Shared, Automated, Electric: the Fiscal Effects of the “Holy Trinity”

Initially discussed primarily from a technological perspective, the topic of connected and automated vehicles begins to take root in interdisciplinary discourses held in spatial planning and urban research. Numerous discussions appeal to the „holy trinity“ – shared, automated and electric vehicles – that should lead the way to a more sustainable urban mobility. Connectivity, as a precondition for shared mobility services is also considered. Research foci go beyond the transport technology and include primary or secondary effects that could be borne by in the mobility and urban system. Among the secondary effects, financial implications for public budgets are subject of this text. Fiscal effects could be triggered by both automation and connectivity, possible changes in vehicle ownership, sharing, and the need for (new) infrastructures. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of the fiscal effects of automation, connectivity, electrification and sharing for individual road transport. For this purpose, the primary effects are analysed on the basis of current international studies, and the resulting secondary effects are derived for the subnational level of Austria. Finally, the significance or value of the affected revenue and expenditure categories in the budgets of the federal provinces and municipalities in Austria is illustrated. Losses of sources of revenue like the duty on vehicles based on fuel consumption, the engine-related insurance tax or the parking management which affect the budgets of Austrian provinces and municipalities directly or via the fiscal equalisation system as well as perspectives on the resulting investment requirements and subsequent costs for urban infrastructure are shown. Overall, it becomes clear that new sources of revenue would have to be developed if these effects occur cumulatively