The role of land base freight transports in a uniform climate policy

Purpose and goal

This is a three years project, which aims to providing a better understanding for how climate policy instruments influence land based goods transports. In contrast to many earlier studies in this field, this project focuses on the actual characteristics of the transport sector and effects thereof. The project shall lead to results of importance for designing a uniform, cost effective, and well-functioning climate policy. The project is a collaboration between VTI and Örebro University with close interactions with actors in the transport sector.

Results and expected effects

In the short run, the project is expected to yield: * Improved input for transport policy, both through a better understanding of the micro structures in the land based good transportation field and through improvements of the national freight model. * A better understanding of how the transportation sector may be influenced by climate policy measures. * As a consequence, a more efficient use of the society´s resources through, e.g., a less costly design of the climate policy geared towards the transport sector. The expected deliverables include: * At least one scientific paper that systematically describes circumstances in the transport sector of importance for policy design * At least one, probably two or more, scientific papers that use economic theory to explain how our observations influence the efficiency and cost effectiveness of different climate policy measures. * At least one scientific paper dealing with the national freight models ability to model implementation of policy measures. * One report that summarizes our major findings for a policy audience.

Approach and implementation

The project begins by studying the relevant market. This part is mainly conducted by PhD-students at Örebro University. The results from that part builds the foundation for the following empirical and theoretical studies.