Bizkaia approves design to implement “pay per use” for heavy transport

The Board of Directors of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia has approved the preliminary draft of the Regional Ordinance on the implementation of “pay-per-use” for heavy-duty trucks on certain roads in the territory. The initiative, presented at the General Assemblies last June, provides for the gradual implementation of ‘free flow’ arcs exclusively for trucks over 3.5 tons on the N-240, BI-625, N-636, A -8 and Txorierri.

As reported by the formal institution, the approval of the design comes about with the favorable ruling of the European Commission.

During the presentation of the initiative, the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Territorial Development, Imanol Pradales, already stated that the process would only proceed “if it was done with all guarantees and legal certainty to avoid any direct or indirect discrimination, for whatever reason. , by the time to identify the sections, place the control arcs and establish the canon amounts,”.

With a European green light, the preliminary draft is further discussed at the General Meetings. According to the Diputación, the new pay-per-use system for Bizkaia aims to guarantee the optimal conditions of the road network on which it will be applied through a “more efficient and balanced” management, guaranteeing sufficient investment for the maintenance, maintenance and operating the network, and approaching the decarbonisation guidelines and targets set in the EU, encouraging large trucks over 3.5 tonnes to reduce CO2 emissions and improve safety on the road network.