E A S Y B R E A T H E R S - Air Pollution - Air Pollution Impacts on Economy: External Costs of Driving

Air Pollution Impacts on Economy: External Costs of Driving

You can estimate your cost of driving with this worksheet taken from the book Divorce Your Car! by Katie Alvord. It helps you determine your out-of-pocket costs, then adds your non-monetary costs, and finally allows you to estimate and add external costs to get a grand total.

Distance (miles or km) you drive per year	________
Mpg or km/l your car gets	X ________
Fuel (gallons or liters) used per year	= ________
Yearly cost of car purchase (monthly payments x 12 OR Purchase price divided by years owned)	________
Annual depreciation (ten percent of purchase price)	+ ________
Yearly insurance premium	+ ________
Annual license and registration fees	+ ________
Yearly emissions test cost (where applicable)	+ ________
Fixed cost of your car	= _____(A)
Fuel costs (fuel used per year above x cost per gallon or liter)	+ ________
Cost of oil and oil changes	+ ________
Tires (including snow tires if applicable)	+ ________
Repairs and maintenance (other than oil and tires)	+ ________
Out-of-pocket parking costs (meters, lots, etc.)	+ ________
Bridge and road tolls	+ ________
Tickets and fines	+ ________
Car washes	+ ________
Operating cost	= _____(B)
Other costs (e.g., misc. accessories, books-on-tape, car alarm, Car stereo, lumbar support cushion, car phone, etc.) per year	_______(C)
Your total yearly monetary driving cost [ (A) + (B) + (C) ]	_________
Distance you drive per year	+ ________
Your monetary cost per mile or km to drive	= ________

To consider costs of your travel time, figure the number of hours you spend driving in a year and multiply that by half your hourly wage. Then divide that by the distance you drive annually to get a time cost per distance. You also incur a crash risk cost. This cost can be estimated at about five cents per mile. You can multiply this by your yearly distance to get a total yearly crash risk cost.

Finally, to make a rough estimate of the external costs you impose when you drive, start by estimating the distance you drive per year in rural conditions; in cities and suburbs when it's not rush hour; and in rush hour traffic. Add 20 cents per mile (18 cents Cdn per km) for rural driving; 33 cents per mile (30 cents Cdn per km) for suburban and city driving in off-peak hours; and 59 cents per mile (54 cents Cdn per km) for driving in cities and suburbs during rush hour.

Distance driven/ year in rural conditions x $0.20 or Cdn $0.18	+ ________
Distance driven/ year in cities or suburbs in non-rush hr, x $0.33 or Cdn $0.30	+ ________
Distance driven/ year in cities or suburbs in rush hr, x $0.59 or Cdn $0.54	+ ________
Yearly external cost of your driving	= ________
Distance you drive per year	/ ________
External cost of your driving per mile or kilometer	= ________

	Yearly	Per mile or km
Your monetary cost to drive	________	________
Time travel cost	+ ________	+ ________
Crash risk cost	+ ________	0.05
Your total internal cost to drive	= ________	= ________
External cost of your driving	+ ________	+ ________
The overall cost of your driving	= ________	= ________