Skip to main content

Switzerland to more than double road tax to tackle congestion

The cost of the Swiss road tax vignette will more than double to US$106.50 per year from just over $40 at present. With the extra money raised, the Swiss Federal Council wants to tackle congestion on the roads throughout the country and also extend the road network.
March 16, 2012 Read time: 1 min
The cost of the Swiss road tax vignette will more than double to US$106.50 per year from just over $40 at present. With the extra money raised, the 2972 Swiss Federal Council wants to tackle congestion on the roads throughout the country and also extend the road network. This will see nearly 400 kilometres of new road added to the network in 2014, exclusively focusing on existing cantonal road links.

Other ways in which congestion will be tackled is through the opening of hard shoulders and temporary reduction of motorway speeds from 120 km/h to 100 or 80 km/h at certain times. The 2970 Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (Uvek) says a section of motorway reaches its maximum capacity when vehicles travel at 85 km/h.

There were some 16,000 hours of traffic congestion on Swiss roads in 2010, which was a 30 per cent increase year-on-year. The Swiss Federal Council says the total investment in roads will cost some US$327 milion per year, nearly half of which will come from the federal government and the balance from cantons.

Related Content

  • Chinese firm wins highways expansion project to decongest Nairobi
    January 5, 2017
    A Chinese contractor is carrying out a major road project intended to cut congestion in Kenyan capital Nairobi – Shem Oirere writes Chinese contractor China Wu Yi has won a US$163 million contract for the reconstruction and expansion of a 25km highway leading out of Kenya’s capital Nairobi with financing from the World Bank. The contract was awarded by the country’s National Highways Authority (KeNHA), a state-owned road agency responsible for the management, development, rehabilitation and maintenance of i
  • Hard shoulder running cuts travel time by 50% in Belgium
    May 2, 2012
    VAB, the association of Flemish drivers, has said that the new hard shoulder running scheme on the E313 motorway between Antwerp and Liege during rush hours has reduced travel time by 50 per cent.
  • More tenders for Lower Thames Crossing
    April 1, 2021
    The winners will build 23km of road connecting to the UK’s longest road tunnel.
  • France earmarks €5bn for road works up to 2022
    September 28, 2018
    France will invest €5.1 billion in maintenance and construction of highways up to 2022 as part of a major transportation strategy. The money for highways is within €13.4 billion that the government pledged to invest in the general transportation sector. More than half of the money will be for railways. In September, the French government outlined its infrastructure spending priorities for the decade to 2028. The government is to prioritise investment at key rail hubs outside Paris. Half the total €13.4