TY - JOUR
T1 - For whom the consumer price index tolls: reporting of road pricing in the consumer expenditure survey
AU - GORDON, Cameron
AU - Peters, Johnathan
AU - King, David
AU - Santago, Nora
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - User fees have long been seen as an efficient financing mechanism because
beneficiaries of services pay for the benefits received. This point of view
is especially applicable to public services with commercial aspects and in
situations for which links between consumption and price are relatively
easy to make. However, road pricing, such as tolls, can be very high and
important to local price levels. This paper examines the way in which
expenditures on tolls are tracked and measured in the United States
through the consumer expenditure survey (CES) run by the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The paper describes the CES and its methods, both
generally and for tolls and road charges specifically, and compares those
with estimates of U.S. tolls from other sources and from some microdata
the authors have compiled for the New York metropolitan area.
The results suggest that the current CES underestimates consumer
toll expenditures. Because the CES is a key background input into the
consumer price index, the paper argues that flow-on effects continue
through to measurement of U.S. inflation and gross domestic product
as well.
AB - User fees have long been seen as an efficient financing mechanism because
beneficiaries of services pay for the benefits received. This point of view
is especially applicable to public services with commercial aspects and in
situations for which links between consumption and price are relatively
easy to make. However, road pricing, such as tolls, can be very high and
important to local price levels. This paper examines the way in which
expenditures on tolls are tracked and measured in the United States
through the consumer expenditure survey (CES) run by the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The paper describes the CES and its methods, both
generally and for tolls and road charges specifically, and compares those
with estimates of U.S. tolls from other sources and from some microdata
the authors have compiled for the New York metropolitan area.
The results suggest that the current CES underestimates consumer
toll expenditures. Because the CES is a key background input into the
consumer price index, the paper argues that flow-on effects continue
through to measurement of U.S. inflation and gross domestic product
as well.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84976416370&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.mendeley.com/research/whom-consumer-price-index-tolls-reporting-road-pricing-consumer-expenditure-survey
U2 - 10.3141/2530-07
DO - 10.3141/2530-07
M3 - Article
SN - 0361-1981
VL - 2530
SP - 55
EP - 64
JO - Transportation Research Record
JF - Transportation Research Record
ER -