News Digest Item
03 Aug 2016

“Higher petrol prices animate switch to cycling but only in cities”

Rhineland-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI)

If petrol prices were increased by one euro per litre, private households would use their bikes 14.4 percent more – but only in urban centres, a study by RWI researchers has found. The rise in petrol prices in more rural areas would have no significant effect, the authors found after looking at mobility data of German households between 1999 and 2013. This is most likely because of distances being greater in these areas. It would make sense to increase petrol prices to incentivise cycling, the authors conclude.

Read the study in English here.

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