Cabinet agreement on Dutch kilometre pricing

The Dutch Secretary for Transport, Mr Camiel Eurlings, enthusiastically announced the first details and expected effects of the new road pricing scheme at a press conference earlier this evening.

Starting in 2012, the average kilometre price will be 0.03 Euro, gradually to be increased to 0.067 Euro in 2018. The actual price depends on the CO2 emission of the vehicle.

The kilometre charge will replace both the existing road tax as well as a special purchasing tax for motor vehicles, which on average amounts to around 40% of the net vehicle price.

Under the new scheme, "59% of car drivers will pay less, 25% will pay the same and 16% will pay more as compared to the current situation," according to Mr Eurlings.

Basic principles
Eurlings commenced his press conference summarizing some of the alternative pricing scheme's basic principles, as laid out by the systems progenitor, the late Mr Paul Nouwen:

• The scheme will not lead to higher costs for the average car driver.
• The scheme must enjoy broad societal support.
• Revenues will be directly linked to infrastructure and should not flow into the State's Treasury.
• Drivers of less energy efficient vehicles will pay more than those of more energy efficient ones.
• Depending on demand, on certain trajectories and/or during peak hours the kilometre tariff will be higher.
  

Envisaged effects
Mr Eurlings expects that the scheme will:

• reduce the over-all amount of kilometres driven by 15 per cent, leading to 59% less hours lost in traffic jams;
• lead to a reduction of CO2 emission from road transportation, amounting to 35 megatons between 2012 and 2030 (the reference scenario is the so-called Strong Europe (SE) growth scenario, one of four scenarios developed by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis), and;
  
• reduce the amount of lives lost due to traffic accidents by 7%.
  

Disagreement
Still, today's agreement came as a surprise, as yesterday and earlier today sources revealed that the Finance Secretary, Mr Wouter Bos, had serious doubts about the solidity of the plan. Apparently, during today’s weekly Cabinet meeting Mr Eurlings managed to convince his colleague.

Background articles elsewhere

• Green Car Congress: Dutch Cabinet Approves Mileage Tax; In Effect in 2012 if Approved by Parliament
• EV World: Dutch Treat: Pay-As-You-Drive Taxation Proposed