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

  • Towards sustainable mobility
    April 12, 2012
    Tony Marshall, Director at Arup, looks at ways in which the company encourages sustainable mobility.From policy and systems development through to the design and execution of major infrastructure projects, he reviews Arup's global project experiences and research programmes. Space on roads throughout the modern world is decreasing as the volume of cars and road users increases. How can mobility be safeguarded without compromising quality of life or environmental well-being? As engineers, we have a responsib
  • Towards sustainable mobility
    February 20, 2012
    Tony Marshall, Director at Arup, looks at ways in which the company encourages sustainable mobility. From policy and systems development through to the design and execution of major infrastructure projects, he reviews Arup's global project experiences and research programmes
  • Efficient asset management to trim maintenance budgets
    January 22, 2014
    Transport infrastructure is taken for granted in many, if not most, developed countries. This has resulted in a shortage of investment in maintenance, posing potential long term cost issues. In many developing nations transport networks are expanding fast, but insufficient thought is also being given to how these will be maintained.
  • Great opportunities in Asia, conference goers are told
    January 23, 2014
    Asia’s emerging economies will be building roads for the next two decades, delegates at a recent Argus Asian Bitumen conference in Singapore heard. That means there are big opportunities for suppliers of bitumen, related technology and risk management companies - Kristina Smith reports One of the strongest messages to emerge from the Argus Asian Bitumen conference held in Singapore earlier this year is the sheer volume of road building planned in the region. For many countries there are political and finan