Economic Justification of Alternative Transport

Nancy Folbre, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, had a nice post on the NYTime's Economix blog over the weekend. From the piece:

Here is the economic logic behind increased efforts to promote bicycle use:

Cars enjoy huge direct subsidies in the form of road construction and public parking spaces, as well as indirect subsidies to the oil industry that provides their fuel. These subsidies far exceed the tax revenue generated by car use (as this excellent discussion of the technical issues at stake in these calculations makes clear.)

Yet cars impose major social costs: their use contributes to global warming, traffic congestion, accident fatalities and sedentary lifestyles.

As engineers, it is our job to make the roads safe and efficient for all users.