This paper was presented at the `Building Environmental Externalities into Full-Cost Accounting' session. This paper summarizes the rationale and estimates of environmental costs required for full-cost analysis of transportation - results from a British Columbia study which met with international acclaim. The theory and practice of measuring non-market and environmental costs of transportation in monetary units are reviewed, along with the underlying assumptions of ecological economics, sustainability principles and prevailing scientific opinion. Available multiple criteria evaluation frameworks are reviewed for suitability to full-cost accounting for environmental concerns. Cost benefit framework must be supplemented with multi-criteria evaluations to account for intangible and non-monetizeable aspects of environmental externalities. (A)
Abstract