By affecting prices that consumers and manufacturers see in the market for new vehicles, feebates are likely to be effective in achieving energy, environmental, and economic goals simultaneously.
AUTO synthesizes earlier efforts to model the private vehicle market.
AUTO is one of the tools being used by the Clinton Administration as it grapples with how to best reduce oil imports and air pollution, and how to meet the U.S. pledge to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. Currently, private cars and light trucks account for more than 50 percent of U.S. transportation energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. In theory, all have the potential to reduce overall energy usage and the threat of global warming. AUTO allows policymakers to simulate the changes to the market that take place under alternative strategies. By modeling the interaction between consumer demand and manufacturer supply, it forecasts the characteristics of vehicles produced, and the patterns of household purchase, ownership, and use of these vehicles.