The Impact of Speed Limits on Recreational Boating in the Lagoon of Venice

32 Pages Posted: 22 Nov 2005

See all articles by Valentina Zanatta

Valentina Zanatta

Polytechnic University of Turin ; Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

Paolo Rosato

University of Trieste - Department of Civil Engineering; Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

Anna Alberini

University of Maryland - Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics

Dimitrios Reppas

University of Maryland - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Date Written: November 2005

Abstract

Speed limits were introduced in the Lagoon of Venice in 2002 to reduce wave motion, which damages environmentally sensitive areas in the broader Lagoon as well as buildings in the city of Venice. In this paper, we estimate the welfare losses experienced by recreational boaters as a result of the speed limits. We fit a single-site travel cost model to a sample of boaters intercepted as they depart from or arrive to marinas and launching ramps on the Lagoon. Our Poisson model is corrected for truncation and endogenous stratification. We construct three measures of the price per trip, which allow us to check the sensitivity of models and welfare estimates to possible measurement errors in the opportunity cost of time. Our results are robust to the measure of price used and conservatively peg the welfare losses of boaters to EUR 7.7-9.6 million per year. Even under conservative assumptions, the welfare losses of boaters are sufficiently large that, given current monitoring and enforcement of the speed limits, we believe there is a strong incentive for boaters to disregard the limits.

Keywords: Travel cost method, Single-site model, Speed limits, Natural resources management

JEL Classification: Q26, Q28

Suggested Citation

Zanatta, Valentina and Rosato, Paolo and Alberini, Anna and Reppas, Dimitrios, The Impact of Speed Limits on Recreational Boating in the Lagoon of Venice (November 2005). FEEM Working Paper No. 135.05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=849127 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.849127

Valentina Zanatta (Contact Author)

Polytechnic University of Turin ( email )

Castello del Valentino
Viale Mattioli 39
10125 Torino
Italy

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

C.so Magenta 63
Milano, 20123
Italy

Paolo Rosato

University of Trieste - Department of Civil Engineering ( email )

Piazzale Europa 1
34127 Trieste
Italy
+39 040 5582569 (Phone)
+39 040 676 3580 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.dic.univ.trieste.it/perspage/rosato

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

C.so Magenta 63
Milano, 20123
Italy

Anna Alberini

University of Maryland - Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics ( email )

Symmons Hall, Rm 2200
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-5535
United States
301-405-1267 (Phone)
301-314-9091 (Fax)

Dimitrios Reppas

University of Maryland - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics ( email )

Symmons Hall, Rm 2200
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-5535
United States

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