This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
We construct an extensive data set comprising all air and high-speed rail (HSR) routes in China. We estimate that commercial air travel emits seven times the carbon emissions per passenger kilometer than HSR. Results demonstrate a strong link between air travel and air carbon emissions. Increases in China's HSR routes have contributed to significant and large negative impacts on air travel and accompanying air carbon emissions. Mode substitution from air travel to HSR has led to an 18% decline in air carbon emissions in recent years, saving the environment an annual 12 million metric tons in net carbon emissions. We determine that a $35 carbon tax could generate an additional decline of air carbon emission of 6 million tons and a net reduction of 5.3 million tons. Hence, to lower carbon emissions, policymakers can consider a carbon tax and transport policies to encourage a modal shift from air travel to HSR.
Jack Strauss; Hongchang Li; Jinli Cui. High-speed Rail's impact on airline demand and air carbon emissions in China. Transport Policy 2021, 109, 85 -97.
AMA StyleJack Strauss, Hongchang Li, Jinli Cui. High-speed Rail's impact on airline demand and air carbon emissions in China. Transport Policy. 2021; 109 ():85-97.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJack Strauss; Hongchang Li; Jinli Cui. 2021. "High-speed Rail's impact on airline demand and air carbon emissions in China." Transport Policy 109, no. : 85-97.
While there is a rich body of literature on the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on aviation, research on railway speedup and the consequent environmental effects remains scarce. We apply an augmented gravity model to examine the effect of railway speedup on air travel demand and CO2 emissions for 546 city pairs from 2013 to 2017. We observe that, on average, railway weighted operation speed increased from 100.9 km/h in 2013 to 141.2 km/h in 2017. As railway operation speed increased by 39.94%, the number of airline passengers declined by 29.84% for all market segments. During the research period, about 104.92 million air passengers shifted to rail transport due to improved rail services driven by speed, leading to a reduction of 13.57 million tons of CO2 emissions. Our findings highlight the importance of optimizing transportation structure to reduce CO2 emissions.
Kemei Yu; Jack Strauss; Shuli Liu; Hongchang Li; Xujuan Kuang; Jianhong Wu. Effects of railway speed on aviation demand and CO2 emissions in China. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2021, 94, 102772 .
AMA StyleKemei Yu, Jack Strauss, Shuli Liu, Hongchang Li, Xujuan Kuang, Jianhong Wu. Effects of railway speed on aviation demand and CO2 emissions in China. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. 2021; 94 ():102772.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKemei Yu; Jack Strauss; Shuli Liu; Hongchang Li; Xujuan Kuang; Jianhong Wu. 2021. "Effects of railway speed on aviation demand and CO2 emissions in China." Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 94, no. : 102772.
There is little research on the impact of air cargo networks on regional economic development, which is especially notable considering that Chinese airlines gradually adjusted their networks after the introduction of high-speed rail (HSR). This empirical study aims to fill this research gap. Firstly, we used the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method to study the effect of the air cargo network on the regional economy. The results show that, in eastern and central China, the higher the clustering coefficient of the domestic air cargo network, the more significant their promotion effect becomes on the GDP per capita, with cities in eastern China benefitting the most from this effect. However, for super-scale cities, the clustering coefficient of the domestic air cargo network has a significant negative effect on the GDP per capita, which is likely because both the air and HSR passenger services crowd out the development opportunities for air cargo. Secondly, we applied the Difference-in-Difference (DID) method in order to measure the impact on the regional economy caused by air cargo under the impact of HSR. The results show that the aviation network adjusted for the impact of HSR produces heterogeneous effects on cities for different regions and scales, and that the international aviation network has greater impacts on cities than the domestic network. In eastern China, HSR and air cargo (both international and domestic networks) promote economic growth simultaneously; in central China, only domestic air cargo has a positive effect on the regional economy; in western China, neither HSR nor air cargo has an obvious effect on the regional economy. Policy implications—such as encouraging the cooperation of HSR and civil aviation—are discussed, and could help bring the functions of the air cargo network in regional economic development into full play.
Lulu Hao; Na Zhang; Hongchang Li; Jack Strauss; Xuejie Liu; Xuemeng Guo. The Influence of the Air Cargo Network on the Regional Economy under the Impact of High-Speed Rail in China. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8120 .
AMA StyleLulu Hao, Na Zhang, Hongchang Li, Jack Strauss, Xuejie Liu, Xuemeng Guo. The Influence of the Air Cargo Network on the Regional Economy under the Impact of High-Speed Rail in China. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (19):8120.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLulu Hao; Na Zhang; Hongchang Li; Jack Strauss; Xuejie Liu; Xuemeng Guo. 2020. "The Influence of the Air Cargo Network on the Regional Economy under the Impact of High-Speed Rail in China." Sustainability 12, no. 19: 8120.
Rapid urbanization and industrialization in Chinese cities have substantially elevated carbon emissions, and transportation plays a major role in these emissions. Due to data availability, research on the impact of both high-speed rail (HSR) and other urban transportation modes on urban carbon emissions is rare. Using a relatively large panel of 194 Chinese cities from 2008–2013, we examine the impact of HSR, conventional rail, bus, roads, and subways on urban carbon emissions. We further document the interaction of these transport modes with geo-economic variables, and more accurately measure HSR’s impact on emissions using a comprehensive accessibility metric. During this time, China developed, constructed and began to operate an extensive HSR network. Our results show that increases in HSR lead to rises in carbon emissions, emissions per GDP unit and per capita. We also find that transportation’s impact on carbon emissions differs by city size and region, and transportation modes significantly interact with GDP, population and urban area to affect carbon emissions. These interactions imply that the government’s promotion of HSR over conventional rail may have unintended consequences and boost urban carbon emissions.
Hongchang Li; Jack Strauss; Lihong Liu. A Panel Investigation of High-Speed Rail (HSR) and Urban Transport on China’s Carbon Footprint. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2011 .
AMA StyleHongchang Li, Jack Strauss, Lihong Liu. A Panel Investigation of High-Speed Rail (HSR) and Urban Transport on China’s Carbon Footprint. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (7):2011.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHongchang Li; Jack Strauss; Lihong Liu. 2019. "A Panel Investigation of High-Speed Rail (HSR) and Urban Transport on China’s Carbon Footprint." Sustainability 11, no. 7: 2011.