Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Thesis (M.P.P.)--Georgetown University, 2010.; Includes bibliographical references.; Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. Fuel demand is a function of spatial and economic state characteristics, including the extent of transit. Intuitively, since mass transit is a substitute for driving, increasing the availability of mass transit should reduce dependence on gasoline. Reducing gasoline consumption has become increasingly important in light of concerns for the environmental, fiscal, and national security implications of fuel consumption; recent legislative and budgetary policies have promoted this goal through increased transit funding. This paper evaluates the extent of the relationship between transit and gasoline consumption, measuring rail infrastructure as a dichotomous variable in addition to a continuous funding variable. The elasticity of fuel demand is measured as a function of population density, urbanization, income, and highway infrastructure. Transit funding is found to have a negative relationship to fuel demand that is much stronger in states with rail than those without. Similarly, highway infrastructure and higher levels of population density have a larger positive effect on fuel demand in the absence of rail infrastructure.
Author: Rebecca A. V. Searl
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2295341740