Last month's heavy snowfall cost Belgian businesses €106.6 million, according to the Federation of Belgian Businesses (FEB), using data from their Belgian Mobility Dashboard (BMD), shared with Automobile and Bicycle Federation Febiac.
"At 17:00 on Wednesday 17 January, during the peak snowfall, there were 8,280 kilometres of traffic jams on Belgian roads. In comparison, the same day last year saw a maximum congestion of 3,374 kilometres at the same hour," reported the FEB.
Both the FEB and the Febiac calculated the cost of congestion on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 January as €75.8 million and €30.7 million, respectively. "It should be noted that the average cost of congestion on a regular working day is around €20 million," highlighted the FEB.
The BMD clarified that "economic costs generated by congestion are related to time loss, additional fuel consumption, and the cost of extra vehicle emissions, all of which are converted to monetary values."
For the whole of January, the total cost comes to €439 million, a 24% increase compared to the same month in 2023.
Launched in January 2022 by the FEB and Febiac, the BMD is an open-access platform providing key indicators on mobility.
