The Commuting Costs of High-Intensity Rains: Evidence From Rio de Janeiro
54 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2022 Last revised: 13 Jan 2024
Date Written: November 22, 2022
Abstract
This paper examines the impacts of recurrent high-intensity rains (HIRs) on the public transportation system of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I use a novel dataset composed of the city buses’ GPS information and public transport supply and demand data. I find that: 1) HIRs reduce peak hours bus average speeds by 1.73% to 8.94%, and 2) there is a slight increase in demand for the public transportation system when the city undergoes a highly disruptive HIR. The estimated yearly wage opportunity cost of HIR-derived slowdowns is 678.00 million reais, which is equivalent to 0.20% of the GDP of Rio and 3.57% of its total yearly traffic-derived wage opportunity cost.
Keywords: high-intensity rains, public transportation, commuting costs
JEL Classification: O18, Q54, R41, R42, L92
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