists of home-to-work travel, such travel will be our focus in this paper. More specifically, this paper aims to analyze the factors that determine mode choice in situations where bicycle and walking are competitive options and to contribute to the knowledge of the conditions under which public transport can be a competitive alternative to the private car. The results of this study could be used to devise policies for reducing car dependency in urban areas. The results show that even if it is possible to attract new passengers to public transport through changes in the public transport system (i.e., reduced fares or reduced travel time) few of these new passengers will be shifting from private car use. To achieve a shift from private car to walking, bicycling or bus riding, such policies must be combined with restrictions (and/or cost increases) on car use.

Autonomous vehicles are currently developed, and are expected to be introducedgradually. Society needs a basis for decisions regarding market interventions.This study identifies, quantifies and values the benefits and costs ofautonomous trucks and cars considering generalized costs, external effectsand social marginal cost pricing to consumers with Swedish data. The resultsshow that the greatest benefits are saved driver costs for trucks and decreasedtravel time costs for car drivers. In the example calculations, capital costs mayincrease by 22 percent for cars and 36 percent for trucks for benefits to exceedcosts in 2025. Subsidies are not needed since the producers and consumersget the major benefits and pay the costs.

Syftet med denna studie är dels att utveckla principer och tillvägagångssätt för hur en samhällsekonomisk analys av förväntade nyttor och kostnader med växande andel trafik med självkörande fordon på det svenska vägnätet kan genomföras, dels att genomföra exempel-kalkyler för att undersöka vilka effekter som är betydande för sam-hällsekonomisk lönsamhet. Den analys som genomförs preciserar effekterna genom att i tur och ordning systematiskt identifiera, kvantifiera och värdera nyttor och kostnader av att transportarbetet i allt högre grad utförs av självkörande fordon. Kalkylen görs i ett medel-långt perspektiv för år2030 och ett långsiktigt för år2050 och baserar sig på några alternativa utvecklingsscenarier. Kalkylen görs för olika typer av trafik och jämförs med nollalternativ. Det råder stora osäkerheter kring en teknik som ännu inte är färdigutvecklad och tids-horisonten är lång. Därför ska resultaten tolkas mer som att indikera storleksordningar och visa vilka faktorer som är mer eller mindre betydelsefulla än som exakta sifferuppgifter.

CBA (Cost-Benefit Analysis) är en metod som på ett strukturerat sätt identifierar, kvantifierar och värderar olika effekter av en planerad åtgärd eller annan typ av förändring för att undersöka om nyttorna är större än kostnaderna orsakade av förändringen (Board-man et al., 2011). Metoden kan användas för att utforma ett besluts-underlag i fall där offentlig sektor överväger att själv producera på, finansiera eller reglera marknader. Utgångspunkten är nationalekonomisk välfärdsteori där målet är att maximera välfärden totalt för alla individer i samhället utifrån de begränsade resurser som finns. Det är individernas egna värderingar (vilja att betala för den aktuella åtgärden) som ska vara grunden.

Trafikverket genomför samhällsekonomiska lönsamhetskalkyler (den svenska termen för CBA) för alla större planerade investeringar i infrastruktur. Metoden är därmed i Sverige ganska utvecklad för att genomföra CBA inom transportområdet och det finns olika fram-tagna värden för effekter som restid, trafiksäkerhet och miljöeffekter av transporter. I den här studien tillämpas metoden i ett nytt samman-hang, varför vi i kapitel 2 redogör för de principer och tillvägagångs-sätt vi använder oss av. Nyttor och kostnader med SDV identifierar vi genom litteraturstudier, information från olika personer med expertkunskap samt egna bedömningar och antaganden. Vi använder oss i största möjliga mån av de samband och värden som används av Trafikverket och som rekommenderas av ASEK (Analysmetoder och samhällsekonomiska kalkylvärden för transportsektorn) (Trafik-verket, 2016).

Alla effekter är angivna i 2014 års penningvärde. Vissa värden för nyttor och kostnader uppskattas av ASEK (Trafikverket, 2016) att vara realt sett oförändrade i framtiden, vilket innebär att de har ett oförändrat pris år2030 och 2050 räknat i 2014 års penningvärde. Andra resurser antas realt sett öka i värde på grund av en ökad knapphet eller en ökad relativ värdering med ökad realinkomst. Vi utgår även från statistik och rapporter från främst Trafikanalys och projektet Samkost2 som har genomförts av VTI (2016) som under-lag för beräkningarna. Som utgångsläge använder vi år2015, efter-som utförlig statistik finns tillgänglig för detta år i flertalet källor.

I det följande kapitlet redogör vi för de övergripande principer och tillvägagångssätt vi använder i den samhällsekonomiska analysen. Kapitel3 och 4 presenterar i tur och ordning beräkningsunderlagen för analyserna av godstransporter och av persontransporter med personbil. I kapitel5 diskuterar vi effekter som är gemensamma för båda transportslagen. Kapitel6 presenterar våra exempelkalkyler. Ikapitel7 genomför vi känslighetsanalyser där vi varierar de mest kritiska antagandena för att se hur kalkylerna påverkas och kapitel8 sammanfattar de viktigaste slutsatserna.

Increased international trade, together with a growing concern about global emissions, raises demands to make transportation at sea more efficient. Most ways to reduce emissions will increase sea transportation costs. Dynamic route planning at sea is a concept that allows simultaneous emissions reduction and savings for ship owners. With route plans and coordination centres, ships may take shorter routes and adjust to more efficient speeds, instead of anchoring and then awaiting for berth. Using data from ships’ Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmitters, we measure the sailed distance, as well as the number and the anchored time for cargo (general cargo, bulk, container and RoRo) and tanker ships on a representative day in the Baltic Sea Region. Benefits and costs are estimated using unit prices for emissions and other costs. We find that the benefits of dynamic route planning outweigh its costs; the most decisive factors are (i) by how much distances are reduced and (ii) the unit values of emissions. For each percentage point distances that can be reduced, benefits are estimated at €102 million per year. Adding benefits of adjusted arrival times and subtracting estimated costs, net gains are found in the range of €84–98 million per year. The availability of AIS data provides new opportunities to quantify the traffic at sea and evaluate proposals to make sea transportation more efficient. The methodology can, apparently, be applied to other areas with dense sea traffic.

Grocery stores, especially local stores in rural areas, are decreasing in number. The closure of a local grocery store may be caused by a market failure due to consumers’ inability to coordinate their behaviour. This study develops a questionnaire method to estimate the costs and benefits caused by the closure of a local grocery store. We explain why the closure of local grocery stores is a social dilemma for consumers, and we outline the costs and benefits of such closures identified in previous research. To quantify and evaluate the effects of local closures, we asked all households living in the market area of two recently closed local grocery stores detailed questions about their purchases of groceries before and after the closure of the local store. We also estimated their average willingness to pay to have access to a local grocery store. We present here a cost–benefit analysis for the two studied cases and discuss the ways to sustain local grocery stores.

On-going urbanization has led to greater distances between homes and workplaces and more long-distance commuting, increasing the need for efficient inter-urban transport infrastructure. For sustainability, trains are preferred to private cars.

Two key variables affecting door-to-door train travel time are in-vehicle time (IVT) and headway ; however, there is often a trade-off between speed and frequency in a system. If different categories of travellers value IVT and headway differently, their proportions on a route should affect traffic planning. Optimal system design might differ between routes carrying many commuters and routes carrying mainly passengers on single private or business trips. Knowledge of differences in relative valuations of headway versus IVT should therefore affect railway system design.

We investigate whether the relative values of headway versus IVT differ between inter- urban commuting by train and single inter-urban trips by train, whilst also examining differences between socioeconomic groups. Stated choice (SC) data from 580 Swedish respondents are used in estimation. Individuals actually commuting and individuals not commuting but imagining that they are when answering the SC questions are asked about their preferences for headway versus IVT.

Commuters are estimated to value increased headway 19 percentage points more than do non-commuters. Young people (under age 21 years) value headway more than do older people while people with children value headway less than do the childless.

Effects on the environment are rarely valued in planning infrastructure for different modes of transport. This can detract from optimal planning and fair competition, which might be better served by valuing environmental quality changes through actual travel time savings. New transport infrastructure often creates both positive and negative effects for the same groups of users, although to different degrees for different individuals. This paper illustrates a proposed methodology to investigate the effect of a planned transport infrastructure investment through a survey of potential users of the Haningeleden road project in Stockholm. Postal questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 2400 persons living in the affected area in May and June 2013, including detailed questions about their travel patterns and visiting frequencies, and whether, after reading a description of the proposed change, they would be in favour of the proposed change. The negative encroachment costs and the positive relief from traffic in other areas were estimated in travel time savings.