Extreme weather conditions cost the EU’s transport system at least €15 billion (US$18.44 billion) per year according to a a study carried out by the Finnish 814 VTT Technical Research Centre.
The study reveals that the greatest costs incurred are from road accidents, with the associated material and psychological effects. Costs arising from accidents are expected to decrease in volume, although time-related costs attributable to delays are projected to increase. In part, this last effect is due to climate change, which has an impact on extreme weather phenomena.
The researchers calculated the costs caused by extreme weather phenomena for the transport system, its users and customers of freight carriers in the 27 EU member states. This marks the first time calculations have been completed on this scale and scope. The results of the study show that road traffic is the mode of transport most vulnerable to extreme weather. Road traffic has a higher volume than the other transport modes, with the additional factor of not being centralised or professionally controlled, in contrast to rail or aviation. In particular, the consequences of extreme weather are visible in road traffic in the form of increased road accidents and the associated costs. In other traffic modes, it is far more likely that there will be time-related delays rather than accidents. Aviation in particular is prone to time-related delays in extreme weather.
In road traffic, heavy time-related costs are particularly frequent in freight traffic. At EU level, annual losses, measured to be around €6 billions annually, are suffered by the customers of freight carriers as a result of time-related costs, and here is a risk of continued growth in costs. This is due to the growth in volumes of freight-carrying traffic, which is forecast at 1-2 per cent a year. Furthermore, improved efficiency in production chains accentuates the importance of adherence to timetables, creating further potential for growth in time-related costs.
Passengers in road traffic will incur time-related costs, as extreme weather conditions slow down traffic, keeping people away from productive work. At the same time, however, road accidents will be on the decline in the EU. VTT’s researchers estimate that improvements to vehicle safety, along with the warming caused by climate change, may reduce the cost arising from road accidents by as much as half by 2040 -2070.
The report “The costs of extreme weather for the European transport systems. EWENT project D4”, isExternal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal available here The costs of extreme weather for the European transport systems. EWENT project D4 Report false http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/technology/2012/T36.pdf false false %>.
The study reveals that the greatest costs incurred are from road accidents, with the associated material and psychological effects. Costs arising from accidents are expected to decrease in volume, although time-related costs attributable to delays are projected to increase. In part, this last effect is due to climate change, which has an impact on extreme weather phenomena.
The researchers calculated the costs caused by extreme weather phenomena for the transport system, its users and customers of freight carriers in the 27 EU member states. This marks the first time calculations have been completed on this scale and scope. The results of the study show that road traffic is the mode of transport most vulnerable to extreme weather. Road traffic has a higher volume than the other transport modes, with the additional factor of not being centralised or professionally controlled, in contrast to rail or aviation. In particular, the consequences of extreme weather are visible in road traffic in the form of increased road accidents and the associated costs. In other traffic modes, it is far more likely that there will be time-related delays rather than accidents. Aviation in particular is prone to time-related delays in extreme weather.
In road traffic, heavy time-related costs are particularly frequent in freight traffic. At EU level, annual losses, measured to be around €6 billions annually, are suffered by the customers of freight carriers as a result of time-related costs, and here is a risk of continued growth in costs. This is due to the growth in volumes of freight-carrying traffic, which is forecast at 1-2 per cent a year. Furthermore, improved efficiency in production chains accentuates the importance of adherence to timetables, creating further potential for growth in time-related costs.
Passengers in road traffic will incur time-related costs, as extreme weather conditions slow down traffic, keeping people away from productive work. At the same time, however, road accidents will be on the decline in the EU. VTT’s researchers estimate that improvements to vehicle safety, along with the warming caused by climate change, may reduce the cost arising from road accidents by as much as half by 2040 -2070.
The report “The costs of extreme weather for the European transport systems. EWENT project D4”, is
