An Analysis of the Public and Private Transportation Costs of a Rural Agricultural Area

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop a computer simulation model to determine the types and amounts of transportation costs in a rural agricultural area under the conditions existing in 1989. Then different assumptions about the road infrastructure could be made and corresponding changes made to the model. The simulation model would be rerun for each set of assumptions and the results analyzed to determine how the different costs change with different infrastructures. This unique approach considers both the public costs such as the maintenance and construction costs paid by tax payers and user fees and the private costs, which are the costs incurred by individuals and firms operating vehicles over the road systems as they travel or move goods.