Hidden Cost Of Driving In MA Is $64 Billion: Study

CAMBRIDGE, MA — When the average Massachusetts driver thinks about what it costs to own a car, they probably lists the obvious costs: car payments, insurance, gas and maintenance. But a study released this week by the Harvard Kennedy School says the costs are much higher than most people realize, and that driving in Massachusetts costs the average family about $14,000 per year — even if they don't own a car.

That's because much of the $64.1 billion spent on driving in Massachusetts each year comes in the form of government spending, or that average family's tax dollars going to maintain roads, lost land value and the cost of deaths and injuries caused by car crashes. The study even factored in the cost of lost productivity from all those hours sitting in traffic (it's about $4.6 billion, give or take a few million).

Policymakers said the study dispels the myth that only people who use public transit benefit from government transportation subsidies. "The diffusion of spending among federal, state, and local government entities, along with the complexity of indirect costs, make it difficult to understand the fully loaded cost of the vehicle economy," the authors wrote in the study's abstract.

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) suggested the study to Linda Bilmes, the Kennedy School public policy professor who led the effort. The Salem Democrat has made rethinking transportation a priority in recent months.

"Our region is the nation's leader in bad traffic," Moulton said in a speech last month. "And if we want to lead the next generation economy—if your businesses are going to out-compete cities in America for new jobs, if America is going to out-compete our competitors around the globe...we must reimagine our communities and commutes."