Cost of traffic jams on Belgian roads rises to €5.3 billion

According to the Belgian Mobility Dashboard (BMD) calculations, the economic cost of traffic congestion in 2024 reached 5.3 billion euros, or 5% more than in the previous year.

In 2024, that time loss per motorist averaged 6 minutes and 35 seconds per day or over 40 hours throughout the year, up 1% compared to 2023. That 5.3 billion euros price tag is the equivalent of some 1.11% of gross domestic product (GDP). This is money lost in lost time, additional fuel consumption, and additional vehicle exhaust emissions.

By comparison, inefficient travel networks in urban areas cost Member State economies an estimated €110 billion each year in the EU (figures from 2019).

October continues to stand out

Passenger cars represented 41% of the total cost, and freight transportation accounted for 59%. October remains the most expensive month, with 549 million euros spent on congestion costs. November, with 518 million euros, and September, with 502 million euros, followed.

January experienced the highest congestion peaks in kilometers, with a maximum length averaging 1,544 kilometers per day, followed by November (1,497) and October (1,453). The heaviest congestion day was Wednesday, January 17th, when snowfall led to a peak of 8,280 kilometers of congestion on all Belgian roads.

The BMD, an initiative of the car federation Febiac and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB), uses a constant stream of aggregated data from a GPS provider to calculate and map congestion on all roads in Belgium. This includes real traffic jams and traffic points with significantly less smooth flow than expected.

A lot of traffic jams in Brussels, says TomTom

The ranking by GPS company TomTom shows that Brussels is the most susceptible to traffic jams of all European cities after London, Dublin, Milan, and Bucharest. On a global level, Brussels ranks tenth. According to TomTom, a motorist takes 27 minutes to travel ten kilometers by car.

However, Brussels Mobility disagrees with that statement – TomTom bases its world ranking for congested cities on Traffic Index data from 600 million navigation devices and/or motorists of motorists from 387 cities in 55 countries. By comparison, according to the INRIX 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard, Brussels ranks 4th at the European level and 18th globally.

Brussels Mobility: ‘Congestion has remained stable’

The Brussels Mobility Service states, “apples and oranges are being compared.” They say the travel speed is mainly a result of the 30 km/hour speed limit throughout the Brussels metropolitan area. “Those complying with the speed limits need at least 20 minutes to travel ten km. This does not include the time needed to wait at traffic lights or to allow pedestrians to cross.”

According to Brussels Mobility, congestion in Brussels has remained stable in recent years, apart from seasonal variations. Thirty thousand fewer cars enter Brussels each week during the morning rush hour compared to the period before Covid-19. Still, the evening rush hour remains “a challenge,” mainly due to “non-work-related trips, such as leisure and shopping.”

Brussels Mobility states that it is much more interesting to determine the number and extent of traffic jams in Brussels using their own indicator, which compares travel time during rush hour with the 10% fastest travel times measured during off-peak hours. This congestion indicator shows that on weekdays in 2024, delays averaged one minute during the morning rush hour and 2.7 minutes during the evening rush hour.

Touring does not agree

Belgian roadside assistance service Touring reacted with surprise to Brussels Mobility’s statements. “Brussels Mobility hides behind Zone 30, while a higher speed regime still applies on the major connecting axes,” Touring said. This is, therefore, misleading.” According to Touring, Brussels Mobility also ignores the fact that traffic in Brussels does not run smoothly, even outside rush hours.

The organization concludes that Brussels is failing to reduce traffic jams despite the increased number of trips on foot or by bicycle. “On the contrary, things are getting worse.” According to data from the BMD, the daily average time lost per working person in 2024 for Brussels Capital was 7 minutes and 40 seconds per person, 2% less than in 2023.