Austrian road transport industry anger over 8% HGV road toll rise

Austria's road transport industry is threatening to challenge in the European Court of Justice state-owned motorway operator Asfinag's plan to increase modern HGVs road toll by 8% in 2014. The Austrian transport ministry has ordered that toll prices should be increased by 2.5% from the beginning of January 2014, in order to adapt to inflation. But the price increase for modern HGVs, such as Euro 6 vehicles, is set to be significantly higher in order to keep the volume of toll income stable, as there are now
December 11, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Austria's road transport industry is threatening to challenge in the European Court of Justice state-owned motorway operator Asfinag's plan to increase modern HGVs road toll by 8% in 2014. The Austrian transport ministry has ordered that toll prices should be increased by 2.5% from the beginning of January 2014, in order to adapt to inflation. But the price increase for modern HGVs, such as Euro 6 vehicles, is set to be significantly higher in order to keep the volume of toll income stable, as there are now fewer older vehicles on the road to pay a higher toll.

According to Alexander Klacska, chairman of the federal traffic and transportation division of WKÖ (Austrian Economic Chamber), said modern HGVs have already paid up to €35 million (US$47.84 million) too much in tolls. Klacska estimates that Asfinag's income from tolls increased from €1.4 billion in 2009 to more than €1.6 billion in 2012, while the volume spent on construction works, including road improvement, has fallen from €1 billion to €600 million in the same period.
Highway & Network Management

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