Since the Second World War, automobile traffic has increased enormously in the United States, and per capita ridership on public transit has declined. While this change in local transportation patterns has given households much greater mobility and freedom than in the past, the rise of the car culture has also caused environmental, social, economic, and political damage because private vehicles have not had to pay their own way. These hidden costs of automobile driving are an illustration of what is called:

Social costs.

Fixed costs.

Variable costs.

Marginal costs.

Philanthropic costs.