Transport prices, touristic flow and policy: the case of the high-speed-railway in Andalusia (Spain)

Abstract

The Spanish high-speed train, known as AVE, has been the commitment in Spain's transport infrastructure for the past 25 years. Along the first twenty years of use, however, the use of this means of transport has presented some figures of utilization well below than anticipated, and very far from other countries'—such as Japan or France—figures. In this work, through descriptive and econometric analysis, we demonstrate how certain political decisions, based on the pricing model mainly, have managed to change the trend and maintain a stable growth process in the number of passengers, favouring tourist flows in a country very dependent on tourism such as Spain.

Keywords

• demand
• high-speed railway
• political economics
• pricing policies
• transport