Measuring the External Costs of Urban Traffic Congestion

Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the external costs which urban traffic congestion brings are the base of improving travel demand management and designing relative strategies, and even will help to maximize the effective usage of urban road resources. Firstly, this paper analyses the production mechanism of urban traffic congestion: travelers overlook the negative externality of urban traffic congestion then join in the congested queues. The negative externality is obvious, since the explosion of vehicles in finite spaces and the augmentation of traffic densities arouse increases in travel time, traffic accidents, environmental pollution, and fuel consumption. Consequently, the external costs of traffic congestion are divided into four parts. We make an intensive study of the quantitative measurements for those four external costs. The extra travel time costs can be calculated by regional average time value. The environmental pollution costs can be measured by the proportion of congestion pollution in total transport pollution. The traffic accident costs can be figured out by the probability of accidents. The fuel consumption costs can be work out by the proportion of travel time. Also, a sample case is introduced to prove the feasibility of this method. It supplies a basis for the implement of urban road congestion pricing and other travel demand management strategies.