Drivers in Athens spend half of the time it takes them to drive into the city center stuck in traffic jams, transport experts said yesterday as they presented a plan to introduce congestion charges in Athens.

The time lost as drivers try to negotiate the city’s congested roads costs businesses up to 4 million euros a week, Evangelos Matsoukis, a professor at Patras University, told a conference in Athens.

Matsoukis has submitted a plan to the Transport Ministry that envisages a system like the one in London to charge drivers to enter the city center during peak hours.

Transport engineers suggest that drivers should be charged about 5 euros to drive into central Athens between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. Drivers would be able to buy passes via SMS, on the Internet, at special machines and gas stations.