Transport economics
Associate Professor Colin Gannon
6 points * One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week * First or second semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: ECO2020 or equivalent
Objectives On completion of this subject students should be able to apply basic micro-economic principles and analytical tools to understand, interpret and assess the transport sector and government transport policies; appreciate the special characteristics of the transport sector and the operation of transport markets including the different economic properties of supply and demand and of infrastructure (roads, airports, ports, track) and mobile plant (vehicles, aircraft, shipping); be able to recognise the presence and influence of economies of scale and scope, joint costs, price discrimination and peak - off peak pricing, and factors which shape the derived nature of transport demand and the inner-relationships between transport markets and other markets, including land markets.
Synopsis Role of transport in the economy; the determinants of demand for passenger and freight transport services; cost characteristics of various modes, pricing of private and publicly owned transport; urban transport problems; business logistics; evaluation of transport projects; regulation, deregulation and privatisation.
Assessment Mid-semester quiz: 30% * Tutorial exercises: 20% * Examination (2 hours): 50%
Prescribed texts
Button K J Transport economics 2nd edn Heinemann, 1994