Coûts environnementaux de transport routier et tarification d'usage des infrastructures (suivi du débat du 8 février 1994 auquel participaient M. Flinois, M. Gerondeau, M. Bonnafous, M. Josse, M. Walrave, M. Pignolet, M. Lapautre)

Road Tax and the Environmental Costs of Road Transport. – Environmental protection costs are analyzed in terms of noise, air pollution, and biosphere impact of four road vehicles in the open countryside : vans, trailer trucks, buses, and private cars.A first approximation shows that inaccuracies in the evaluations of these costs are due to uncertainties stemming both from the physical models and from economic origins (diversity of national standards).To these we should add the phenomena of saturation, noise, and road wear, which are the external effects, as opposed to the former, which are the internal effects. The most satisfactory solution is to internalize any external effects we want to control. This internalization integrates the biosphere, individual satisfaction and dissatisfaction, private and public pecuniary interests, and lastly the guilty party (the polluter is the one who pays).Many effective forms of internalization exist, and it is up to the government to organize them so that things even out equitably and so that the costs due to this internalization are compensated by the advantages the community gets out of them.----------------------------------------------With the author and the publisher of the copyright agreement. The present version in PDF is under the copyright of EDITECOM (http://www.editecom.com/) - 1994.