This report frames the debate over studded tires in terms of economic principles of marginal cost pricing and efficient resource allocation. In the absence of a user tax, the pavement damage caused by studded tires results in inefficient pricing because social costs associated with the damage are excluded from the price paid by consumers. This leads to over use of studded tires. No attempt was made to quantify the safety effects of studded tire use. A review of research literature was provided to qualitatively support the premise that there is no social benefit from studded tires in Oregon. Quantitative cost analysis was limited to pavement rutting on the state highway system that is sufficient to reduce the useful life of the pavement. The cost estimation was conducted in two stages: first, the wear rates for asphalt and Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement surfaces were estimated, expressed as inches of rut depth per 100,000 studded tire passes. Linear regression analysis was conducted using rut depth, traffic, and studded tire data from a sample of Oregon highways. A range of wear rates was estimated, reflecting the numerous factors that influence rutting susceptibility of pavements. The mid-points of wear rates for asphalt and PCC were 0.0386" and 0.0093", respectively. Second, the wear rate estimates were used to approximate rutting for the state highway system and to predict resurfacing expenses attributable to studded tire traffic. The results indicate that the cost of studded tire damage on Oregon state highways in 1995 was approximately $10 million. This averages to $8 per tire per year. The implications of the cost are then discussed in terms of the allocation effects of underpricing due to an untaxed externality. The external costs pavement damage caused by studded tires result in inefficient pricing because external costs associated with the damage are excluded from the price paid by consumers. This leads to excess use of studded tires. A studded tires tax sufficient to cover attributable maintenance costs would be in the neighborhood of 30% of the purchase price and would result in a sharp decline in the quantity of studded tires in use. / Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Pollution of air represents the contamination with matter that can affect both humanhealth and the environment. Road dust has been recognized as a dominant source ofparticulate matter and one of the factors that contributes to its development is the useof gritting sand. Gritting sand is being used during snowy winter conditions as atraction control method. During spring season, when snow and ice melt and surfacesdry out, and the influence of traffic, asphalt surface wear, particle ejection from tires,etc; under the effect of their interaction, cause the formation of particulate matter.A general aim of this study was to perform analysis of factors which can be consideredresponsible generating road pollution, with resistance to abrasion of gritting sandbeing a potential key problem. The correlation between the use of studded tires andparticulate matter formation has been considered to be one of major issues in urbanareas.In order to carry out this investigation, an individual study case was considered,measurements indicated that levels of pollution increased even after studded tires werebanned.The literature review revealed important knowledge gaps regarding the quantificationof particulate emissions from non-exhaust sources, most importantly, emissions due tolow quality gritting sanding. At this point, very little information is available thatcould be used for determining the resistance to abrasion of gritting sanding material.This is further supported by numerous institutions and companies, all suggesting thatquality of gritting sand is not taken into consideration. Gritting sand is part of abigger problem which also involves types of pavement, types of tires, weather,background pollution, etc. Furthermore, there is no practical method to characterizewear of resistance of gritting sand.

The stockholm county proposed legislation in 2010 on the use of studded tires in the city. The aim of the policy was to reduce the use of studded tires by 50 percent. The research question investigates the authenticity of the policy where it was hypothesized that the net social benefits for the imposition of this charge was less than or equal to zero. Emperical literatures were chosen systematically and with the help of theories on welfare economics, a meta analysis was employed quantifying cost and benefits of all outcomes. The findings shows that the NSB is less than zero meaning that it was a wise decision to reject the proposal.