The global cost of automobility

This study quantifies the private and social costs of global automobility and evaluates the potential economic benefits of a transition to shared electric autonomous mobility-as-a-service (E-AV-MaaS). Using comprehensive cost components, including accidents, emissions, air pollution, noise, infrastructure, land use, and resource impacts, it is estimated that private car travel currently incurs approximately USD 0.16 per vehicle-kilometer in private costs and USD 0.55 per vehicle-kilometer in social costs. Scaled globally, these unit costs translate to roughly USD 2.1 trillion in private and USD 7.2 trillion in social costs per year under an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV)-dominated system, totaling approximately USD 9.3 trillion annually, equivalent to 8.3% of global GDP. Under a full E-AV-MaaS scenario with 25% reduced vehicle-kilometers traveled, social costs fall to approximately USD 0.30 per kilometer and USD 2.4 trillion in total. Private costs are estimated between USD 0.7 and 1.9 trillion, as lower parking expenditures are offset by the higher per-kilometer cost of autonomous electric vehicle services; private cost comparisons do not account for mode-specific utility derived from car ownership. This scenario reduces the global cost of automobility by roughly USD 5.6 trillion, driven almost entirely by social cost reductions. The results underscore that 77% of the cost of automobility is currently externalized.