The document seeks to shed light on the impact of transport policies across Latin American countries. This being said, the authors claim that in an effort to reduce air pollution and congestion, Latin American cities have experimented with different policies to persuade drivers to give up their cars in favor of public transport. Consequently, the document highlights and analyzes two notable cases, featuring Mexico-City’s driving restriction program introduced on 1989 (Hoy-No-Circula, HNC) and the public transport system, Transantiago (TS), introduced in Santiago de Chile on 2007. To assess these cases, the researchers develop a simple model of car use and ownership, thus seeking to portray how transport policies that may appear effective in the short run can be highly detrimental in the long run.

The paper is organized as follows. After a brief introduction, section two offers a general overview of the two transport policies cases, whereas the theoretical model is presented on section three. Meanwhile, empirical results are presented in chapter four, whilst additional empirical exercises using alternative data sources are carried out in chapter five. Section six provides a thorough discussion of the findings made during the investigation, whereas section seven delivers some concluding remarks.

To conclude, the authors claim that results suggest that transport policies across Latin American countries have led to a rapid increase in the stock of vehicles. Consequently, this is an evidence of how transport policies that may appear effective in the short run can be highly detrimental in the long run, leading to higher CO emissions.

The document is available in English