ENVIRONMENTAL-PROTECTION, ECONOMIC-EFFICIENCY AND INTERMODAL COMPETITION IN FREIGHT TRANSPORT

The awareness of the consequences of a further rise in transport for t he environment has not only been a matter of concern for scientific re searchers but also for planners and policymakers. In fact, the environ ment is now an ever present factor in the new political agenda and iss ues of excessive traffic congestion and global atmospheric pollution a re increasingly attracting administrators' attention. One of the most important scenarios proposed for the protection of the environment, ta king into account the adverse effects of traffic, is the redistributio n of freight transport demand. In this paper the Italian situation has been tested, evidencing productive sectors and regions really benefit ing from a more effective redistribution of trade flows among existing links on the freight network. This pattern is estimated by evaluating substitution elasticities before and after the introduction of a poll ution tax. Numerical simulations, in terms of reduction of pollution e missions and transportation costs, are also provided. Copyright (C) 19 96 Elsevier Science Ltd