TOTAL COST OF MOTOR-VEHICLE USE

Many people consider only money spent on cars, maintenance, repair, fuel, lubricants, tires, parts, insurance, parking, tolls, registration, and fees. But motor vehicles cost society much more than what drivers spend on explicitly priced goods and services. Beyond monetary public- and private-sector expenditures are the nonmonetary costs of motor-vehicle use -- costs that aren't valued in dollars in normal market transactions. These include air pollution, personal injury damages from accidents, and travel time. Some of these nonmonetary costs, such as pollution, are externalities, that is, they affect people other than the driver. The all-inclusive economic cost to society of using motor vehicles is the sum of all costs mentioned above: explicitly priced private-sector costs, bundled private-sector costs, public-sector costs, external costs, and personal nonmonetary costs.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: p. 7-13
  • Serial:
    • Access
    • Issue Number: 8
    • Publisher: University of California Transportation Center (UCTC)

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00721826
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: May 31 1996 12:00AM