Traffic congestion in Austria costs up to 6 bln euros annually

Traffic congestion in Austria costs a total of 5 billion to 6 billion euros (5.5 billion to 6.6 billion U.S. dollars) annually, which is borne primarily by the drivers of vehicles themselves, according to a new research.

The Institute for Transport and Logistics Management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business calculated the costs with a new model developed jointly with traffic authority the OeAMTC.

Around 95 percent of the costs from traffic jams comes from losses of time, with remaining costs relating to energy, the environment, and accidents.

The calculation model primarily takes into account the time of day, the place, and the type of street or road, along with the number of persons in the vehicle and the fuel type used by the vehicle.

It is expected to be used in calculating congestion costs for future projects, as well as to ascertain how much these costs would have been in the past. Endi