Media Clipping — Thursday, November 30, 2006, The Daily News

Crash waiting to happen

N.S. can't keep up with hidden costs of daily travel: GPI report

By Andrea MacDonald

Halifax – Everyone knows how much it costs to run a car. There's the sticker price, the gas, the insurance, repairs, parking, maybe even a speeding ticket here and there. But does that really give a true measure of the cost of driving?

One group argues the real cost of transportation to Nova Scotians reaches more than $6.4 billion annually, or about $7,600 per person. That's based on “invisible” measures such as the cost of land devoted to parking lots, or the long-term costs of greenhouse-gas emissions.

Genuine Progress Index (GPI) Atlantic, a non-profit think-tank based in Halifax that measures the economy using non-traditional means, released its latest report yesterday.

“We use the term sustainability, and I've been throwing it around a lot,” GPI Atlantic executive director Ron Colman said yesterday.

“That term works well for bureaucrats and academics, but for the average Nova Scotian, we need to start talking like this: what kind of Nova Scotia are we leaving for our children?”

Colman says we pay the invisible costs through taxes and higher consumer prices, but don't always connect them with our transportation choices.

The rise of gas-guzzling SUVs, urban sprawl and more people and freight shipments using our highways have all played a part in our spiralling transportation costs, Colman says.

Transportation is not only becoming less affordable for Nova Scotians, he adds, it's costing us more than food, shelter and housing. GPI's research shows a 21 per cent increase between 1997 and 2002 in transportation costs as a proportion of household goods.

GPI Atlantic has come up with a host of recommendations, from pay-as-you-go auto insurance — where motorists pay lower premiums for driving less — to employer programs that discourage commuting.

Colman said the list is based on actual practices from other regions, such as Europe. They're not a government tax grab, he says, but a shift in the way we pay for transportation.

Report co-author Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, argues that Nova Scotia communities should emulate other cities that have shops, schools, workplaces and high-quality public transit within walking distance.

Despite the doom and gloom, Colman said, the news isn't all bad. More air bags, better seat-belt use and a spike in tire recycling have all helped offset some of the rising transportation costs.

Colman called GPI's estimates highly conservative, and said the true cost of transportation could reach as high as $15 billion annually. He cautioned, however, that the group encountered serious data gaps and some badly out-of-date information.

Three years in the making, the 565-page transportation study cost $51,000. Transport Canada contributed $35,000 toward the total, HRM kicked in $15,000 and the Energy Department gave $1,000.

amacdonald@hfxnews.ca

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