Davide VANNONI
Università di Torino, Ceris-CNR e Hermes

Abstract - The increasing problems of pollution and traffic congestion represent a challenge towards the definition of a model of sustainable mobility, in particular in the largest urban areas. An indirect control on these negative externalities associated with private transport may be pursued by means of policies aiming at improving quality and accessibility of public transit networks. In this respect, one popular option is to design an Integrated Tariff System (ITS): the crucial question remains if such a policy can be effective in raising the number of public transport users. In this study we use a ten-years panel of 69 Italian public transit providers (with or without ITS) and estimate alternative specifications of the demand function. Results show that the impact due to the ITS introduction is on average quite small, but it becomes more relevant when the ITS is characterized by specific factors making it more attractive for the potential users, such as large network extension and single ticket option.