Well, the exam is now over

I wasn't allowed to say so before but a legal letter was received and as a result I was not allowed to:

'openly and flagrantly post the questions for the January 2010 exam paper. Whilst it may not be possible to prosecute you as there has yet been a test case on this, nonetheless the question papers would have to be withdrawn and re-set. Given the problems already caused by inclement weather, such a move could be a disaster for all the hardworking A2 students'

However nothing was said about obscurely posting the questions (which I did here) and then pointing my own students towards the relevant post

:-))

Links

1. Ten Year Transport Plan, found here, was, of course, “dead” by 2004, but managed to sruggle on and had only “Failed” by 2008. It’s well worth looking at the plans/targets in the introduction (e.g. Rail investment, congestion targets etc) and thinking about whether they’ve been achieved.

2. National Road Pricing was floated in 2005. There’s an excellent 24-page briefing here (it won’t take you that long to skim through, honest), and Friends of The Earth have a document about it here (pdf). I haven’t read it; let me know how it is. Plenty more out there on teh interwebs.

3. World’s fastest train is now in China. Best line of the video: “airlines are already reducing their prices to compete”. does the large distance make it more worthwhile than UK? Not sure. But China will have 13,000 km more high speed line in the next 3 years. Astonishing.

4. This is an interesting little website which shows you the pollution effects of a journey by different modes of transport. Check out your greenhouse gasses.

5. Nice pointers for AO4 skills here, from the BBC’s “Ethical Man”. Instead of looking at his blog as asking “Are busses greener than cars?”, think of it as “under what circumstances are busses greener than cars?”. Definitely worth a read.

6. Meanwhile, also on the BBC, from a few moths ago, is a look at whether trains have got better over the last decade or so.

And having mentioned Hybrid cars recently, are they worth the effort. Slate looks at their green credentials in this article and discussion (from last year).

Fancy making such a suggestion!

This blog suggests there is inside knowledge....

How can that possibly be true?

Is this a school where the Chief Examiner teaches? (Because that would open up the suggestion that there was inside knowledge...)

Has a textbook been written by the Chief Examiner with a mock inside that bears a startling resemblance to the actual paper (as was suggested last year with A level Sociology). Would that be 'inside knowledge'?

Have students just finished a revision course where they said that they had received 'huge hints' as to what was on the paper (as happened last year too!)

Surely the fairest thing would be to bring the 'inside knowledge' to the widest audience possible - and, to avoid charges of breaching copyright, get the mark allocation wrong....?

Attention Bagautdinova!

Friday


9.00 – 10.30

• Data response/comprehension questions on Transport
• Demand for transport
• Transport forecasts


11.00 – 12.30

• Theory of the Firm models in Transport
• Price discrimination in Transport
• Deregulation
• Contestability
• Privatisation of Transport


1.30 – 2.20

• Resource allocation issues in Transport
• Private funding
• The COBA model


3.30 – 5.00

• Transport policies to correct market failure
• Government measures to intervene: demand side measures
• Government measures to intervene: supply-side measures

Practice

Do this essay as a mock
a) with the aid of a diagram, explain how atmospheric pollution associated with increased transport use causes misallocation of resources (10)
b) Discuss the extent to which increased indirect taxes on transport users might correct the market failure caused by atmospheric pollution associated with increased transport use (15)



Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

1. (a) explain the benefits of an integrated transport policy (10)
(b) Discuss the extent to which the present structure of the UK rail industry contributes towards an integrated transport policy (15)



Do this essay as a mock

2. (a)Explain the natural monopoly argument as applied to transport (10 mks)
(b) Evaluate the policies a government may follow to increase the degree of competition within transport markets (15 mks)



Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

3. (a) Outline the main barriers to entry in the transport market (10 mks)
(b) Evaluate the impact of Rail Privatisation (15 mks)



Do this essay as a mock
a) Explain the factors which have influenced the growth in demand for private car use (10)
b) Discuss the extent to which a national road user charging scheme could reverse the growth in demand for private car use (15)



Do this essay as a mock

a) Explain how economists forecast air passenger transport demand (10)
b) Discuss the implications for government policy of the projected increase in demand for air passenger transport (15)



Do this essay as a mock

(a) Explain how the negative externalities caused by transport users result in the misallocation of resources (10)
(b) Discuss the extent to which taxes levied on transport users correct the misallocation of resources such users cause (15)





Do this essay as a mock

(a) Explain the private and external costs associated with traffic congestion. (10)
(b) Discuss, with the aid of examples, the effectiveness of using the cost benefit approach when appraising transport infrastructure projects. (15)

Practice

Do this essay as a mock

(a) Explain the determinants of demand for rail passenger transport (10)
(b) Discuss the impact of growing demand for rail transport services on rail infrastructure and on transport sustainability. (15)





Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

9 (a) With reference to data, examine the role of government and the market in the allocation of resources in the transport sector (10 mks)
(b) Analyse the relationship between transport economics and transport policies, particularly in the UK (15 mks)

Practice

Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

8 (a) Outline the nature and features of an integrated transport policy (10 mks)
(b) Evaluate whether transport policy should be promoting more sustainable transport outcome.



Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

7 (a) With reference to examples, explain why road congestion is a classic case of market failure (10 mks)
(b) “Some form of road pricing is the only proven and effective way of reducing congestion in many towns and cities.” Discuss

Practice!

Do this essay as a mock

a) Outline the economic argument for subsidising railways (10 mks)
b) Giving examples of road pricing policies in different countries, evaluate the case for road pricing as a means of correcting market failure (15 mks)



Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

4 (a) With reference to data, explain why the private sector is having an increasingly important role in funding transport investment, particularly through the Private Finance Initiative (10 mks)
(b) Evaluate the use of cost benefit analysis to allocate resources in transport (15 mks)

Exam Practice 1

Do this essay as a mock

a) Explain how market failure exists in Transport (10 mks)
b) Government measures to intervene in transport markets to correct market failure can be classified as demand or supply side. Explain and evaluate the demand and supply side policies. (15 mks)




Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

5 (a) Explain why barriers to entry are very important in determining the degree of competition in transport markets (10 mks)
(b) With reference to examples, analyse how deregulation has sought to produce competitive markets for local bus services in Britain and for European air transport services (15 mks)

Exam Practice 2

Do this essay as a mock

a) Should Aviation pay for its external costs? (10 mks)
b) Evaluate the use of CBA as a tool for investment analysis (15 mks)



Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour
6 (a) With reference to examples examine the argument for and against the privatisation of transport (10 mks)
(b) Explain how the effectiveness of rail privatisation can be evaluated (15 mks)

Exam Practice 3

Do this essay as a mock

a) Outline the main characteristics of transport investment (10 mks)
b) Evaluate the arguments for and against the Private Funding Initiative (15 mks)




Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

3 (a) With reference to data, explain the respective roles of the private sector and the public sector in resource allocation decisions for transport (10 mks)
(b) Evaluate the different criteria used by the private and public sectors in making investment decisions in transport (15 mks)

Exam Practice - 4

Do this essay as a mock

a) Explain how the theory of the firm is useful in analysing transport markets (10 mks)
b) Explain how price discrimination appears in the transport market (15 mks)



Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour

2. (a) With reference to data, carefully explain how increased transport use leads to negative externalities and market failure (10 mks)
(b) Evaluate the use of indirect taxation and subsidies to regulate transport use (15 mks)

Exam Practice - 5

Do this essay as a mock a) Explain how the concept of elasticity of demand is used in Transport. (10 mks) b) Outline the main sources of uncertainty in transport forecasts and evaluate the importance of transport to the economy (15 mks)

Research this essay and then write it out in 1 hour 1. (a) With reference to data, explain how and why economists make forecasts of transport demand (10 mks) (b) How can the importance of the transport sector to the UK economy be assessed? (15 mks)