Skip to main content

Dutch move forward on road pricing

Companies are being invited to consult with the Dutch government on systems for road pricing. Camiel Eurlings, the Dutch Minister of Public Works, Transport and Water Management, said that he would like market parties to play a leading role in this process, which involves developing, together with businesses, certification requirements which the future road pricing system must meet.
July 6, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The Dutch government is moving forward on road pricing and motorists will be paying per all kilometres driven
Companies are being invited to consult with the Dutch government on systems for road pricing.

Camiel Eurlings, the Dutch Minister of Public Works, Transport and Water Management, said that he would like market parties to play a leading role in this process, which involves developing, together with businesses, certification requirements which the future road pricing system must meet.

The government will also examine how the market can set up a solid business case for its implementation. The market can then develop the system on its own, based on the certification requirements. There will also be a ‘guarantee track’.

Tendering will now begin for this fallback scenario, after which the system can be tested on a large scale.

Vehicle owners will be able to choose the service provider from which they obtain road pricing services. Tendering has began for several critical areas. These areas concern the components which form the heart of the system, needed for large-scale practical tests of the road pricing system in 2010. Tendering will take place by means of a ‘competitive dialogue’.

The main characteristic of this type of European tender procedure is that parts of the system (and with it their respective requirements) will be discussed in a competitive dialogue with a number of selected participants

The government decided late last year to introduce road pricing. Motorists will be paying per all kilometres driven. The price will depend on when and where the kilometres are driven as well as the environmental characteristics of the vehicle. Road pricing will eventually replace the motor vehicle tax (MRB) and purchase tax (BPM). The government has chosen this approach because it is based on the principle of fairness: those who drive more kilometres and pollute more pay more; those who drive little and pollute less pay less.

Related Content

  • Senior ADB figure urges governments to act on sustainable transport
    September 27, 2013
    Multilateral development banks (MDB) are determined to do all they can to encourage governments of developing countries meet key sustainable transport targets, according to a senior figure at one of the world’s biggest MDB’s. Guy Woodford reports Tyrrell Duncan, Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) director of Transport and Communications Division, East Asia has been at the forefront of MDB efforts to enhance sustainable transport and road safety in developing countries. Speaking during a break in talks at the In
  • Underground routes for highways
    July 20, 2012
    Increasingly, and where possible, roads are being built in tunnels often for environmental reasons, writes Patrick Smith As part of the new M7 motorway development in the southwest of Ireland, the four-lane route crosses the River Shannon near Limerick, before it flows into the Atlantic. Centrepiece of the 10km long Limerick Southern Ring Road is the required tunnelling (675m long), which including the north and south entrance and exit ramps, means it will be 915m long. Completion of the work is planned for
  • Buying bitumen: do you know enough?
    December 2, 2014
    Changes to the way bitumen is produced and traded mean that traditional ways of specifying – and buying - it may not be enough - Frank Albrecht, MD of Albr3cht Supply Concepts, explained why to Kristina Smith Traditionally, we have specified bitumen using two values: the penetration (pen) and ring and ball figures which define the hardness of the bitumen and its softening point respectively. Taking that approach today is risky, warns Frank Albrecht, managing director of Albr3cht Supply Concepts. “It’s not
  • Act FAST when it comes to bridge maintenance, argues Cliff Weston
    February 27, 2017
    Deck waterproofing remains critical to a bridge’s structural integrity for its design life, explains Cliff Weston, director of Stirling Lloyd To properly maintain deck waterproofing there must be a willingness to look at solutions based on whole-life costing rather than just short-term initial costs. There are lessons to be learned from examples of prematurely failed infrastructure due to a focus on initial short-term costs.