Road pricing in the Netherlands

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Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of policy intentions in the Netherlands related to road pricing since 1988/1990 and will discuss dominant factors for not implementing any road pricing policy so far. The contribution is limited to the payment of road use, excluding taxes on fuel and parking policies. The main conclusion is that, although the Netherlands was the first to support a national road pricing system, real world implementation failed about three decades ago, mainly due to a lack of political, social and actor support. The most important factor was that Dutch political parties were afraid to lose this vote. Uncertainty about ICT (costs, reliability) also played a role. What does this imply for the future of road pricing policies in the Netherlands? The fact that the system is going to be revolutionary change, a big bang implementation, makes implementation difficult. A more evolutionary ‘step by step’ implementation would have more chance of survival. If Germany and/or Belgium (and perhaps Luxemburg) were to impose a kilometre charge, this would increase the likeliness that the Netherlands would also do this.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRoad pricing in Benelux: Towards an efficient and sustainable use of road infrastructure
Subtitle of host publicationTheory, application and policy
EditorsL.D. van den Berg, J.B. Polak
PublisherBIVEC-GIBET
Chapter5
Pages66-70
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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