The Ministry of Transport is contemplating expanding the toll system from trucks to personal cars and possibly even motorcycles. The ministry insists that such a plan is not underway, but these proposals were submitted to the Czech Chamber of Commerce for comments. According to an expert, the government is gauging public resistance and looking for additional sources of revenue.
Personal car drivers in countries like Croatia, France, Italy, Poland, and Portugal already pay highway tolls. In many other European countries, charges are levied on selected sections of highways, bridges, or tunnels. Such a change in the Czech Republic would mean frequent drivers would pay significantly more than the current highway stamp system. There is no absolute certainty that this will not happen.
The Ministry of Transport is currently preparing an amendment to the law. “We are only now gathering suggestions from entrepreneurs, business unions, associations, unions, clusters, and craft guilds, which the Chamber of Commerce covers,” said chamber spokesman Miroslav Diro to Novinky. The deadline for comments is June 19th.
According to ministry spokesman Jan Jakovljevič, the main change should be the introduction of tolls for trucks on class II and III roads and local speed roads. However, he did not precisely answer why the ministry is even starting a debate on such fundamental changes when it does not want anything like this.
Transport expert Roman Budský from the Vize 0 platform told Novinky that politicians might be tempted to raise transport charges in the future because it is a reliable source of money. People can give up cigarettes, but they have to drive. Before politicians consider raising charges, they should account for why we have such high budget deficits, Budský added.