Assessment of the external cost of urban mobility in London with a focus on health benefits
Challenges like urbanization, scarcity of space, or the necessary reduction of local and global emissions require the comprehensive introduction of new forms of mobility. Transportation systems are under pressure, especially in densely populated areas. Innovative solutions are needed to create more sustainable, safer, and liveable urban spaces. One approach to assess the sustainability of different means of transport is external costs (or externalities).
Transportation externalities comprise different cost categories like air pollution, noise, land use, or accidents and can be determined per vehicle-km. The aim of this thesis is the application and evolution of an existing methodology [1] for the assessment of external costs to London. The methodology was developed for Munich and comprises multiple modes of transport, from public transport to individual transit and active mobility. It is built upon an extensive database of input data like local modal split, annual mileage of vehicle categories, or detailed accident statistics. While the costs are widely considered, the benefits of active mobility are subject to further investigation. The main tasks within the scope of this thesis comprise:
– Literature review on externalities of transportation and existing methodologies
– Getting acquainted with the methodology for Munich [1] developed at TUM
– Collecting input data specific to the city of London and adapting the methodology where necessary
– Developing a detailed method on the monetarization of health benefits of active mobility
– Applying the reworked methodology, analyzing the results, and comparing them to those of Munich
[1] Schröder et al. 2022, Ending the myth of mobility at zero costs: An external cost analysis