The External Cost Calculator (ECC) was developed by the Mobilise Research Group in order to calculate the true cost of transport. After all, the real cost of transport goes beyond the immediate internal costs related to transport and mobility operations. There is, in fact, a wide variety of external costs, including:
- Congestion
- Accidents
- Noise
- Air pollution
- Climate change
- Loss of space
- Infrastructure damage
- The impact of up and downstream processes
In order to get a good view of the so-called external costs of transport, the ECC translates all these externalities of transport to society into monetary terms.
The External Cost Calculator is based on the most up-to-date methods and metrics. It takes the influencing parameters for each cost category into account and allows for straightforward comparability across a range of projects. The result is a framework that enables more nuanced and differentiated external cost calculations. The ECC has proven its use in a wide range of applications including specific case studies, scenario evaluations and cost-benefit analyses in general. Several public and private actors, such as the Flemish Government, the Port of Brussels, Nike and Colruyt, have already benefitted from the ECC.
The ECC enables your company to calculate external costs based on ready-to-use or self-developed input values using different techniques. For this, we use techniques such as Geographic Information Systems, Life Cycle assessment, survey methods and operations research methods. We then integrate the resulting externals costs into evaluation tools to assess the sustainability of transport options.
Because of its adaptability to different contexts, the External Cost Calculator can be used in a variety of sectors and companies.