Traffic jams bleed the Romanian economic system | Letter from the correspondent | EUROtoday

More than one week a yr. That is the time that drivers waste on common caught in site visitors jams in Bucharest, the second capital with probably the most site visitors jams in Europe due, amongst different causes, to the massive variety of autos and poor infrastructure. Specifically, in 2025, 171 hours spent throughout peak hours, a determine equal to 5 working days, in keeping with information from browser producer Tom Tom. The examine ready with figures collected by GPS units reveals that it takes 62.5% longer to journey the identical distance than when site visitors strikes extra fluidly. During the site visitors jams, the typical pace was 18.5 km/h and the gap traveled in quarter-hour was 4.6 km. The worst day to journey was on October 7 when motorists drove solely 2.6 km in an interval of 1 / 4 of an hour.

“Traffic congestion represents a large and measurable cost, usually in the range of 1% to 2% of GDP,” explains Dan Popa, economist and journalist for the Hotnews.ro portal. These figures translate right into a lack of between 3,500 and seven,000 million euros per yr in Romania. “This is time that is not dedicated to producing goods and services, attending meetings or providing services, which directly reduces productivity,” the skilled emphasizes, whereas including that this phenomenon will increase the bills of firms and logistics: “It delays the transportation of goods, increases delivery costs, reduces the reliability of supply chains and forces companies to have more inventory, which contributes to raising prices and worsening competitiveness.”

It additionally has an impression on the effectivity of the labor market. “Long commutes reduce the range of jobs that workers are willing to accept and the number of workers that companies can depend on, which decreases matching efficiency and regional production,” says Ramona Popa, professor of economics on the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. “This lost time represents a considerable hidden tax for both workers and companies,” emphasizes the instructor, who lists different direct prices to the pocket: gas, put on and upkeep of the automobile, insurance coverage, parking charges, public transport passes or tickets and, typically, tolls.

Two million automobiles

Although greater than two million autos flow into via Bucharest each day, the identical because the variety of its inhabitants, the Romanian capital doesn’t occupy the worst place in Europe when it comes to site visitors. That title went to Dublin final yr, the place drivers spent 191 hours in site visitors jams – nearly eight days – and the typical pace was 17.4 km/h. In Madrid, for instance, they spent 98 hours in site visitors jams, simply over 4 days and a mean pace of 20 km/h. “There is also the cost of lost time: the value of hours spent on the road instead of spent on work, housework or rest; usually estimated using the worker’s salary or a portion of it,” says Dan Popa.

However, site visitors jams additionally generate extra prices for well being and the surroundings which might be troublesome to quantify. “In EU cities, road transport is a major source of air pollution and noise; approximately 96% of urban residents are exposed to levels above WHO recommendations, which translates into significant losses in terms of health and economy,” emphasizes Popa. The economist provides different oblique penalties resembling stress and job satisfaction, which may have an effect on productiveness and well-being. “Work-from-home studies show that avoiding commuting saves considerable time and reduces daily transportation and parking expenses,” explains Dan Popa. And he concludes: “For many employees, reducing the cost of travel is a key reason to prefer hybrid or remote work, as it effectively increases their net income and available time, without a nominal increase in salary.”

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