Kathmandu has become notorious for its increasing traffic congestions in the past few months. Rush hours are especially nerve-racking. We sit in the traffic while contributing to pollution, and helplessly ignoring other prices we are paying.  Some of the not-so-obvious costs of being stuck in the traffic are as follows:

  1. Time:

While sitting idly in such slow-moving traffic, we waste the most precious thing in our lives: time. Sometimes, the circumstances are unavoidable. However, . For every 20 minutes we spend in traffic jams, we are losing 20*60=1200 seconds that could be spent in doing something productive.  In 20 minutes you could have replied to several emails, and completed writing a small article. You can reduce your time wastage by using information that our smartphones and radios may provide.  Or, simply avoid using the routes that are most congested.

 

  1. Vehicular efficiency:

If your vehicle engine is running while the vehicle is not physically moving, the life of the engine will be reduced as it is forced to run for longer hours. Also, . Thus, make sure to turn off your engine if you are certain that you will be stuck for a longer period of time.

 

  1. Money:

When you are unsure of how long traffic jams will last, you normally do not turn off your engine. As per Paavan Mathema’s article published in Nepali Times (#550), over 550,700 vehicles are registered in Bagmati zone, all crammed into almost the same length of roads as 15 years ago. A journey that should have taken 20 minutes can take up to an hour during peak times. A 1000 cc car burns 2 litres of fuel if it is kept idle for an hour; a motorcycle burns 0.25 litres. Thus, try to avoid traffic jam and if that is not possible, at least turn off your engine when you are not moving for more than extended period of time.