Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fuel Tax Levels Necessary to Achieve
the Agreed Reduction Targets of CO
2
Emissions.
The Case of Madrid
Daniel de la Hoz, Luis A. Guzmán, Paul Pfaffenbichler, and Simon Shepherd
Introduction
Sustainable urban areas are widely considered a promising target for every city.
Different policies are being designed in order to tackle the multifaceted range of
transport-related problems in urban agglomerations and therefore contribute sig-
nificantly to the overall quality of life in cities. The recently published communica-
tion “Green Paper - Towards a new culture for urban mobility”
[1]
, clearly says that
“European towns and cities are all different, but they face similar challenges and
are trying to find common solutions”: for making our cities sustainable. This is not
a minor task. Over 60% of the population lives in urban areas and 85% of the EU's
gross domestic product is created in urban areas
[1, 2]
.
All around Europe, increased traffic, both in the city centre and the metropolitan
area is a common phenomenon. Externalities measured in terms of delays, pollu-
tion, stress, inequities, etc.; drive our cities into a spiral of degradation. On the other
hand, climate change is recognized as an international problem where all are
involved. The increase in traffic and the 'stop-go' nature of driving in urban areas
implies that cities are becoming a major and growing source of CO2 emissions. Lot
of hope has been pinned on technical progress. However, this can be insufficient
due to the uncertainty over when new reliable fuel or vehicles technologies will be
introduced. For that reason, the focus is more and more shifting to market-driven
instruments, like taxation measures, which, apart from creating incentives
[3, 4]
to
develop and use low-emission technologies, can also reduce unsustainable mobility
demand
[1]
.
D. de la Hoz and L.A. Guzmán
Centro de Investigación del Transporte, Universidad Politécnica de, Madrid, Spain
P. Pfaffenbichler
Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Verkehrstechnik, TU, Wein
S. Shepherd
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
