Impacts beyond the motorway:
Tolling as an instrument for sustainable growth
“The common denominator for our contribution to sustainable development today and tomorrow is tolling”, stated outgoing ASECAP President and CFO of ASFINAG Mr. Klaus SCHIERHACKL, specifying that the revenue generated by the collection of tolls from the user is a prerequisite for the efficient management of the network, ensuring high levels of safety, service and maintenance, with due consideration of the environment. This point is also highlighted in a joint tolling declaration that was signed during the conference by ASECAP and the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA).
Mr. Christos ECONOMOU from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport underlined the role that ASECAP plays in relation to the development of EU transport policy and added that “charging for the use of infrastructure and internalizing the external transport costs in accordance with the polluter pays principle are key factors of the EU policy orientations. A road charging package that the Commission is preparing will aim at further improving the EU instruments that are available for this”.
The sector and the EU institutions agreed that the economic and financial crisis has underlined the importance of having proper recourse to Public-Private Partnerships and innovative financial instruments, in order to ensure that the huge needs across the TransEuropean Road Network can be et despite restrained national budgets.
In this regard, the new President of ASECAP and Executive Director of ASFA, Mr. Jean MESQUI, insisted that the toll concession framework offers at the same time the necessary stability and sufficient flexibility for road infrastructure operators to be able to carry out their long-term responsibilities, providing an adequate road service with clear direct and indirect benefits for society as a whole. “We are proud of the high-quality service we offer to our customers, but also of our corporate responsibility, of how we give consideration to the environment and of our contribution to the creation of jobs and growth”.
