On the Costs of Air Pollution from Motor Vehicles

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to focus on measuring the costs of regional air pollution from motor vehicles. Some of the analytical and empirical issues involved in estimating such numbers is discussed and estimates for the Los Angeles region under a variety of alternative assumptions are provided. It is concluded that the measurable costs of air pollution are high enough to justify substantial expenditures to control vehicle emission rates, but cannot by themselves justify drastic changes in the highway-oriented transport system that has evolved in most of the developed world. At present, it appears that including greenhouse gasses would leave this basic conclusion unchanged.