Are Congestion Costs External Costs?

Abstract

The supply of road infrastructure is not keeping pace with the growing demand for it. Traffic congestion which leads to rising economic costs is on the increase. What are these costs specifically and how much are those responsible for them already bearing or paying for? How are the remaining external costs to be treated within the framework of a road transport cost accounting system which excludes double counting? The authors put forward reservations on the methods adopted by the European Commission to support their proposal for full charging of congestion costs as external costs. They explain their views using the example of the Swiss Transport Account for heavy goods vehicles.