Estimating the marginal costs of road wear

Abstract

This study estimates the marginal cost of using road infrastructure. Based on a large data set with information on sections of the road network, including age, pavement type, and traffic, a more disaggregate analysis of pavement life than that in the literature is facilitated. The analytical strategy enables identification of major differences in marginal costs across the road network. This establishes that the deterioration of the road quality can be attributed not only to heavy vehicles but also light vehicles such as passenger cars, a possible reason being the widespread use of studded tires in a country with regular freeze-thaw cycles. Due to the limited width of time windows of the dataset observations, no evidence could be found to support the notion that road deterioration is significantly influenced by time alone.