Revised land freight external costs in Australia

Publications in Australia to 1999 that comment on transport externalities include the former Inter-State Commission (ISC - 1990), the National Transport Planning Taskforce (NTPT - 1994) Victorian Environment Protection Authority (1994), Simpson and London (1995), Manins (1997), Brindle et al (1999), and the Bureau of Transport Economics (BTE - 1999). As noted by the ISC (1990, p89), road external costs are "…costs imposed outside market transactions and they fall on a number of individuals or groups - road users other than those individuals who give rise to the costs, individuals other than road users (such as those who live in proximity to roads), or society as a whole." The ISC (loc.cit.) notes some external costs associated with road use as including "crash costs, congestion costs, noise pollution costs, and atmospheric pollution costs." Such external costs may also be imposed by rail freight. The NTPT (1994, p53) noted, inter alia "...A pricing mechanism for road use, which relates use to cost of provision and external costs, such as congestion and environmental factors, needs to be developed. Similarly, pricing mechanisms linking use of port, airport and rail infrastructure to the costs of provision, are required."