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AbstractThis article investigates whether residents of Mexico City value air quality. Our results suggest that air quality improvement in PM10 is equivalent to a marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) of US$440.31 per property for the period 2006–2013. The corresponding MWTP for PM2.5 is US$880.63, for O3 is US$623.78, and for SO2 is as much as US$2091.50. These estimates are considerably larger in magnitude compared to the few other studies in similar settings. As a percentage of annual household income, these represent 2.44 per cent for PM10, 4.88 per cent for PM2.5, 3.46 per cent for O3 and 11.59 per cent for SO2. Our estimates of land value–pollution elasticities for PM10 (−0.26 and − 0.58) are within range of hedonic estimates for total suspended particulate matter in US cities around the 1970s. The corresponding elasticities range from − 0.55 to − 0.84 for PM2.5, from − 0.06 to − 0.49 for O3 and from − 0.11 to − 0.34 for SO2.

El principal objetivo de este estudio es identificar la existencia del fenómeno del tráfico inducido en México. Los resultados obtenidos indican que la ampliación de las vialidades en México origina un aumento de los viajes y de los kilómetros recorridos como consecuencia de una disminución del tiempo de traslado. Esto es, la demanda de viajes puede modelarse como una función de demanda tradicional en donde una disminución de los costos por transporte, que incluyen tanto costos monetarios directos como de tiempo, se traduce en un aumento de la cantidad o longitud de los viajes. Las estimaciones realizadas indican que la elasticidad de las vialidades al consumo de gasolina es de 0.15, confirmando la presencia del tráfico inducido. Asimismo se presentan algunos ejercicios preliminares sobre posibles estimaciones del tráfico inducido para vialidades específicas, aunque debe reconocerse que los valores estimados para el país no necesariamente se aplican al caso de la Ciudad de México. El conjunto de resultados obtenidos indica que la ampliación de la infraestructura vial viene asociada a un aumento menos que proporcional del tráfico, pues se disminuye momentáneamente la razón de uso de las vialidades que, paulatinamente, se va incrementando. De este modo la ampliación vial genera en el corto plazo una mejora en el servicio que tiende a deteriorarse con el tiempo. Esta mejora en el servicio debe sin embargo evaluarse con referencia a los costos que implica en el largo plazo una opción de desarrollo urbano que privilegia el uso del automóvil como medio de transporte en contraposición a otras alternativas. AbstractThe main purpose of this study is to identify the existence of the phenomenon of induced traffic in Mexico. The results obtained indicate that the expansion of roads in Mexico leads to an increase in the number of trips made and kilometers traveled as a result of a reduction in the time taken to move from one place to another. In other words, the demand for trips can be modeled as a function of traditional demand, where a reduction of transport costs, which includes both monetary and time costs, translates into an increase in the number and length of trips. The estimates made indicate that the elasticity of roads to gasoline consumption is 0.15, which confirms the presence of induced traffic. Certain preliminary exercises have also been carried out on possible estimates of induced traffic for specific roads, although it should be recalled that the values estimated for the country as a whole do not necessarily apply to Mexico City. The set of results obtained indicates that the expansion of the road system is associated with a less than proportional increase in traffic, since there is a momentary decrease in the use of the roads that are gradually increased. Thus, in the short term, the expansion of roads leads to an improvement in service that gradually deteriorates over time. This improved service must, however, be evaluated with reference to the long-term costs of a form of urban development that favors the use of the automobile as a means of transport as opposed to other alternatives.

In this study we analyze the impact that two measures of the urban form – residential density and the land use diversity index – have on gasoline consumption in households located in metropolitan areas of Mexico. The econometric specification implemented is a modified two-part model that fits the distribution of gasoline consumption, while mitigating the endogeneity bias resulting from residential self-selection. The results from the instrumental variables specification, suggest that after controlling for household characteristics increasing residential density in the vicinity of the household location could increase gasoline consumption while increasing residential density at the metropolitan scale may reduce gasoline consumption. Interestingly, the land use diversity index does not seem to affect gasoline consumption. Put together, these findings are indicative of the potential risk of not taking advantage of high residential densities to, together with other strategies, reduce gasoline consumption in metropolitan areas in Mexico.