Calculation of freight externality costs for South Africa
Date
2012-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS OpenJournals
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to quantify the marginal external costs associated with
freight transport in South Africa. Six cost elements are included as externality cost items,
namely, costs related to accidents, emissions, roadway land availability, policing, noise
and congestion. Inputs in the calculations were a gravity-oriented freight flow model, a
road transport cost model, actual transport costs for other modes, a warehousing cost
survey, an inventory delay calculation and various national sources of information such as
accident statistics and government budgets. Estimation techniques resulted in advances
for externality cost measurement in South Africa. The quantification of the cost elements
will be used to update the South African Freight Demand Model. The results show that
the cost of transportation would have been 20% more if external factors were taken into
account. The marginal rates of externalities can be used to develop scenarios based on
alternative choices for South Africa’s freight transport infrastructure configuration.
Description
The original publication is available at http://www.jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view/61
Keywords
Freight and freitage -- Costs -- South Africa, Externalities (Economics)
Citation
Swarts, S. et al. 2012. Calculation of freight externality costs for South Africa. Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management, 6(1):207-222, doi: 10.4102/jtscm.v6i1.61 .