GKV21 - Methodology revision of true costs of transport

The external costs and benefits of transport have been regularly calculated and published by the Federal Office for Spatial Development for over 15 years for all modes of transport (road, rail, air and waterborne). These figures form an important basis for determining the level of the performance-related heavy vehicle charge. The results are also included in the statistics on the "Costs and Financing of Transport" published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Furthermore, the derived cost rates are an important input for many cost-benefit analyses of transport infrastructure projects at national and cantonal level and serve as a central basis for the Swiss standards on cost-benefit analyses in road transport (SN 641 820 to 641 828).
The calculation methodology was subjected to an in-depth review in 2012 -2014, and a minor update took place between 2016 and 2019. With the mandate now put out to tender, the ARE is pursuing the following objectives:
- Comprehensive review of the previous calculation method for all cost and benefit areas with new inclusion of congestion costs and uncovered marginal infrastructure costs.
- Determination of the marginal costs and benefits per means of transport from the point of view of the transport users as a basis for a more efficiency-oriented pricing of transport as well as the welfare losses.
- Inclusion of further differentiation levels in the determination of costs and benefits (in particular mode of transport, space and time)
- Development of a new updating tool