The Costs of Using Roads

Image via WikipediaThe price of transport - Overview of the social costs of transport (187 page pdf, J.P.L. (Joost) Vermeulen, B.H. (Bart) Boon, H.P. (Huib) van Essen, L.C. (Eelco) den Boer, J.M.W. (Jos) Dings, F.R. (Frank) Bruinsma, M.J. (Mark) Koetse , CE Transform, Delft, commissioned by Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Dec. 2004)

Today we review a study done in 2004 in the Netherlands of the overall costs of transportation whether it be cars, trucks, buses or rail and how these costs are allocated or recovered by taxes or charges. The conclusion is that the passenger car is by far the largest cost unless one looks at the best case scenario of new cars in uncongested rural areas. This report provides an excellent basis for implementing congestion pricing in countries with similar road problems and may have played a part in the proposed country-wide system being considered in Holland today.



Key Quotes:

“Besides the costs of infrastructure maintenance and operation, there is a wider array of external costs which - for reasons stemming from welfare-theoretical and/or ‘fairness’ principles - deserve to be passed on in the pricing of transport and mobility”

“the total cost variant ..the ‘fairness’ principle..every mode of transport should be confronted with the sum total of social costs to which it gives rise:..both variable and fixed costs are allocated to users”

“the efficiency variant..employs pricing policy as a means to optimise social welfare, by charging all variable costs to users”

Costs included:

• “infrastructure building
• infrastructure maintenance and operation (M/O) and infrastructure renewal
• land take, distinguishing direct and indirect land take costs and parking costs.
• traffic accidents.
• climate emissions (CO2).
• other air pollutant emissions (NOX, PM10, HC, SO2).
• noise nuisance.
• road traffic congestion”

“In 2002 the total social costs of domestic transportation in the Netherlands, excluding aviation, ocean shipping, recreational shipping, high-speed rail, cycling and walking, amounted to approx. € 22.5 billion. Over half this figure(about 55%) is due to passenger transport by road..”

“In the case of passenger cars, besides congestion costs the main variable costs are those associated with accidents and air pollution.. the conclusion that petrol passenger cars ‘pay their way’ in terms of social costs is not generally valid, applying only to certain categories of vehicle in an uncongested situation”

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