Toll roads in Europe - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

History

Many modern European roads were originally constructed as toll roads in order to bring in the costs of construction. Tolls on roads and bridges were very common in England in the 12th century and in the 15th century, schemes for improving particular roads or rivers were granted by acts of Parliament that authorised justices to levy rates for the repair of certain roads. In 1706, a new concept of road tolls was introduced in England: the turnpike trusts. The turnpike trusts were authorised to erect gates, collect tolls, appoint surveyors and collectors, demand statute labour or its monetary equivalent, mortgage the tolls, elect new trustees, and undertake work necessary for repairing the roads. By 1750, most of the main roads between London and the provincial centres and some inter-provincial routes had been turnpiked. By the mid 1830’s, over 1000 turnpike trusts controlled 35’000 km of main roads and disposed about 1.5 million pounds of toll receipts each year. However, the rise of railway transport largely halted the road improving schemes of the turnpike trusts, and from the 1870’s, the Parliament stopped renewing the acts and roads began to revert to local authorities; toll roads passed out of fashion until the later 19th century.

In the 20th century, road tolls have been introduced for financing the construction of motorway networks and specific road infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels. Italy has been the first European country to apply the use of motorway tolls on a 50 km motorway section near Milan in 1924. It was followed by Greece, which made users to pay for the network of motorways around and between its cities in 1927. Later in the 1950’s and 1960’s, also France, Spain and Portugal started to build motorways largely with the aid of concessions, allowing rapid development of this infrastructure without massive State debts. Since then, road tolls have been introduced in the majority of the EU Member States.

Road tolling has been a topic on the European Community level since the 1960’s, when the Council published the Council Decision No. 64/389/EEC in order to collect data to serve as a basis for the establishment of a system of charging for the use of infrastructure under the common transport policy.

However, the focus of the European Commission has rather been on lorries than on private cars, as lorries are concerned directly by the internal market. But it was only in the end of the last century, that the legal basis for road tolling was established in Directive 1999/62/EC (“Eurovignette”) on European Community level. This Directive had the focus on the tolling of motorways, bridges, tunnels and mountain passes, but only for lorries over 12 tonnes maximum laden weight, and the charging was only possible for infrastructure costs. Eight years later in 2006, the Directive was amended by Directive 2006/38/EC, which has a new focus on road tolling of the trans-European road network, but leaves the EU Member States the right to apply tolls as well on roads not included in the trans-European road network. The amended Directive gives the EU Member States the possibility of varying tolls according to a number of factors such as distance travelled, place, infrastructure type and speed, vehicle characteristics, time of day and congestion level. In addition, the EU Member States are obliged to include all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum laden weight after 2012, and after 2010, the tolls must be differentiated according to the environmental performance of the vehicle.
Recently, the European Commission proposed a new, second amendment to the Directive 1999/62/EC, enableling EU Member States to integrate the cost of air and noise pollution caused by traffic in tolls levied on heavy goods vehicles and allowing tolls to be calculated on the basis of the cost of congestion imposed upon other vehicles during peak periods.
Map: charging of heavy goods vehicles in the EU

Specialised system provisions

Toll stickers

Several European countries have toll road payment done in the form of toll stickers

Vignette (road tax)

A road tax vignette is a form of tax on vehicles, used in several non-English speaking European countries. The term is of French origin, and is now used throughout Central Europe....

affixed to the car's front window, which are valid for a certain amount of time.

Toll collection for trucks

Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

introduced a toll-system for trucks over 3.5 tonnes in January 2001, and
Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

introduced an electronic toll collection
Electronic toll collection
Electronic toll collection , an adaptation of military "identification friend or foe" technology, aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads by collecting tolls electronically. It is thus a technological implementation of a road pricing concept...

system for trucks over 3.5 tonnes in January 2004, based on DSRC micro wave technology.
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

followed suit with a toll system for trucks over 12 tons, with some delay due to organisational and technical problems on January 1, 2005. The German Toll Collect
Toll Collect
Toll Collect GmbH is a German company that has developed and is running the tolling system for trucks on German motorways.The company is a consortium led by Daimler AG, Deutsche Telekom, and Cofiroute. It has won a bid for the development of a toll billing system from the German government. The...

system is based on a technology using satellites; truck operators may choose to either install on-board units for automated tracking of movements, or to book their route in advance using the internet or computerized booking terminals. The toll is valid for trucks over 12 tonnes.
Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n highways A1-A18 have a toll system for all vans, trucks and buses.

Croatia

Croatian motorways are generally toll road

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

s and most of these use networked closed toll collection system, meaning the driver receives a ticket upon entering the network and pays the toll upon exiting. Toll is paid in proportion to the length of the used section (with the exception of A2

A2 (Croatia)

The A2 motorway is a motorway in the Hrvatsko Zagorje region of northern Croatia, connecting Zagreb to the Macelj border crossing and Slovenia. The A2 motorway is part of the European route E59 and the Pan-European Corridor Xa...

) and according to the corresponding vehicle group. The first motorway, today's A1

A1 (Croatia)

The A1 motorway is the longest motorway in Croatia spanning . As it connects Zagreb, the nation's capital, to Split, the second largest city in the country and the largest city in Dalmatia, the motorway represents a major north–south transportation corridor in Croatia and a significant part of the...

section between Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

and Karlovac

Karlovac

Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...

, was opened in 1972. As of 2009 there are 1240.7 km (770.9 mi) of tolled highways in Croatia, operated by four motorway concessionaire companies, notably the state-owned Hrvatske autoceste (HAC). As a cash and credit card alternative, all highway concession companies offer paying the toll via electronic toll collection (ETC

ETC

The abbreviation etc or ETC may stand for:* et cetera, a Latin expression meaning "and other things" or "and so on"In economics and finance:* Early Termination Chargers, a type of penalty chargers if break the contract...

) or SMART card

Smart card

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

prepaid toll card.

Croatia also has a considerable network of other highways, including some grade-separated expressways and major state routes, but they are by and large not tolled. There is tolling on a handful of bridges and/or tunnels.

France

In Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the most substantial use of toll roads is in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where most of the autoroute

Autoroutes of France

The Autoroute system in France consists largely of toll roads, except around large cities and in parts of the north. It is a network of worth of motorways. Autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo...

s carry quite heavy tolls: at least some traffic seems to be displaced onto local roads as a result.

Hungary

In Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

every motorway is a toll road, administered by the National Highway Authority (Á.A.K. Zrt.). The roads M0

M0 motorway (Hungary)

The M0 motorway is a ringroad around Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The ring presently connects motorways M1, M7, M6, M5, M4, M3, M2, connecting currently to Highway 11. The southern section of the ringroad currently does not comply with formal motorway specifications. The whole length of the...

(that forms a half ring around the city of Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

), M2

M2 motorway (Hungary)

The M2, or 2/A, is a Hungarian motorway connecting Budapest to Vác. It currently only operates until Dunakeszi as a motorway, from there it is a one-lane highway. It follows the original route of the no. 2 highway , towards the border with Slovakia....

and M15

M15 motorway (Hungary)

The M15 connects the M1 motorway to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The Hungary-Slovakia border crossing is at Rajka and Čunovo ....

although are divided multilane roads, they are not considered as motorways, and can be used free of charge.

Since the beginning of 2008, the purchase of a motorway sticker is handled electronically (known as an "e-sticker" or e-matrica)http://www.motorway.hu, thus cannot be put physically on the windshield anymore, it is only registered in a computer system with its validity period. The highway cameras are checking the registered plate number and not the sticker itself. The 4 days, 10 days, monthly and yearly stickers can be used for unlimited trips on every highway, within its validity period.
The highway stickers can be purchased/registered at petrol stations (gas stations) all around the country. The purchase receipts should be kept for at least half a year after the trip.

Italy

In Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

most autostrade (the Italian for motorways, or freeways) are toll roads. Major exceptions are the beltways around some larger cities (tangenziali) which are not part of a thoroughfare motorway, and the section of the A3 motorway between Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

and Reggio di Calabria which is operated by the government-owned A.N.A.S. S.p.A.. Both are toll free.

Since Italian motorways form a network, the toll price is proportional to the distance traveled. To let the system calculate how much is the toll, the motorist has to withdraw a ticket from an automatic dealer before entering the motorway, returning it at the toll gate on exit. If a user loses the entry ticket prior to exiting the motorway, the toll assessed will be calculated from the most distant motorway access road accessible via the same route unless the user can prove by documentary evidence (hotel invoices, petrol receipts etc.) to have entered the motorway at another access. If the vehicle is equipped with a Telepass

TELEPASS

thumb|300px|Film showing the approach to and passing of a toll station in Italy, using a Telepass OBU. Note the yellow Telepass lane signs and road markings and the sound emitted by the OBU when passing the lane...

OBU (an automatic toll collection device) the ticket should not be picked up.

However there are many exceptions: on some motorways (such as A8

Autostrada A8 (Italy)

The A8 is an Italian motorway connecting Varese and Milan.The road is also known as "Autostrada dei Laghi", Motorway of the Lakes.The A8 together with A9 is the oldest motorway in the world .- External links :*...

and A9) the toll is collected in another way. One or more toll gates ( barriere) are placed along the route, where a fixed charge (depending on the vehicle's size) is collected, regardless of the distance traveled to come there. This alternate system is called open system ( sistema aperto).

Tolls can be paid in cash, by credit card, by pre-paid card, or by Telepass

TELEPASS

, a system comparable to E-ZPass

E-ZPass

E-ZPass is an electronic toll-collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the northeastern US, south to Virginia and West Virginia, and west to Illinois. Currently, there are 25 agencies spread across 14 states that make up the . All member agencies use the same technology,...

.

Motorways are named AXX, where XX is a number. Numbers from 1 to 33 generally designate autostrade which are not beltways but may be parts of them (for example, one section of the A4 which is a part of the Milan beltway), while numbers from 50 to 91 designate beltways around larger cities. The A1, for example, connects Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

to Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, the A50, A51, and A52 are part of the Milan beltway. Many motorways have nicknames ("Autostrada del Sole" meaning "Sun Highway" for the A1). The numbers have not been allocated methodically.

61% of the Autostrade are handled by the "Autostrade per l'Italia S.p.A." company, and its subsidiaries. All of these carriers are now privately owned and supervised by ANAS. The network of motorways covers most of Italy

Italy

: northern and central Italy are well covered, the south and Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

are scarcely covered, Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

is not covered at all.

The motorway operators are required to build, operate and maintain their networks at cost and to cover their expenses from the toll they collect. The tolls vary according to the building and maintenance costs of the motorway and the type of vehicle. Consequently, tolls can be expensive. For example the typical Milan-Naples route of around 700 km costs approximately €40. There are additional toll roads in Italy

Italy

in the urban areas of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

and Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

where tourist buses must pay a fee to enter the city.

Besides the motorways, only some alpine

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

tunnels (such as the Mont Blanc Tunnel

Mont Blanc Tunnel

The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a road tunnel in the Alps under the Mont Blanc mountain, linking Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France , and Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy . It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes, particularly for Italy, which relies on the tunnel for transporting as much as...

) are tolled. All other Italian roads and highways, including motorway-like dual carriageways ( superstrade) are toll-free.

Ireland

The Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

has three toll roads, three toll bridges, and one toll tunnel, which are operated by various independent operators. Most were built under a public-private partnership

Public-private partnership

Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...

system, giving the company which arranged for the road to be built the right to collect tolls for a defined period. Tolls vary from €1.65 to €12 for cars. Larger vehicles pay more, except at the Dublin Port Tunnel

Dublin Port Tunnel

The Dublin Port Tunnel is a road traffic tunnel in Dublin, Ireland, that forms part of the M50 motorway....

, where large or heavy vehicles are free.

Motorways affected are:

M1
M1 motorway (Ireland)
M1 motorway may refer to:*M1 motorway *M1 motorway...

Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

bypass
M4 from Kinnegad
Kinnegad
Kinnegad or Kinagad is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is near the border with County Meath, at the junction of the N6 and the N4 - two of Ireland's main east-west roads...

to Kilcock
Kilcock
Kilcock or Killcock is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Kilcock is a dormitory town for many of those who work in Dublin...
M8
M8 motorway (Ireland)
The M8 motorway is an inter-urban motorway in Ireland, which forms part of the road from the capital - Dublin - to Cork city. The 149 km motorway commences in the townland of Aghaboe, County Laois and runs through the counties of Kilkenny, North Tipperary, South Tipperary and Limerick,...

from Watergrasshill
Watergrasshill
Watergrasshill is a small town in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. The 2006 census recorded a population of 1,068.Bypassed in 2003, the town is situated on the R639 road. It is accessible via junction 17 of the M8 motorway...

to Lisnasallagh (north of Fermoy
Fermoy
Fermoy is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the River Blackwater in the south of Ireland. Its population is some 5,800 inhabitants, environs included ....

)
M50 motorway (Ireland)
M50 motorway (Ireland)
The M50 motorway is a motorway in Ireland running in a C-shaped ring around the north-eastern, northern, western and southern sides of the capital city, Dublin. The northern end of the route is located at the entrance to the Dublin Port Tunnel. Anti-clockwise it heads northwest through the tunnel...

: West-Link
West-Link
The West-Link is a toll bridge on the M50 motorway to the west of Dublin, Ireland, operated by BetEire Flow Limited for the National Roads Authority.- Structure :...

between junctions 6 and 7, and Dublin Port Tunnel
M7 between junctions 18 and 19

Non-motorway toll roads are:

N18 Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

Southern Ring Road at Limerick Tunnel
Limerick Tunnel
The Limerick Tunnel is a 675m long, twin-bore road tunnel underneath the River Shannon on the outskirts of Limerick City. The tunnel forms part of the N18 Limerick Southern Ring Road. The tunnel is tolled....
N25 Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

bypass at River Suir Bridge
River Suir Bridge
The River Suir Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the River Suir in Ireland. It was built as part of the N25 Waterford Bypass, and opened to traffic on the 19 October 2009, some ten months ahead of schedule...
R131
East Link
East Link is a planned eastern extension of the Sound Transit Link Light Rail system, spanning about 22 miles from Downtown Seattle to the city of Redmond...

at East link

Unlike most other countries, the toll charged remains the same irrespective of the distance travelled — there is no lower price for using only part of the road.

Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of

Highways in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which have been upgraded to avtopat standard are toll roads and they use a ticket system

Ticket system

A ticket system toll road A ticket system toll road A ticket system toll road (also known as closed toll collection system, as opposed to a flat-rate toll road, is utilized by some state toll road or highway agencies that allows a motorist to pay a toll rate based on the number of miles traveled...

Norway

Norway has a sixty-year experience in road tolling for financing bridges, tunnels and roads. Until the beginning of the 1980s contributions of tolls to the road building budget stagnated at about 5%, since then it has soared to more than 25% in 2000. Those twenty years were marked by the advance of road tolling in urban areas.

Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

authorities closely monitored Singapore's use of tolls as a means to discourage urban traffic and Bergen got its first toll zone outside the ring road

Ring road

A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...

on 1 February 1986. Any driver wishing to enter central Bergen by car had to pay the fee. In difference to the project in Singapore, the tolls in Norway are by law not meant as a means for regulating traffic but rather only as one for generating income to be invested in infrastructure. The lack of general protest and high income from such toll zones made them very popular initially and today toll rings circumscribe Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

, Tønsberg

Tønsberg

is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....

, Namsos

Namsos

is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum....

and Kristiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

. The toll ring in Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

was closed December 30, 2005 after 14 years in operation. The success is only partial: the toll rings have become unpopular and regarded as an extra arbitrary tax, new infrastructure has not been developed as expected, and confidence in the road authorities has been dented.

There are also several toll roads to finance road infrastructure and highways in other parts of Norway. An example of successful use is the bridge over lake Mjøsa

Mjøsa

Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe as a whole, after Hornindalsvatnet. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about 100 km north of Oslo...

which is now free of charge.

Portugal

In Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

a certain number of roads are designated Toll-Roads. They charge a fixed value per kilometre distance, with several classes depending on vehicle type and regulated by the government. Several authorised franchises run them, the largest at present being BRISA

Brisa - Auto-estradas de Portugal

Brisa – Auto-estradas de Portugal, S.A. is Portugal-based international transportation company. The group's largest business area is highway management, in which it is the largest concessionaire in its home country. Founded in 1972, Brisa also has significant operations in countries including the...

. Other operators are AEA

Auto-Estradas do Atlântico

Auto-Estradas do Atlântico, Concessões Rodoviárias de Portugal, S.A., is a highway management concessionaire in Portugal.-Network:Auto-Estradas do Atlântico operates two highways:* A8 Auto-estrada do Oeste, from Lisbon to Leiria via Caldas da Rainha...

, Ascendi and Lusoponte. For cash-free payments there exists the Via Verde

Via Verde

thumb|right|Freeway lane sign in the Portuguese A6 freeway/motorway . The leftmost lane is for exclusive use by vehicles equipped with Via Verde tags.thumb|right|Via Verde lanes in the 25 April Bridge toll plaza, Almada....

system (Portuguese for Green Way) which is an electronic tag that is fitted to vehicles and automatically debits an associated bank-account with the cost of the journey made.

Well-known roads are the A1, which goes from Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

to Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

and the A2, from Almada

Almada

Almada is a municipality in Portugal, covering an area of 70.2 km² located on the southern margin of the Tagus River. Its municipal population in 2008 was 164,844 inhabitants; the urbanized center had a population of 102,357.The seat is the city of Almada....

to the Algarve, or the A6, from the A2 at Marateca to the Spanish border, close to Badajoz

Badajoz

Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....

Russia

A number of toll roads in Barnaul and Pskov Region (Nevil-Velezh (RUR 190 ($8)), Pechori-state border RUR 140), also M4-Don (18 km close to Lipetsk costs RUR20($0,75) for cars and RUR40 ($1,7) for trucks).

Ordinary speed limits apply so far. In 2007 adopted Toll Road Law and Concession Law in 2005 to develop this sector.

Spain

Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

toll roads (or autopistas) are signaled AP-XX (where XX is the number of the road) as opposed to State-maintained freeways (or autovías), called A-XX. Most of them are networked, so you must get a ticket on entering and pay when leaving the road. Technically, all the roads belong to the Government, although autopistas are built and maintained by private companies under a State concession; when the concession expires, the road is reverted to State ownership, although most of them are renewed.

There are some autovías which are actually built and maintained by private companies, notably the Pamplona-Logroño autovía A-12; the company assumes the building costs and the Autonomous Community where they are located (in the given example, Navarre

Navarre

Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...

) pays a yearly per-vehicle fee to the company based upon usage statistics, called "toll in the shadow" (in Spanish, peaje en la sombra). The system can be regarded as a way for the Government to finance the build of new roads at the expense of the building company. Also, since the payment starts only after the road is finished, construction delays are usually shorter than those of regular state-owned freeways.

Sweden

The Stockholm congestion tax

Stockholm congestion tax

The Stockholm congestion tax , also found referred to as the Stockholm congestion charge, is a congestion pricing system implemented as a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting central Stockholm, Sweden...

was introduced in 2006 to reduce traffic congestion in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

during peak hours. There are no toll-booths. Instead, Swedish-registered vehicles passing into or out of central Stockholm between 06:30 and 18:30 on weekdays are identified by an automatic number plate recognition

Automatic number plate recognition

Automatic number plate recognition is a mass surveillance method that uses optical character recognition on images to read the license plates on vehicles. They can use existing closed-circuit television or road-rule enforcement cameras, or ones specifically designed for the task...

system and the owners of applicable vehicles are billed on a monthly basis.

Switzerland

A performance-related heavy vehicle fee (HVF) was introduced in Switzerland on 1 January 2001. This fee replaces the flat-rate heavy vehicle charge that had been levied since 1985 and is based on a law approved by a clear majority of the electorate in September 1998.

Overall responsibility for levying the new fee was allotted to the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.

The HVF must be paid on all Swiss and foreign vehicles (i.e. those registered outside Switzerland) used for freight transport whose total maximum permitted weight exceeds 3.5 tonnes. It is levied on all public roads in Switzerland.

The amount charged is based on the mileage covered, the total maximum permitted weight and the emission rating (Euro class) of the vehicle in question.

The mileage covered within Switzerland is read off the tachograph that is fitted in almost all vehicles which are subject to the fee. A fee is not charged separately for trailers but in conjunction with the tractor unit. In this case, the rate is calculated according to tariffs for maximum permitted weight on Swiss roads. This maximum permitted weight may be lower than the sum of the maximum total weight of the tractor unit and the trailer since it depends on the type of tractor unit and is subject to the general national weight limit. The national weight limit is 40 tonnes.

The person who is liable for the fee has at the same time a duty to cooperate. Swiss transport companies regularly declare the mileage covered by their vehicles to the Directorate General of Customs. In the case of foreign vehicles, the mileage is automatically declared at the customs post upon leaving Switzerland. The fee is then either paid direct when the driver leaves the country or charged to an account in the transport company’s name.

It is the owner of the vehicle (and in the case of foreign vehicles the driver too) who is responsible for ensuring that the declaration made is correct. Equally, he is responsible for ensuring that the recording device is in good working order. This is also part of the principle of obligatory cooperation on the part of persons who are subject to the fee.

No distance-related fee is levied on heavy vehicles used to transport passengers, i.e. buses and coaches, for which a flat-rate charge is levied. Certain vehicles (military vehicles, police vehicles, fire brigade vehicles, etc.) are exempt from the fee.

The system for levying HVF is implemented by the customs administration in conjunction with cantonal highways offices, transport companies and authorised assembly points.

The Swiss authorities invested some CHF 290 million to set up the HVF system. This sum included development (toll system, recording device, etc.), procuring and installing the necessary roadside infrastructure (beacons and associated equipment) and procuring the recording devices.

The annual cost of operation, maintenance and additional staff constitutes around 7-8% of the total, which is relatively low in comparison with other electronic toll systems. HVF Overview by Swiss Customs

United Kingdom

In the 18th century and 19th century most main roads in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

were managed as toll roads, by turnpike trusts, but these were gradually abolished in the 1860s and 1870s: see History of toll roads in the United Kingdom
History of toll roads in the United Kingdom
For details about the history of Toll roads in the United Kingdom see the articles about Toll roads in each of the individual countries of the United Kingdom:*Toll roads in Great Britain*Toll roads in Northern Ireland...

.

As a result, until recently, the only tolls on roads in the United Kingdom were mainly tolled bridges and tunnels at estuaries (e.g. Humber Bridge

Humber Bridge

The Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...

, Severn crossing

Severn crossing

Severn crossing is a term used to refer to the two motorway crossings over the River Severn estuary between England and Wales. The two crossings are:*The Severn Bridge *The Second Severn Crossing...

, Mersey Tunnels and Tyne Tunnel

Tyne Tunnel

The Tyne Tunnel is a the name given to two two-lane toll vehicular tunnels under the River Tyne in North East England. Completed in 1967 and 2011 respectively, they connect the town of Jarrow on the south bank of the river with North Shields and Howdon on the north...

) and some small, privately owned toll roads and bridges (for example, in Dulwich College

Dulwich College

Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...

).

The recently-built and privately financed M6 Toll

M6 Toll

The M6 Toll , connects M6 Junction 4 at the NEC to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with of six-lane motorway. The weekday cash cost is £5.30 for a car and £10.60 for a HGV...

, opened in 2003http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/3298789.stm, is potentially the first of a new generation of toll roads.

There are three places in the UK with congestion charges; London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

has the peak-time London congestion charge

London congestion charge

The London congestion charge is a fee charged for some categories of motor vehicle to travel at certain times within the Congestion Charge Zone , a traffic area in London. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and raise investment funds for London's transport system...

, Durham has a similar charge

Durham City congestion charge

The Durham City congestion charge was the first congestion charge to be introduced in the UK in October 2002.Durham County Council introduced the toll for drivers using 1,000-year-old Saddler Street in the city centre which stands on the peninsula above the River Wear. This is the only public...

on a much smaller scale and in 2002 a congestion charge was implemented on the Dartford Crossing

Dartford Crossing

The Dartford - Thurrock River Crossing, Dartford River Crossing is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, connecting Dartford in the south to Thurrock in the north, via two road tunnels and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. It opened in stages, the west tunnel in 1963, the east tunnel...

.

In principle, UK roads today are maintained from general taxation, some of which is raised from motoring taxes including fuel duty

Hydrocarbon oil duty

Hydrocarbon oil duty is fuel tax levied on some fuels used by road vehicles in the United Kingdom. Between 1993 and 1999 the Government's Fuel Price Escalator led to significant rises in the cost of fuel which led to fuel tax protests in 2000, 2005 and 2007. In May 2008, UK fuel tax rates were one...

and vehicle excise duty

Vehicle excise duty

Vehicle Excise Duty is a vehicle road use tax levied as an excise duty which must be paid for most types of vehicle which are to be used on the public roads in the United Kingdom...

External links

National Alliance Against Tolls (British anti toll group, but "News" pages includes the US and other countries.)
Autoroutes (France) French site that will give estimates for tolls payable between different points in Europe
Toll stickers in Slovakia Information on toll sticker types and toll roads in Slovakia.
Hungarian Highways English language site of the Hungarian Highway Authority
Toll stickers in Slovenia Information about Slovenian toll stickers.
Overview of European Tolling Systems
Map about Charging of heavy goods vehicles in the EU

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Specialised system provisions

Toll stickers

Toll collection for trucks

Croatia

France

Hungary

Italy

Ireland

Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of

Norway

Portugal

Russia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

See also

External links