Social Costs of Direct and Indirect Land Use by Transport Infrastructure

An Estimation for The Netherlands

Abstract

In this paper the social costs of land use for transport infrastructure are investigated for the
Netherlands. We pay attention to the acquisition costs of land for infrastructure and the
indirect costs of land use caused by transport. The paper gives an overview of the problems
associated with measuring land related costs of transport infrastructure. Estimates are given
of land use (in m2) for various types of transport infrastructure. In addition some of the land
related cost categories are estimated. These costs are allocated to the various transport
modes (cars and trucks of various types, barges, rail, and aircraft) on the basis of their
relative transport kilometres and their passenger car equivalents. We find that direct and
indirect land use equals respectively 7.2% and 1.6% of the total area of the Netherlands.
Indirect land use appears to be especially important for aviation. The importance of indirect
land use is shown by the value of land involved. The economic valuation of the indirect land
use is about 16% of the total land related costs of transport infrastructure.