Title of PhD thesis:
Toward more sustainable road freight transport
Title of trial lecture:
Evaluating Fuel Taxes and Road Pricing: Stimulating Sustainability in Freight Transport
Trial lecture: kl 10.00
Public defence: kl. 12.00
Assessment committee:
Professor Rickhard Bergqvist, University of Gothenburg
Researcher II Paal Brevik Wangsness (PhD), Institute of Transport Economics (TØI)
Associate Professor An-Magritt Steinset Kummeneje, Nord University Business School (coordinator)
Supervisors:
Main supervisor: Professor Thor-Erik Sandberg Hanssen, Nord University Business School
Co-supervisors: Professor Gisle Solvoll, Nord University Business School
Professor Johan Holmgren, Molde University College
The trial lecture and defense are open to all interested attendees. The dissertation is available upon request by contacting Grete Knudsen, email: grete.i.knudsen@nord.no, Tel. +47 75 51 76 77.
Key Insights from the dissertation
The crucial role of road freight transport in the global economy cannot be understated. However, it poses major challenges such as road traffic accidents, greenhouse gas emissions, noise and air pollution, and traffic congestion etc. Thus, delving into means of making road freight transport more sustainable is worth pursuing for future policy development and implications for the road freight transport sector.
This PhD thesis contributes to the unending discussion on the need to make the road freight transport sector more sustainable. To this end, the present thesis utilized article-based research comprising a systematic literature review, as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses through three research papers, to provide significant contributions.
Paper 1 study findings identified three themes under which road freight transport sustainability can be tackled: innovative technology-based measures; logistics and transport process measures; and policy-based management measures. Additionally, the cooperative nature of stakeholders in the road freight transport industry, as well as the strengthening of existing laws, are important to improving road freight transport sustainability. Paper 2 findings observed that the enforcement of regulatory instruments—particularly in the tendering process—accelerated its success. It further found that the authorities deployed “pull” and “push” strategies that were instrumental in the green transition of ferry operations. Finally, Paper 3 estimates for car drivers’ willingness to pay not to encounter heavy goods vehicles found that with respect to gender differences, females have a much higher willingness to pay not to encounter heavy goods vehicles than males.
Overall, the findings of this thesis provide valuable insights into the existing literature on how road freight transport can become more sustainable.
