The National Council introduced a one-day vignette on Thursday evening. This should primarily serve to maintain the flow of tourists on the highways and thus relieve traffic-plagued communities. At the same time, in accordance with the EU Infrastructure Costs Directive, a CO2 contribution to the toll was made possible for vehicles with a technically permissible total mass of more than 3.5 tonnes.
On this last point, the SPÖ’s criticism was clear, especially because suspending the toll increase would ultimately lead to a lower cost increase than initially expected. Environmental spokeswoman Julia Herr saw a “tepid compromise” and a “collapse before the eyes of the freight lobby.”
“Pragmatic middle ground”
However, Green Party transport spokesman Hermann Weratschnig insisted the price screw would still be tightened. His ÖVP counterpart Andreas Ottenschläger saw a “pragmatic middle ground”. He told the SPÖ that a larger increase would eventually reach consumers. FPÖ transport spokesman Gerhard Deimek also assumed that the higher CO2 tax would ultimately have to be paid by consumers. The Freedom Party rejected this proposal, as did the SPÖ.
Photovoltaic systems
Another part of the package is that photovoltaic systems in the immediate vicinity of the road will be included in the list of systems considered components of a federal highway. The condition for this should be that these facilities are either located on land owned by the Republic and serve Asfinag for fruit use, or that they are directly owned by Asfinag. Infrastructure Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) acknowledged a significant acceleration of the process.
In the future, truck tolls will take into account not only infrastructure costs and traffic-related costs due to air and noise pollution, but also costs resulting from CO2 emissions. The new pricing system will be phased in from 2024 to 2026.
As far as the one-day vignette is concerned, Weratschnig says this is especially relevant for border regions. It is intended to prevent toll migration to lower toll-exempt roads. In addition, a fixed price scale will be introduced for the different types of vignettes.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
