Essays on Transportation and Environmental Regulations
Open AccessThe dissertation consists of three independent essays on transportation and environmental regulations.Chapter 1 examines the effects of subsidies and exemptions from license plate quotas and driving restrictions on electric vehicle (EV) adoption in China. The analysis leverages spatial and temporal variations in national and local EV subsidies using a panel fixed-effects model based on monthly passenger vehicle registration data from 87 Chinese cities from 2016 to 2019. In addition, this study exploits the differential local exposure to a 2017 shift in the national subsidy policy using a difference-in-differences model. The results show that subsidies have positive but heterogeneous effects on EV adoption. Subsidies are most effective in first-tier cities, with a 10,000 RMB increase in subsidies being associated with an 18.77% increase in the EV market share. However, within the same city tier, subsidies are less effective in regions with higher GDP per capita and greater shares of government expenditure allocated to education or environmental protection. Additionally, exempting EVs from driving restrictions and license plate quotas is highly effective in promoting EV adoption. For instance, exemptions from license plate quotas increase EV market shares by over 220%. More specifically, a one percentage point increase in the probability of winning a lottery or a 1,000 RMB increase in the auction price for a conventional vehicle license plate is correlated with a 1.2% to 1.4% increase in EV market share. Results from the difference-in-differences analysis also support the conclusion that the effect of subsidies on EV adoption is positive. Chapter 2, co-authored with Xinxin Cao, provides empirical evidence of the effects of upgrading fuel standards on urban air pollution in China. Improving fuel quality is an important means of reducing tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles, the main contributor to air pollution in urban areas. This study is based on temporal differences in the implementation of gasoline standard VI in Chinese cities, using a difference-in-differences (DID) method, an event study design, and a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) design to investigate the effects of upgrading fuel standards on air quality. We use city-level hourly pollutant data for 334 Chinese cities between 2014 and 2019 and aggregate them to the weekly and monthly levels. The primary results from the DID models show that the upgrade from gasoline standard V to VI has significantly improved air quality, with a 15.2% improvement in the air quality index (AQI). Specifically, PM2.5 and PM10 were reduced by 21.02% and 14.53%, respectively. Results from the RDiT further support the findings from the DID analysis. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the reductions in these pollutants led to a total health benefit of $23.98 billion per year. Chapter 3, also co-authored with Xinxin Cao, investigates the relationship between docked bikeshare and public transits in 31 metropolitan areas (MSAs) in the United States. Bikeshare systems have gained popularity in the United States in recent years as they are an environmentally friendly mode of micro-transportation. Bikeshare can be a complement to public transit as it provides a solution to the first/last-mile problem. On the other hand, bikeshare can be a substitute for public transit as people replace short-distance public transit trips with bike rides. This study presents a multi-MSA analysis that includes small and medium-sized MSAs, using transit agency-level monthly ridership data and bikeshare entry dates in 31 MSAs. We employ a difference-in-differences model and an event study specification to examine the impacts of docked bikeshare entry in an MSA on public transit ridership. The results show that following bikeshare entry, monthly bus ridership declines by 4.6\%. However, rail ridership does not experience a significant change in response to bikeshare entry. In addition, this study uses MSA-level monthly docked bikeshare trip data to analyze the relationship between bikeshare use and public transit ridership. The results also indicate that docked bikeshare primarily serves as a net substitute for buses. However, we find heterogeneity in the effects of bikeshare entry and bus ridership. Specifically, in large MSAs or MSAs that are more bikeable or more transit-friendly, bikeshare tends to serve as a substitute for buses, reducing transit ridership. Conversely, in small or non-bikeable MSAs, this negative impact diminishes.
- All rights reserved
Notice to Authors
If you are the author of this work and you have any questions about the information on this page, please use the Contact form to get in touch with us.