"One-hour traffic jam can cost you €10.58"
Traffic jams are costing motorists and society on the whole a lot of money. This can amount to 600,928 euros a day, says Leuven Transport&Mobility researcher Sven Maerivoet in newspapers De Standaard and Het Nieuwblad.
"With every traffic-jammed car, we lose 10.58 euros per hour. This is the cost of the motorist not being at work or simply not being productive. Thanks to earlier research, we're able to calculate the value of these seemingly intangible matters", explains Mr Maerivoet.
For trucks, the price tag is even higher at 36.37 euros. "This is because the driver is basically being paid to be in traffic. The surplus also accounts for the time the transported goods are not with the client yet." Maerivoet estimates the total cost of a busy traffic day at about 3 million euros.