Keith Vodden Dr. Douglas Smith - Transports Canada

Analysis and Estimation of the Social Cost of Motor Vehicle Collisions in Ontario
Note that the CAC damage estimate of $8 per tonne, from the work of Resources
for the Future, is $8 per tonne of CO 2 , not $8 per tonne of the major (non-diesel) motor
vehicle pollutants (HC, CO and NO x ). Average emissions (pounds per mile), according
to EPA data are as follows:
• CO 2 -- 0.916 pounds.
• HC -- 0.0033 pounds.
• CO -- 0.033 pounds.
• NO x -- 0.005 pounds.
As these numbers clearly indicate, emissions of the CAC pollutants are much
smaller per mile than for CO 2 . Put somewhat differently, one tonne of CO 2 emissions will
be accompanied by approximately eight pounds of HC emissions (0.0033/0.916*2205).
Alternatively 2407 vehicle miles implies one tonne of CO 2 and eight pounds of HC.
Somewhat different estimates are provided in Transport Canada’s Urban
Congestion in Canada (2006-Table 4). These numbers imply an upper bound of $20 per
tonne of CO 2 and $102 per tonne of CO 2 for CAC emissions. Our calculations use an
average of these numbers and the Resources for the Future estimate of $18 for a total of
$70 per tonne of CO 2 and its associated CAC emissions.
In summary, the core elements of the congestion cost model are as follows:
42 TNS Canadian Facts, Social and Policy Research