The costs of urban congestion: Estimation of welfare losses arising from congestion on cross-town link roads

This paper sets out to formulate a method for estimating the costs and welfare losses of all types that congestion on cross-town link roads causes to the social fabric of the areas affected. Eight main costs are identified, most of them financial or environmental, and techniques are proposed to measure and, where relevant, price the total cost of congestion compared to smooth traffic flows. The intention is for this method to provide results that can be used by public-sector decision-makers to draw up a more efficient overall transport system.