This dissertation conducts comprehensive analyses on global seaport institutions and port infrastructure productivity. It also examines the determinants of port output and the roles port institutions play in driving port infrastructure productivity. Specifically, the dissertation analyzes the...

The future costs of electric-drive vehicles, like those of any new technology, are uncertain. One method for forecasting cost reductions uses the concept of the ‘experience’ curve. Experience curves take into account sale economies, technological improvements in production...

This study examines three models of the individual’s preference for home- and center-based telecommuting. Issues concerning the estimation of discrete models when the alternatives are non-exclusive are discussed. Two binary logit models are presented, one on the preference to telecommute...

Consider two firms, at different locations, supplying a homogenous good at constant marginal production cost. Consumers incur travel costs to the firm for each unit purchased, and the travel costs increase with the amount of travel to each firm (congestion). When all traffic and all congestion...

For sixty years, engineers and planners have debated the freeway’s role in the city. Engineers have tended to view freeways strictly in traffic service terms. Planners, on the other hand, have long viewed freeways not only as a means of facilitating automobile transportation but also as a...

When considering public transit, travelers typically judge whether it serves desired destinations in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost – often in comparison to traveling by private vehicle. How public transit agencies choose to operate their services – their networks,...

We estimate how motorists value their time savings and characterize the degree of heterogeneity in these values by observable traits. We obtain these estimates by analyzing the choices that commuters make in a real market situation, where they are offered a free-flow alternative to...

California’s implementation of SB 375, the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008, is putting new pressure on communities to support infill and affordable housing development. As the San Francisco Bay Area adds two million new residents by 2035, infilling the core (in...

A linear tax on an externality-generating activity may not attain the first-best social optimum. The problem arises because a monopolist’s gain from improving the characteristics of a product may differ from the social gain, even when consumers are willing to pay for the change.

In this thesis we examine how fuel price variation affects the optimal mix of services in intercity transportation. Towards this end, we make two main contributions. The first is the development of an analytic total logistics cost model of intercity transportation, which is sensitive to fuel...