Media Clipping — Wednesday, November 29, 2006, CBC News

Transportation costs too high in N.S.: report

Nova Scotians may be driving themselves to the brink of bankruptcy, a new report suggests.

The study, released Wednesday by GPI Atlantic, said transportation is one of the biggest expenses for individuals who live in the province when indirect costs are included.

GPI Atlantic is a non-profit research organization that endeavours to develop the Genuine Progress Index — a quality of life measure. The GPI is an alternative to the GDP or Gross Domestic Product, which is often used to indicate the level of social wellbeing.

The report looked at car repairs, insurance and other direct transportation costs. It also examined environmental, social and other costs hidden from taxpayers.

Executive director Ron Colman said once subsidies for highways, parking, traffic control, pollution, and medical costs after accidents are added, transportation costs Nova Scotians $6.2 billion a year.

That amounts to $7,598 for every Nova Scotian, he said. Colman said that's not sustainable in the long term because the costs are increasing rapidly.

Drivers must make tough decisions

"In 1997, transportation costs accounted for 13 per cent of total household expenditures," he said. "In the space of just five years they accounted for 16 per cent."

Coleman said policy makers should ask themselves what happens as urban sprawl has more people living farther from where they work.

As for drivers, he said they need to make better decisions about the size of vehicles they buy, or even if a car is necessary at all.

The report makes several recommendations, from incorporating transportation issues into land-use plans to varying insurance and registration rates with a driver's mileage.

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