Internalisation of External Costs of Transport in Flanders
16004
2016
The MIRA research report ‘Internalisation of external costs of transport in Flanders’ (2010) was updated with new calculations of private and marginal external costs for the period 2000-2014, including aviation and electric bikes. TML analysed the degree of internalisation and progress towards the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
The MIRA research report "Internalisation of external costs of transport in Flanders" (2010) estimated the private and external costs of transport for the period 2000 - 2008, as well as the degree of internalisation. Six years after the publication of that report, it is time for an update.
Like last time, we calculated the private and marginal external costs for different modes. Private costs are the costs paid by the user. In road transport, these include the purchase of the vehicle, insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc. For scheduled transport (bus, train, air), private costs concern the ticket price. Marginal external costs are external because the user does not take them into account when deciding to make the trip. They are called marginal because we are looking at the additional effect of that one trip.
We distinguished between following marginal external costs:
Internalising external costs concerns the extent to which the user still pays for some of these external costs via taxes and charges. With full internalisation, the user pays for all the costs they cause via taxes and charges. Currently, in most cases, the user does not fully pay for the nuisance they create.
In this study, we calculated private costs, marginal external costs, and degree of internalisation for all modes for the period 2000 - 2014, looking at 2016. Compared to the previous study, we now include aviation and electric bikes. Based on these calculations, we examined how the degree of internalisation evolves over time. Is Flanders moving towards the 'polluter pays' principle? What steps are needed to achieve better pricing?
See appendix for the full report.
The MIRA research report "Internalisation of external costs of transport in Flanders" (2010) estimated the private and external costs of transport for the period 2000 - 2008, as well as the degree of internalisation. Six years after the publication of that report, it is time for an update.
Like last time, we calculated the private and marginal external costs for different modes. Private costs are the costs paid by the user. In road transport, these include the purchase of the vehicle, insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc. For scheduled transport (bus, train, air), private costs concern the ticket price. Marginal external costs are external because the user does not take them into account when deciding to make the trip. They are called marginal because we are looking at the additional effect of that one trip.
We distinguished between following marginal external costs:
- Congestion
- Environment (air pollution and greenhouse gases)
- Noise
- Road safety
- Infrastructure
- Health
Internalising external costs concerns the extent to which the user still pays for some of these external costs via taxes and charges. With full internalisation, the user pays for all the costs they cause via taxes and charges. Currently, in most cases, the user does not fully pay for the nuisance they create.
In this study, we calculated private costs, marginal external costs, and degree of internalisation for all modes for the period 2000 - 2014, looking at 2016. Compared to the previous study, we now include aviation and electric bikes. Based on these calculations, we examined how the degree of internalisation evolves over time. Is Flanders moving towards the 'polluter pays' principle? What steps are needed to achieve better pricing?
See appendix for the full report.
