Harry-Villain, L., Briand, Y., Waisman, H., Rudolph, F., et al. 2025. Analyzing sectoral policies for deep decarbonization: the case of national freight transportation. Climate Policy, 1–14.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2025.2485192
Current national strategies and efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions of the freight sector are far from sufficient. This is at least partially due to a mismatch between the required decarbonisation transformations and existing policies. Through this research, we developed a novel approach to improve policy analyses and help transport policy planners boost decarbonisation ambition and action at national level, based on an innovative analytical structure to gather in-country expert opinions. The framework structures the analysis of policy instruments in the light of all stakeholder-oriented areas of transformations for the sector and associated barriers as well as enablers of sectoral deep decarbonisation.
We find that policy instruments aimed at financing infrastructure are the most frequently used. Most of these policies’ overarching aim is not necessarily freight transport decarbonisation, but they can contribute to this goal in some cases. We find that economic policy tools in isolation are insufficient for freight sector decarbonisation, especially in the context of freight infrastructure planning. The management and maintenance of infrastructure are often overlooked as a key decarbonisation area for policy intervention.
It would be useful for transport policy makers to define precise strategies and roadmaps, or other governance and planning instruments to ensure that the investments are directed at where they should be. Consequently, the adequacy of the public policies implemented is not always clear. Some examples show that financing infrastructure may not have the expected effect. Some countries in our sample fail to limit infrastructure expansion. For instance, large investments in road infrastructure in Norway has contributed to an increase in road traffic, making transportation by road more attractive compared to rail/waterways transportation.
Stülpnagel, R., Riach, N., Hologa, R., Kees, J., & Gössling, S. 2024. School route safety perceptions of primary school children and their parents: Effects of transportation mode and infrastructure. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 1-13.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2024.2350992
Many parents of primary school children are concerned about their children’s safety on the active way to school, although active mobility is associated with many psychological and physiological benefits. In this study, we collected information on the geographical routes to school, the means of transport used and the accompanying status of children at a German primary school. The survey was conducted separately for parents and children and analysed using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and a statistical model (General Estimating Equations).
Our results underline that primary school children can actively travel to school if the distances are short enough and the infrastructure is relatively safe. Children rated their journey to school as much safer than their parents.
We found evidence of differences in individual aspects: For example, parents’ (but not children’s) perception of safety is increased by a higher proportion of roads with reduced speeds. As parents who perceive the journey to school as unsafe are less likely to let their children walk to school alone, traffic calming measures appear to be an appropriate way of addressing their concerns.
Gössling, S., Kees, J., Hologa, R., Riach, N., & von Stülpnagel, R. 2024. Children’s safe routes to school: Real and perceived risks, and evidence of an incapacity-incapability space. Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research, 1000019(2), 1-9.
Ideally, children and young people should be able to make their way to school actively, independently and, above all, safely. However, unsafe routes are often an obstacle to this both real and perceived. In this research article, the perspectives of children and teenagers regarding the traffic safety of their ways to school are examined. The traffic risks as perceived by different age groups of young people are then compared with insurance data and the views of headtechers.
The results provide new insights into pupils’ fears and anxieties in traffic. For example, typical age-dependent stages of risk avoidance and tolerance on the way to school were identified. These are determined by the social environment, individual attitudes, and transport modes, as well as cognitive and motoric skills.
Gössling, S., Humpe, A., Hologa, R., Riach, N., & Freytag, T. 2022. Parking violations as an economic gamble for public space. Transport Policy, 116, 248-257.
The article deals with the question under what circumstances it is worthwhile for motorists to buy a parking ticket when parking in public spaces or to park without ticket. A share of drivers may feel compelled to ‘cheat’, weighing the price of parking fees against the cost of fines, or to simply park illegally outside designated areas.
The study is situated in Freiburg, Germany. Results confirm that in the inner city, it is economically rational not to pay parking fees of the time. To make vehicle ownership and use less attractive, the price of parking needs to be high. Fines need to be high in relation to fees, and control densities need to constitute significant detection risks. On 17 September 2023,Frederic Rudolph has contributed to the Parking Day in the German city of Hagen with a presentation of the study’s findings.
Gössling, S., Kees, J., & Litman, T. 2022. The Lifetime Cost of Driving a Car. Ecological Economics, 194, 107335.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107335
The car is one of the most expensive consumer goods in the household, and yet understanding of its private (internal) and social (external) costs per vehicle mile, year, or lifetime of driving is limited. This paper provides an overview of 23 private and ten social cost items,
and assesses these for three popular car models in Germany for the year 2020. Results confirm that motorists underestimate the full private costs of car ownership, while policy makers and planners underestimate social costs.
Several newspapers discussed the results of this research, including Geo, Handelsblatt und Forbes.
Gössling, S., Nicolosi, J., & Litman, T. 2021. The Health Cost of Transport in Cities. Current Environmental Health Reports, 8(2), 196-201.
This review summarizes recent advances in transport economics with relevance for health cost assessments in urban contexts. It discusses the role of cost-benefit and cost-utility analyses in transport decision-making. This provides the basis for a conceptualization of a comprehensive transport health cost model that considers both physical and mental health aspects. A comparison of the role of car and active transport (walking and cycling) is presented, and key insights for transport planners are discussed.