IMPACTS FROM DIFFERENT LAND-USE STRATEGIES ON TRAVEL DISTANCES

This paper demonstrates the impact of urban structure on distances travelled by persons, both in total by all modes and by car. The findings illustrate the importance of policies designed to influence the urban structure as part of the tools available to control the demand for travel and hence reduce the envi-ronmental impact from transport. 1.1 Background Taxes and charges such as fuel taxes are effective means to reduce the de-mand for travel and the ensuing environmental impact from transport. Increas-ing the costs of transport will induce consumers to reduce their transport de-mand, as transport becomes more expensive relatively to the benefits that the consumer obtains. However, controlling the demand for travel through pricing can carry a high cost in terms of loss for the consumers. If the objective is only to reduce CO2 emissions from transport, taxes and charges may entail a rela-tively high cost compared to other potential means of reduction. Thus, calcula-tions of the shadow price of alternative ways of reducing CO2 emissions sho