I very much enjoy the idea of vignettes that is quite popular in EU: every driver driving highway is obliged to buy a pass to drive the high-speed road (which are usually higher polluters than slow-speed ones). IMO that is the best solution there, especially because I hate it so much as a driver.
The price is not as high, yet when you are going for a long car-trip, you have to plan it in advance. At the same time, driving through 3-4 countries can easily add 50-60€ to the trip price in vignettes only, which is quite discouraging (taking into account that is half of price for the petrol for that long travel).
The main issue with vignettes that I see, is that they don’t charge more for driving more.
Yes, it stings when you have to pay for a vignette the one time you drive through a country on a roadtrip, but to anyone that lives in that country it is just a yearly expense that you pay once. Then afterwards you can drive as much as you want without it costing you a dime more.
I much prefer the mileage tax system where you either charge per vehicle mile driven (the NL is looking to introduce that as a replacement of the fuel tax), or per kilometer of toll road used (like the Peage in France).
In that system it stings once, but it stings every susbequent trip as well. It is a bigger disincentive than the flat fee of the vignette.
Charging per mile makes more sense for a road tax for maintenance, and charging more for heavier vehicles. Do that for all vehicles (EV and combustion) and then charge a fuel tax for the emissions fee. More fuel used means more emissions.
I very much enjoy the idea of vignettes that is quite popular in EU: every driver driving highway is obliged to buy a pass to drive the high-speed road (which are usually higher polluters than slow-speed ones). IMO that is the best solution there, especially because I hate it so much as a driver.
The price is not as high, yet when you are going for a long car-trip, you have to plan it in advance. At the same time, driving through 3-4 countries can easily add 50-60€ to the trip price in vignettes only, which is quite discouraging (taking into account that is half of price for the petrol for that long travel).
The main issue with vignettes that I see, is that they don’t charge more for driving more.
Yes, it stings when you have to pay for a vignette the one time you drive through a country on a roadtrip, but to anyone that lives in that country it is just a yearly expense that you pay once. Then afterwards you can drive as much as you want without it costing you a dime more.
I much prefer the mileage tax system where you either charge per vehicle mile driven (the NL is looking to introduce that as a replacement of the fuel tax), or per kilometer of toll road used (like the Peage in France).
In that system it stings once, but it stings every susbequent trip as well. It is a bigger disincentive than the flat fee of the vignette.
Charging per mile makes more sense for a road tax for maintenance, and charging more for heavier vehicles. Do that for all vehicles (EV and combustion) and then charge a fuel tax for the emissions fee. More fuel used means more emissions.