[sustran] Re: Economic value of urban transport system

[Todd Litman]

Our report "Transportation Cost Analysis - Techniques, Estimates and
Implications" includes estimates of all identified costs (user costs,
government costs, external costs) for eleven modes (cars, rideshare
passengers, transit, bicycling, walking, etc.). A summary is available at
our website, and hard copies of the comprehensive 240-page report are
available for $40 (OK, I'll give you a 25% discount, so make that $30).

Our Transportation Cost Analyzer software automates these calculations so
you can quickly estimate the full costs of various modes under different
conditions and assumptions. It includes default cost values that can be
adjusted as desired.

This analysis does show that automobile travel tends to have far higher
total costs than other modes. Although transit modes also tend to have
relatively high costs per passenger-km, transit-dependent people tend to
travel far less per year than motorists, so total per capita costs tend to
be lower in multi-modal communities. Research described in "Automobile
Dependency and Economic Development" (a paper posted at our website) also
indicates that total per capita transportation costs are higher in
automobile-dependent regions.

Sincerely,

Todd Litman, Director
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
E-mail:  litman at vtpi.org
Website: http://www.vtpi.org