Road pricing for all, no longer taboo

Time for a smart approach

Road pricing has not had any positive impact on mobility. On the contrary. Since the introduction of road pricing for trucks in April 2016, congestion has only continued to increase. For transporters, this is particularly painful. Paying on average eight times more compared to the former Eurovignette system only to be stuck in traffic jams longer and more often. They really weren't waiting for that.

Philippe Degraef, Director Febetra: "In its current form, road pricing is a purely fiscal measure that does not deserve the predicate 'smart'. High time, therefore, to turn this stupid measure into a smart mobility management instrument. How? Simply by rolling out the 'user pays' principle to all road users. Now that principle only applies to 2% of the vehicle fleet or 15% of traffic."

User pays

Degraef: "Rationally speaking, no one can be against the 'user pays' principle. Making a mile-eater pay more than a sporadic road user, what can be unfair or unacceptable about that? In itself, by the way, the principle has nothing revolutionary. It is already well established in many other areas." 

"For example, those who use a lot of electricity or water pay more than those who use little. That's logic itself. Not a cock crowing about it. But every time someone dares to propose a kilometer charge for all road users, politicians, both in Flanders and in the south of the country, show cold feet. Unsellable, is their reaction."

Tax, but differently

"Politicians would do well to provide citizens with the necessary clarification," Degraef continued. "Creating a support base starts with giving correct information, not with spreading doom and gloom messages. This is where the shoe pinches. Today, the debate is being conducted far too emotionally, with half-truths and true Indian stories never far away. Let's just connect the dots. The goal should be to move toward a system where it is no longer the ownership of a vehicle that is taxed, but its use. So, contrary to what many insinuate or think, the mileage tax does not come on top of the current flat taxes, such as the road tax and the tax on entry. It replaces them. So it is not that people will necessarily have to dig deeper into their pockets. Motorists will not be taxed more, they will be taxed differently. And, to dispel all misunderstandings, obviously at lower rates than those that apply to trucks today."

Local situation

"It is also necessary to put an end as soon as possible to the myth that a wretch living in a godforsaken village in the Ardennes will have to pay kilometer to go to the bakery by car 10 kilometers away. It is quite obvious that a mileage tax has no reason to exist in rural areas where there are no mobility problems and no alternatives to the car."

Filemonster

"The traffic jam problem has reached such dramatic proportions in large parts of the country that doing nothing is not an option. To stand by passively as we head toward the much-feared traffic jam would look suspiciously like guilty negligence. To avoid ending up in a horror scenario, a cocktail of measures is needed. A mileage charge for all road users is a necessary ingredient in this. Contrary to the political world, Febetra refuses to capitulate and we do think it is worthwhile to go for that track. It probably won't be a walk in the park, but with the necessary objective interpretation, based on facts and figures, it should be possible to make Jan Modaal realize that road pricing for everyone is not such a crazy idea," concludes a combative Degraef.