Germany unveils plan to introduce car tolls

Germany's transportation minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has unveiled plans to introduce a toll on cars using the country's roads. However, it is not clear whether the proposal will meet with the approval of the EU. Germany has imposed a toll on trucks using its autobahns and other major thoroughfares since the start of 2005; the new toll would apply to all cars using all roads in Germany from the beginning of 2016 and could even extend to motorcycles. Dobrint said experts at the Transportation Ministry ha
August 11, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

Germany's transportation minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has unveiled plans to introduce a toll on cars using the country's roads. However, it is not clear whether the proposal will meet with the approval of the EU.

Germany has imposed a toll on trucks using its autobahns and other major thoroughfares since the start of 2005; the new toll would apply to all cars using all roads in Germany from the beginning of 2016 and could even extend to motorcycles. Dobrint said experts at the Transportation Ministry had calculated that the measure could generate about $815 million of extra revenue, to be invested in the maintenance and construction of Germany's roads.

The minister said that, if implemented, the new road toll would correct what he described as a ‘fairness gap’, an apparent reference to the fact that German drivers have to pay road tolls when driving in neighbouring countries such as Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Currently drivers from those countries have to pay no such toll in Germany.

He also said that for German drivers, the road toll would be revenue neutral, with people whose cars are registered in the country receiving a rebate on the tax that they already pay.

Dobrindt insisted that the proposal complied with European law and said that his ministry would work closely and in cooperation with EU officials to ensure that the actual bill being drafted would do the same. The 1690 European Commission has repeatedly warned Germany that any such toll must treat drivers from other EU countries equally. Dobrint said he had had a number of conversations about his plans with senior EU officials, including the transportation commissioner, Siim Kallas.

"Non-discrimination is a basic principle of EU law," a spokeswoman for Kallas said before Dobrindt had unveiled his plans. "We have to see the details," she said.

Austria has already announced that it would push the EU to stop Germany from implementing Dobrindt's plan. Austrian transportation minister Doris Bures said she would ‘use all legal means’ to prevent what she described as an act of discrimination against her country's drivers.

Urban Traffic Control Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IBTTA’s Jones sees turbulent times and a bright future for tolling
    November 10, 2017
    Colin Sowman talks to IBTTA’s Pat Jones about the future of tolling in a fast-changing world. Pat Jones may have been executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) for 15 years but in his words: “Never before have I seen so much change coming so fast in the transportation and tolling industry.” Amidst all this change, tolling companies are asked to provide funding for roadway building or improvements which will be repaid for over, say, a 30-year concess
    Read More
  • The long road to Spanish enlightenment
    October 22, 2018
    Julián Núñez, immediate past president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid. Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth: people want to avoid the pain. But pain is something that Spanish operators, including Abertis, OHL, ACS, FCC and Acciona, have been going through for the past decade. The country has
    Read More
  • ASECAP examines tolling’s trials, tribulations and triumphs
    September 4, 2018
    If you want to get up to speed on the main issues facing the transport sector and tolling companies, ASECAP Study Days event in Ljubljana was a good place to start. Colin Sowman reports (Photographs: Louis David). Increasing populations, ever-higher technical and safety requirements, and electric and hybrid vehicles will provide both challenges and opportunities for tolling companies. The annual Study Days event organised by ASECAP (the European association for tolling companies) examined all of these aspec
    Read More
  • Rhode Island RhodeWorks plan opposed by ATA
    May 29, 2015
    Rhode Island government (RIDOT) has introduced its RhodeWorks plan, designed to address the state's crumbling transportation infrastructure. Rhode Island ranks 50th out of 50 states in overall bridge condition and has lost 1,200 in the construction sector over the past three months. RhodeWorks is focused on solving these two problems at once.
    Read More

Highlighted Content