Traffic congestion across Europe led to 1.58 million litres of fuel being wasted by stationary vehicles, a new study by fleet management company Geotab has found.
According to Geotab’s European Urban Freight Efficiency Index, commercial and stationary vehicles wasted around €2.6 million worth of fuel while sitting idling in traffic during 2025.
Given recent fuel price increases driven by the conflict in the Middle East, the equivalent volume of wasted fuel would now cost around €3.6 million, it noted.
‘Layer of cost’
“Congestion has traditionally been measured through the lens of time,” commented Edward Kulperger, senior vice president, EMEA at Geotab. “How long journeys take, how busy roads become and how delays affect operations. What this analysis shows is that there is another layer of cost sitting beneath that discussion.
“When vehicles are idling, fleets are effectively burning money. Our data shows it costs them millions: fuel consumed with engines running and wheels going nowhere. Every litre of that is also an emissions cost. Beyond the time lost, the burden of congestion is financial and environmental. The fleets navigating it best are those with the clearest picture of where those costs are falling.”
About the study
The study examined data collected from Geotab-connected vehicles in seven European capitals – London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, Rome, Paris and Madrid – during 2025, measuring congestion in terms of both journey times and fuel efficiency.
London, which ranked sixth out of the seven cities assessed, emerged as one of Europe’s least fuel-efficient urban environments. Berlin ranked first in the overall index, with the German capital boasting low idling of commercial vehicles such as trucks, while Amsterdam placed second, with comparatively low passenger vehicle idle fuel consumption.
Rome and Madrid recorded the lowest truck idle fuel waste among the cities analysed, with just 2.8% of truck fuel consumed while stationary.
‘Across the seven cities in the study, the relationship between congestion and fuel efficiency diverges sharply depending on how traffic moves, not just how much of it there is,’ Geotab commented. ‘The most congested city is not necessarily the one costing fleets the most in fuel.’ Read more here.
