In Germany, on July 1 this year, the toll will be extended to all federal roads. On 1 January 2019, the rates will increase while the additional income will be spent on repairs and expansion of German infrastructure.
Yesterday, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft law on tolls, prepared by the new Minister for Transport, Andreas Scheuer – informs the German press agency DPA. The new regulation is based on the expertise of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and provides, inter alia, imposing a fee for noise emissions.
The fees will go up even 60 percent
Currently, tolls in Germany are collected from vehicles with a GVW of 7.5 tonnes on approximately 15 thousand km of highways and multi-lane federal roads. From July 1, fees will be charged on another 40 thousand km of federal roads.
The Toll Collect fee system operator estimates that the toll extension and increase in rates will affect 30 thousand German companies with approx. 140 thousand vehicles. The rates will rise up to 60 percent. Businesses from the transport industry warn that transport rates will increase. “Transport activities will be more difficult than ever” – they are alarming.
The German toll is the sum of three rates
According to the BMVI expertise, the toll is to consist of three components:
– toll component for infrastructure,
– toll component for environmental pollution,
– toll component for noise pollution.
For example, 18-ton trucks with 4 axles and more will be subject to a fee of 18.7 cents per kilometer (for Euro 6 class) or 19.8 cents per kilometer (for Euro 5 class). Currently, for comparison, rates for the class of 11.7 and 13.5 cents apply, respectively.
Toll rates for infrastructure:
| Vehicle category | Toll rates in cents per km |
| GVW from 7.5 t to 12 t | 8,0 |
| GVW from od 12 do 18 t | 11,5 |
| Truck with less than 4 axles and GVW from 18 t | 16,0 |
| Truck with 4 axles or more and GVW from 18 t | 17,4 |
Toll rates for external pollution costs:
| Vehicle category | Toll rates in cents per km |
| Euro 0,1 | 8,5 |
| Euro 2 | 7,4 |
| Euro 3 | 6,4 |
| Euro 4 | 3,2 |
| Euro 5 | 2,2 |
| Euro 6 | 1,1 |
Noise charge for all vehicles – 0.2 cents per kilometer.
Photo: Wikimedia/Rosa-Maria Rinkl CCA-SA 4.0 International