A Review of New Demand Elasticities with Special Reference to Short and Long Run Effects of Price Changes

Abstract

A literature review suggests that increases in real fuel prices would lead to a short run reduction in both traffic and consumption, due to more careful driving and differential responses for different journeys. In the longer run the effects would be increased. It is suggested that non-dynamic estimation methods are biased, and that transport prices have wider effects, and are a more important lever of transport policy, than has sometimes been assumed.