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The social costs of intercity transportation: a review and comparison of air and highway

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  • David Levinson

    (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota)

  • David Gillen
  • Adib Kanafani

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the literature on the measures of social costs, providing an indication of the state of engineering and economic literature. We operationalize the new thinking about which externalities seem appropriate to consider in an analysis of the transportation system. We construct measures of each externality: noise, air pollution, accidents, and congestion for the highway and air transportation modes, where possible as a function of the amount of output or use, rather than as simple unit costs. We find that noise is the dominant cost of air travel, followed by congestion, air pollution and accidents. For highway travel, accidents are the most significant cost, followed by congestion, noise, and air pollution. The social costs of highway travel are about 15 percent of the full cost of a highway trip, while the smaller social costs of air travel are only 5 percent of the full cost of an air trip. A highway trip generates four to five times as much externality as an air trip.

Suggested Citation

  • David Levinson & David Gillen & Adib Kanafani, 1998. "The social costs of intercity transportation: a review and comparison of air and highway," Working Papers 199801, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:nex:wpaper:socialcost
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/179860
    File Function: First version, 2007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Verhoef, Erik, 1994. "External effects and social costs of road transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 273-287, July.
    2. Rothengatter, Werner, 1994. "Do external benefits compensate for external costs of transport?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 321-328, July.
    3. Button, Kenneth J., 1994. "Alternative approaches toward containing transport externalities: An international comparison," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 289-305, July.
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    5. F. H. Knight, 1924. "Some Fallacies in the Interpretation of Social Cost," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 38(4), pages 582-606.
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    Cited by:

    1. Demir, Emrah & Huang, Yuan & Scholts, Sebastiaan & Van Woensel, Tom, 2015. "A selected review on the negative externalities of the freight transportation: Modeling and pricing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 95-114.
    2. Anna Scuttari & Lucia Maria Della & Umberto Martini, 2014. "La mobilit? sostenibile tra destination management e mobility management. Un?analisi esplorativa in alto adige," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 125-151.
    3. Kim, Amy M. & Ryerson, Megan S., 2018. "A long drive: Interregional airport passenger “leakage” in the U.S," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 237-244.
    4. Svajone Bekesiene & Ieva Meidute-Kavaliauskiene, 2022. "Artificial Neural Networks for Modelling and Predicting Urban Air Pollutants: Case of Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Ginieis, Matías & Sánchez-Rebull, María-Victoria & Campa-Planas, Fernando, 2012. "The academic journal literature on air transport: Analysis using systematic literature review methodology," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 31-35.
    6. Delucchi, Mark A. & McCubbin, Donald R., 2010. "External Costs of Transport in the U.S," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt13n8v8gq, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    7. Wu, Bingyu & Levinson, David M., 2024. "A multi-modal analysis of the effect of transport on population and productivity in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    8. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Yusuke Suzuki & Shuji Uranishi, 2017. "Magnitude of external costs of highways in Japan," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 337-357, October.
    9. Jong Hae Choi & Yong Hwa Park, 2020. "Investigating Paradigm Shift from Price to Value in the Air Cargo Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Lu, Cherie, 2009. "The implications of environmental costs on air passenger demand for different airline business models," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 158-165.
    11. Mark Delucchi & Don McCubbin, 2011. "External Costs of Transport in the United States," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Levinson, David & Gillen, David & Chang, Elva, 1999. "Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Intelligent Transportation Systems: The Value of Advanced Traveler Information Systems," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt9m8534tc, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    13. Guangqing Chi, 2012. "The Impacts of Transport Accessibility on Population Change across Rural, Suburban and Urban Areas: A Case Study of Wisconsin at Sub-county Levels," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(12), pages 2711-2731, September.
    14. Schipper, Youdi, 2004. "Environmental costs in European aviation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 141-154, April.
    15. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Yusuke Suzuki & Hiroki Sakai, 2011. "Estimation of Social Costs of Transport in Japan," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(16), pages 3537-3559, December.
    16. Daniele Soraggi & Gabriele Ivano D’Amato, 2024. "The Limitations of EMSs in Comparison with the SDGs When Considering Infrastructure Sustainability: The Case of the Terzo Valico Dei Giovi, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-22, February.
    17. Börjesson, Maria & Asplund, Disa & Hamilton, Carl, 2023. "Optimal kilometre tax for electric vehicles," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 52-64.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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