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Shared road is double happiness: Evaluation of a “Share the road” sign
Get PDFA road sign with the text «Share the road» and a picture of a smiling cyclist and a passing car was evaluated in a before–after study with surveys among cyclists and car drivers. The sign was set up at two sites on a test road near Oslo in summer 2014. A similar road was used as a comparison. About two thirds of the participants on the test road had noticed the sign. The majority liked it and agreed with its message. Cyclists have more often noticed the sign than car drivers have and they were somewhat more positive towards the sign. Effects on self-reported behavior and the perceived behavior of others were evaluated by comparing changes from the before- to the after-period between test and comparison road. Self-reported behavior of both cyclists and car drivers has improved on the test road after the sign was set up, especially in overtaking situations, and these results are in accordance with how cyclists and car drivers perceived each other’s behavior. The general perception of other road users has improved as well. The results are most likely representative of similar roads with a large proportion of car traffic that is related to recreation and a relatively low level of conflict.acceptedVersio
Experiences with capacity reductions on urban main roads – rethinking allocation of urban road capacity?
Get PDFThis paper presents results from a study concerning effects and consequences of a temporary (one year) capacity reduction on an urban main road tunnel in Oslo, Norway. The main findings are that reduction of the road capacity from in total four to two lanes in the Smestad tunnel, carrying about 50 000 vehicles per workday, caused few or no effects or consequences. Three months after the capacity reduction was implemented, traffic volumes were about the same as before, there are only small increases in delays, and the road users (commuters and freight traffic) have not made significant adaptions.publishedVersio
Safety Inspectorates and Safety Performance: A Tentative Analysis for Aviation and Rail in Norway
Get PDFSafety inspectorates have been established for all modes of transport in Norway. This paper explores whether establishing a safety inspectorate is related to safety performance. Long-term trends in safety in aviation and rail were compared before and after safety inspectorates were established for these modes of transport. In aviation, there have been no passenger fatalities after the safety inspectorate was established. The number of (non-fatal) accidents in scheduled and charter flights has been between zero and five per year, which is higher than predicted according to the long-term trend in the period before the safety inspectorate was created. In rail, both the number of accidents and the number of passenger fatalities have been lower after the creation of the safety inspectorate than predicted according to long-term trends in the before-period. The paper shows statistical relationships indicating that safety performance has improved, at least in rail transport. A causal interpretation of these relationships is not possible on the basis of the analyses in this paper. Establishing safety inspectorates may improve transport safety, but showing this rigorously is extremely difficult.publishedVersio
More for everyone: The effect of local interests on spending on infrastructure
Get PDFA central question in political economy is whether decision-making in representative democracies is biased towards local public investments or other types of policies which have locally concentrated benefits. The model by Weingast et al. (1981) predicts that a legislature with members from different areas will spend more in total on local public goods when the geographic constituency of each member is small. I test this prediction using panel data on the 18 Norwegian regional councils, exploiting that the geographic allocation of regional council seats varies considerably over time. Consistent with the theory, I find robust evidence that investments in regional public roads are lower when many council members come from the more populated areas in the region. This gives a more direct test of the prediction by Weingast et al. (1981) than existing empirical evidence, which concerns the relationship between public spending and legislature size. I find similar but less robust results for the maintenance of existing roads.acceptedVersio
Koordinert besøksforvaltning som redskap for bærekraftig reiselivsutvikling. En casestudie av Nærøyfjordområdet
No full textThe Nærøyfjord in Sogn og Fjordane county was inscribed into the World Heritage List in 2005. The area is a celebrated tourism attraction with high and increasing numbers of visitors during the summer season; about 700.000 tourists per year visit the fjords and the small local communities Flåm and Gudvangen. The huge visitation potentially creates high pressures on natural resources and local communities. Unplanned tourism development represents a fundamental threat to the World Heritage area. If undertaken in a responsible way, however, tourism may be a driver for protecting the natural and cultural heritage, and a vehicle for sustainable local community development. The article highlights three research questions: 1) Which sustainability challenges related to the increasing tourism in The Nærøyfjord areas are regarded as the most precarious among local actors? 2) What kind of coordination efforts exist among the different actors to achieve an integrated visitor management strategy? 3) What are the opportunities and constrains to achieve coordination and integrated management through partnership?submittedVersio
Decreasing popularity of the car? Changes in driving licence and access to a car among young adults over a 25-year period in Norway
Get PDFThe general impression that car-use has reached a peak or the orientation to have a car has stagnated in several Western countries has been associated with young people being less interested in obtaining a driving licence and getting a car. Examination of public statistics and of data from Norwegian National Travel Surveys indicates that the percentage of young people acquiring a driving licence fell during the 1990s and has been stagnating since the start of the year 2000. Over a 25-year period, we find that young people living outside large cities have a car(s) in the household; they are in paid work and are married/cohabiting. They have a driving licence to a much greater degree than those who live in cities and have good access to public transport; they are students and not married/cohabiting. In the same 25-year period we have seen a higher percentage of young people living in the larger cities, spending longer on education and delaying establishing a family. Our cohort analyses indicate that young cohorts/generations defer from obtaining a driving licence. At age 30 years the proportion of licence holders has been around 90%, but analysis of young cohorts from 2001 to 2009 shows that this figure is declining.acceptedVersio
A review of guidelines for including wider economic impacts in transport appraisal
Get PDFIn this paper we examine how 23 industrialised countries treat wider economic impacts (WEIs) in transport appraisals. We identify 12 different types of impacts based on these countries’ appraisal guidelines. Agglomeration impacts and Production changes in imperfect markets are the most widely accepted, being recognised by 14 and 10 countries, respectively. However, about half of the impacts are mentioned by only one country, and few recommend including the impacts directly in cost–benefit analyses. Several countries provide provisos or criteria that must be met before WEIs can be assessed in the first place. We found method recommendations for quantifying WEIs in 10 countries. However, with the exception of the UK Department for Transport’s (DfT) methodological framework, there is very little international consensus on the choice of appropriate methods. Our findings thus supplement and reinforce the conclusions from the Norwegian Official Report of the Hagen Committee [NOU 2012:16. (2012). Samfunnsøkonomiske analyser. Oslo: Departementenes servicesenter] that there is currently no established consensus on the magnitude and relevance of WEIs, or on how and which of these impacts should be taken into account in transport appraisals. Recommendations for further research and appraisal practices are provided.acceptedVersio
National parks policy and planning: a comparative analysis of friluftsliv (Norway) and the dual mandate (New Zealand)
No full textConservation management in Norway is anchored in the historical tradition of friluftsliv although Norway's evolving economic policy signals that growing priority is being given to recreation and nature-based tourism development in association with protected natural areas (PNAs). Here we present the results of an international comparative study that examined conservation policy and recreation/tourism management in Norway and New Zealand, where a legislated dual mandate of conservation and tourism in PNAs is longstanding. Our analysis of conservation policy and planning documents in Norway and New Zealand highlights important contrasts in conservation and recreation/tourism management that are deeply embedded in national socio-historical contexts. Our findings highlight lessons that may be learned and applied in Norway. However we also caution that the application of lessons from New Zealand's ‘utilitarian conservation’ policy context may require a reformulation or refinement of the friluftsliv tradition
Association between increase in fixed penalties and road safety outcomes: A meta-analysis
Get PDFStudies that have evaluated the association between increases in traffic fine amounts (fixed penalties) and changes in compliance with road traffic law or the number of accidents are synthesised by means of meta-analysis. The studies were few and different in many respects. Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis of changes in compliance. Four studies were included in the meta-analysis of changes in accidents. Increasing traffic fines was found to be associated with small changes in the rate of violations. The changes were non-linear. For increases up to about 100%, violations were reduced. For larger increases, no reduction in violations was found. A small reduction in fatal accidents was associated with increased fixed penalties, varying between studies from less than 1–12%. The main pattern of changes in violations was similar in the fixed-effects and random-effects models of meta-analysis, meta-regression and when simple (non-weighted) mean values were computed. The main findings are thus robust, although most of the primary studies did not control very well for potentially confounding factors. Summary estimates of changes in violations or accidents should be treated as provisional and do not necessarily reflect causal relationships.acceptedVersio
Balancing public goods in agriculture through safe minimum standards
Get PDFWe develop a general framework in which public goods are conflicting (complementary) if an increase in the provision of one public good raises (lowers) the marginal cost of providing another public good. The framework is used to analyse the policy implications of maintaining safe minimum standards (SMSs) for two public goods. The comparative-static results are illustrated using a sector model for Norwegian agriculture in which the SMSs for food security, agrobiodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions are modelled as constraints. The simulations show that even if public goods are conflicting, better-targeted policies can achieve SMSs at lower social costs.Balancing public goods in agriculture through safe minimum standardsacceptedVersio