External costs of traffic

The undesirable side-effects of traffic such as accidents, impact to health, damage to the climate and the environment all add up to billions of euros in annual costs. These are hidden costs of traffic (so-called external costs), and it is the public that has to pay for them, mainly in the form of taxes and contributions to health insurance.

A part of the costs will be passed on to future generations. The transport of goods by rail results in only a quarter of the external costs that the same quantity of freight causes when it is transported by road.