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The True Costs of Driving
(some of them, at least)

$160 billion is spent annually by all levels of government on highway construction, maintenance and operations. Approximately 60% is covered by user fees. (2004 data; 2006 data)

Traffic crashes cost the nation between $164 billion (in urban areas, AAA, 2008) and $230 billion (NHTSA, 2000) annually. 43,000 people are killed in crashes; 2.6 million are injured.

Congestion in metropolitan areas costs $78 billion annually.

Between 40,000 and 70,000 premature deaths due to poor air quality at a cost of up to $64 billion annually

$75 billion in direct medical costs due to physical inactivity (CDC, 2003 figures)

Cost of free parking to the national economy: $300 billion. Cost of one surface parking space is $10,000; parking garage spaces between $20,000 and $40,000.

Good summaries of the external costs of driving are provided by Delucchi and Litman.

Another interesting number for comparison:

Car advertising topped $18 billion in 2007 – the hard-hit automotive industry was knocked into second place for the largest U.S. ad-spending category, after the retail sector.

American Bicyclist
Bike Summit, advocacy central. The League's annual National Bike Summit is where advocates, industry executives and education experts gather to speak up for bicycling on Capitol Hill.