by This week, two PLR/FDP parliamentarians proposed increasing the price of the motorway vignette required to drive on the Swiss motorway network, reported SRF. © Stefano Ember | Dreamstime.comThe two politicians making the proposal are from the cantons of Schwytz and Ticino, two cantons affected by the heavy traffic passing through the Gotthard tunnel, one of the key north-south connections through the Alps. The proposed higher vignette cost is aimed at deterring foreign road users from choosing Swiss roads to connect with Italy. Heinz Theiler says the Swiss motorway vignette at CHF 40 is far too cheap. Swiss transport infrastructure was financed by taxpayers to generate economic income, not cheap transit for European tourists in cars. The motion submitted to the National Council,
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This week, two PLR/FDP parliamentarians proposed increasing the price of the motorway vignette required to drive on the Swiss motorway network, reported SRF.
The two politicians making the proposal are from the cantons of Schwytz and Ticino, two cantons affected by the heavy traffic passing through the Gotthard tunnel, one of the key north-south connections through the Alps. The proposed higher vignette cost is aimed at deterring foreign road users from choosing Swiss roads to connect with Italy.
Heinz Theiler says the Swiss motorway vignette at CHF 40 is far too cheap. Swiss transport infrastructure was financed by taxpayers to generate economic income, not cheap transit for European tourists in cars.
The motion submitted to the National Council, Switzerland’s parliament, calls for higher vignette fees, without specifying a price. The proposal says drivers with Swiss license plates should be reimbursed for any price increase, for example, via a discount on car registration tax.
Congestion at the Gotthard tunnel is an ongoing headache. Past ideas to alleviate the problem have been rejected. A fixed toll to use the tunnel and a dynamic toll, which would be more expensive at peak times, are both ideas that have been rejected by the federal government.
In a poll on the SRF website, 78% were in favour of making the motorway vignette become more expensive for foreign travellers. However, in 2013, 60.5% voters rejected a plan to increase the price of the CHF 40 vignette – vote results.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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