FROM PAGE 16

High housing costs, especially in Luxembourg City, mean more than 180,000 of its workforce commute from those neighboring countries every day.

“Luxembourg is a very attractive place for jobs,” explains Geoffrey Caruso, a professor at the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research specializing in land use and transportation.

But its “booming economy” and high concentration of jobs have led to congestion issues, he says.

In 2016, Luxembourg had 662 cars per 1,000 people, and driving is a “primary means of transportation” for commuters, according to a 2017 report by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure.

That year, drivers in Luxembourg City spent an average of 33 hours in traffic jams. It fared worse than European cities Copenhagen and Helsinki, which have comparable population sizes to all of Luxembourg -- yet drivers in both only spent an average of 24 hours in traffic.

Luxembourg’s public transport system covers the whole country and costs $562 million (€508 million) per year to run. Each year, it generates around $46 million in ticket sales, according to the ministry.