[8.7.2008]

CE8214:  TRANSPORTATION ECONOMICS

Description

CE8214: Transportation Economics applies microeconomic theory to transportation taking an agent-based, game theoretic framework. Topics include: demand and demand estimation, cost and cost estimation, pricing and investment, and regulation and deregulation. Applications cover both urban and intercity passenger transportation as well as freight transportation.

Outline

Week

Monday

Wednesday

1

9/3

  

Introduction: Group Project: Hiawatha Line B/C Analysis ex-post. Evaluation, B/C Analysis, Deconstructing a Benefit Cost Analysis

Notes: Evaluation

Original Hiawatha B/C Analysis [Spreadsheet]

 

 

2

9/8		 Economic Actors as Agents Measuring Preferences, Establishing Values (Nebiyou Tilahun, guest lecture)

3

9/15

Demand

Demand 2
  • EUT 1: Demand
  • ETEP 2: The Demand for Transportation: Models and Applications

4

9/22		 Supply 1

Supply 2

 
  • EUT 2: Costs
  • ETEP 3: Learning about Transport Costs

5

9/29

Costs 1

Costs 2

6

10/6

Negative Externalities

Positive Externalities

7

10/13

Revenue and Financing

Pricing and Fares

 

8

10/20		 Industrial Organization: Ownership

Industrial Organization: Regulation

 
  • ETEP: 8: Fuel Economy and Auto Safety Regulation: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease
  • ETEP: 9: Technology-Forcing Public Policies and the Automobile
  • ETEP 14: Regulatory Reform of US Intercity Transportation
  • ETEP 15: Regulation and Innovation: Lessons from the American Railroad Industry
  • ETEP 16: The Economics of Commercial Transportation Safety

9

10/27		 B/C Analysis Results Group Project Due Midterm
(Present group projects)  

10

11/3

Introduction: Transportation as an Economic System

Case: Network Growth Model

Term Paper Topic Due EUT 4: Investment

11

11/10		 Competition & Concentration: The Network as Supply Chain

Agent-based Travel Demand Models (Pavithra Parthasarthi, guest lecture)

12

11/17

Land Use Models

Agent-based Land Use Models
  • ETEP 11: The Urban Transportation Problem: A Reexamination and Update
  • ETEP 12: Transportation and Land Use
  • Wilson, A.G. (1998) Land-use/transport Interaction Models: Past and Future. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy. January 1998, Volume 32, Part 1, Pages 3-26

 

13

11/24

Investment Models

Value Capture (Michael Iacono, Guest Lecture)
 

14

12/1

Evaluation Reconsidered, Illities, Conclusions

Term Paper Presentations Paper Due
 

15

12/8

Term Paper Presentations

Final Examination

 

 

Requirements

Texts

Required

Policies

Students are advised to see: Regents Policy: Student Conduct Code regarding policies on academic conduct.

Fall, 2000

To: Students in the Institute of Technology

From: Peter Hudleston, Associate Dean

The purpose of this letter is to call your attention to the issue of scholastic dishonesty, so that you can avoid any problems during your studies at the University of Minnesota. The basic statement on this issue appears in the Undergraduate Catalog (p. 262) and in the back of the IT Student Guide: The Institute of Technology expects the highest standards of honesty and integrity in the academic performance of its students. Any act of scholastic dishonesty is regarded as a serious offense, which may result in expulsion. The Institute of Technology defines scholastic dishonesty as

submission of false records of academic achievement; cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing; altering, forging, or misusing an academic record; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; acting alone or in cooperation with another to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement. Aiding and abetting an act of scholastic dishonesty is also considered a serious offense.

The questions below are often asked by students who seek interpretation of this policy.

  1. What is cheating? Cheating is the violation of rules under which an examination is given or homework is assigned. This includes submitting an examination, an essay, a report, or a computer program that is not your own.
  2. Does this mean that I can never study with another student? No. We encourage students to study together, and in the workplace you will often work as part of a team. The key issue is whether you are being evaluated as an individual on the basis of the work you hand in. Your instructor should make it clear when team work is expected and when you should work alone. If you are not sure, ask!
  3. What is plagiarism? An excellent definition of plagiarism is from the Modern Language Association: "In short, to plagiarize is to give the impression that you have written or thought something that you have in fact borrowed from another." W. S. Achtert and J. Gibaldi, The MLA Style Manual, New York, Modern Language Association of America, 1985, p. 4.
  4. When should I cite sources? There are two issues here. The first is to avoid plagiarism. The second is to make sure that the reader can follow your line of thought, verify the information that you have used, or explore the issue further. Some things are known so widely that they do not need citing: for example, the definition of momentum or solving a linear differential equation with constant coefficients. On the other hand, if you are writing for an audience who might not know how to solve a linear differential equation with constant coefficients, you might want to give a citation so that they could find out how. If you find the solution to a homework problem in a text or journal article, you should give a citation. If you are allowed to utilize previously written computer code, published or unpublished, within your own code, you should clearly identify such code and cite the source.