One of the main problems in Bucharest is traffic. The city has recently been categorized as the most congested city in the European Union. However, if we were to compare it with other capitals of Europe, it's a pretty small city. So how did we get here?
Communism legacy
One of the most overlooked things when analyzing/judging all post communist countries is the footprint communism has on a society. It's not just about the ideology, it's about a way of doing things. In the late 80s everybody had to get used with long queues, long periods with no electricity, no television, no gas, no cars, continuous propaganda, fake history. Another overlooked thing is that when communists took over they made sure to get rid of all the intelectuals (scholered people), people with money and everyone else opposing them. We were left with the weak and sometimes the average to build a society. This led to lack of good practices, abuses, corruption.
Populism after the 90s
After communism fell the whole society went through a phase of adapting to democracy. Nobody knew what that is really is and, with the lack of information, people assumed democracy equals wealth. Also, in order to secure votes, the post communist administration took a lot of populist measures and was never concerned with the whole "restrict in order to prevent" concept. Traffic was always overlooked and the car became the symbol of wealth.
Car as a symbol
Romania was poor, it just didn't know it. People started to go to Western Europe and started comparing their life with the one they found over there. People started importing them and it became a symbol of wealth. To this day it's not uncommon for people to own cars that cost as much as their apartment. The car is the ultimate symbol of wealth in Romanian society. But that's just half the problem.
Mobility plan
Romania basically just built on top of the communist infrastructure. But it did that very slowly, not keeping up with the ever growing need of mobility.
Romania has ~800km of highways. That's less than Bulgaria (which is a third the size of Romania). This is solely the responsibility of the post communist administration. Corruption has remained a big part of Romanian society and even though it can easily afford to build highways, the bureaucracy and corruption stand in the way.
Trains are also horrible in Romania. The average speed is 52km/h. Only two routes have been upgraded (400km with average of ~100km/h). With distances as long as 800km in between cities, train is not really an option. I'll use Bucharest-Oradea as an example. The fastest train covers the ~600 km in 12 hours. By car the same route can be covered in 8 hours (maybe a bit more with stops). It should also be mentioned that the conditions in the Romanian trains are pretty bad (horrible bathrooms, the a/c might not work, not very clean).
Bucharest. The only good thing that's happened in the city in regards of mobility was the extension of the subway. However in 30 years there were only 8 new subways stops made. There's also a whole new line in the making, "Drumul Taberei" line. It was supposed to be opened in 2015. It has, in the meantime, become part of local culture at this point and is part of jokes and mocking. That is it, 8 subway stops in 30 years. Meanwhile the city keeps expanding chaotically due to the same bureaucracy and corruption mentioned earlier.
How much does it cost to own a car in Bucharest?
Incredibly cheap.
The cost of a new car is probably similar in all of Europe. The thing in Romania is that new cars represent only 32.2% of the market. The other 67.8 represents used cars. Romanians already consider the country "the junkyard of Europe" in regards of cars: it's where cars go to die. Even so, it remains a custom to just import a used car. My personal take in this is that it's not a bad thing. Unknowingly we've actually been taking care of an environmental problem (1, 2). Prolonging the life of a car appears to be a good thing in terms of environment policy (of which we also have none, but that's a different story).
You can easily buy a used car for 1500€. Dacia Logan is a popular, cheap to maintain, cheap to buy car in Romania. Insurance for a whole year is around 100€/year. Road tax is 28€/year. Tax is 12€/year (depends on the engine size). Parking in Bucharest is free on the street and rules are not enforced at all (there's no towing cars for illegal parking), parking tickets are a rarity. If you're a (lucky) resident you can rent a parking spot from the town hall for 12€/year. The sum is absurdly low even for a Romanian.
So taxes wise, you can get by with 152€/year. The price of the car and the maintenance depends on the car. The price is so low that everyone can afford it.
Car is not only not frowned upon in Bucharest, but actually encouraged by the tax policy the administration applies and by the lack of improvements to the train/subway infrastructure. Due to the populist agenda most parties embrace, they are afraid to change things.
Poor education
Romania has one of the worst education systems in Europe. This eventually reflects (poorly) in the way people behave (and drive).
Things are changing
Ever since millenials, a generation with little or no recollection of communism, started having a bigger impact on society, mentalities started to change. There is definitely an improvement trend throughout the society, and hopefully it will, eventually, tackle the traffic/congestion issues. This takes time though, so if you're visiting Bucharest try to avoid using a car.