Skip to main content

Tolling 'to bring €700bn' to Europe by 2032: report

Ptolemus Consulting Group research suggests that road user charging is on its way
By Adam Hill November 9, 2023 Read time: 1 min
Collector's item? Electronic tolls represent the future (© Djedzura | Dreamstime.com)

Tolling will bring €700 billion revenue to Europe in the next 10 years, according to a new report by Ptolemus Consulting Group.

It forecasts that the electronic toll collection (ETC) market will have 120 million subscribers in 2032 - and account for 80% of this revenue.

"Despite the public backlash, there is no (credible) alternative to tolling for road funding," the report says.

Many European countries are braced for a funding crisis which will be aggravated by the take-up of electric vehicles and the resulting fall in fuel tax.

The report suggests that truck vignettes will disappear, pushing many countries towards road user charging (RUC) schemes.

Nine countries have GNSS-based RUC systems today, and 11 more in Europe will have implemented an RUC scheme by 2032, Ptolemus suggests.

Related Content

  • Latest ITS technology upgrades India's toll systems
    November 13, 2012
    An ambitious programme of new and upgraded interoperable toll systems has been launched in India, featuring far-reaching technology developments. David Crawford reports. In April this year, Indian Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways CP Joshi inaugurated a new era of electronic toll collection (ETC) in India when he unveiled the country’s first RFID-based tolling installation. This was at a recently-completed plaza at Chandimandir, near the city of Panchkula in the northern state of Haryana. The sys
  • Time for a rethink on road user charging
    February 1, 2012
    There is no value in further US VMT charging trials, except to delay the inevitable. These trials should end after completion of the University of Iowa's National Evaluation of a Mileage-based Road User Charge. There is far greater promise in unleashing private operators to commence profitable, non-tolling services, then using these for toll assessment and collection as fuel distributors are currently used to collect fuel taxation. Bern Grush writes
  • Is Europe's Galileo project value for money?
    February 2, 2012
    Philippe Hamet discusses the progress of the European Union's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System Project
  • CDOT launches road usage charge pilot research program
    November 18, 2016
    The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has explored a number of ways to find sustainable road funding. It is facing a nearly US$1 billion annual funding gap over the next 25 years and is looking to explore transportation funding alternatives as the fuel tax continues to become less reliable over time, due decreased purchasing power and more fuel efficient and electric vehicles. This pilot is the first step in an extensive process of evaluating the concept alongside other funding alternatives. I