A comparative analysis of road and rail freight transport through the Republic of Serbia from the aspect of external costs

Abstract

Transport causes significant external effects that have a very harmful impact on the environment, human health, but also the economy. The costs of these external effects are not borne directly by those who caused them, but by other road users (congestion, accidents) and society as a whole (environmental pollution costs). This results in making wrong decisions in the transport market, which further leads to an inefficient use of available resources and loss of social welfare. The purpose of this paper is a comparative analysis of negative external costs arising from freight road and rail transport. The main goal of the paper is to quantify the external costs caused by two different modes of freight transport, based on the characteristics of the transport vehicles and the characteristics of the goods being transported, as well as the length of the goods transport. The road and rail freight transport through Serbia will be chosen as the case study.