Externalities of Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) Generated by Urban Transport in the City of Ambato

This paper examines the cost of urban transport environmental externalities due to the presence of NOx generated by combustion and its impact on economic losses in agricultural crops (LAC), impact on materials and buildings (IMB) and damages to the forest mass (DFM) generated by urban transport in the city of Ambato. A sample of 363 EURO II and EURO III technology buses was used, and their emissions of O2, CO, NO, NO2, and SO2 were quantified. The Bacharach ECA 450 Analyzer was used to measure the pollutants, following ISO 14064 standard for direct sources with scope 1. As a result, it was determined that for EURO II technology buses, NOx emissions are 1.69 × 10–4 t/year, and for EURO III, they are 1.59 × 10–4 t/year. With these NOx values, it was determined that (a) the economic losses for agricultural crops (LAC) are $1.65 per year, (b) impact on materials and buildings (IMB) are 1.10 × 10–5 dollars per year, and (c) losses due to damage to the forest mass (DFM) are 5.50 × 10–5 dollars per year. The sum of the three externalities taken by INFRAS/IWW, 2004 indicates the external costs caused by this type of air pollution, which is 1.48 € per year. This final value was converted from euros (€) to dollars (USD) at the market rate of $1.65. It is observed that the value is not significant compared to other elements of the external costs, considering it is a segment of the vehicle fleet that is not extensive and uses exclusive fuel for urban public transport with EURO II and EURO III technology. Another factor to consider was a small territorial extension.