France to study implementation of an eco-toll to trucks crossing the country
One thing you see a lot in French highways is trucks and the French government thinks that they harm the environment unacceptably, even when paying for the regular tolls around the whole country. Therefore the French government is studying the implementation of an additional eco-toll in order to protect the environment, the Transport Secretary, Dominique Bussereau, said in an interview on LCI television.
Bussereau said that this toll won't be implemented before October and not until the government agrees with green organizations about the use of these funds. This eco-toll will help the environment, he affirmed, because it will reduce pollution (fewer trucks on the road) and will help funding France's high-speed railway network, an airport in Britain and a channel between Paris and Belgium.
[Source: Europa Press via El Mundo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. 2:10PM (7/05/2007)
The "fewer trucks on the road" comment presumes that some current truck trips aren't necessary.
So... Some people are joyriding in semis? No, those trucks are moving the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the materials that build the houses we live in.
Taxing them will encourage firms to be more efficient about truck usage - and will increase the price of everything delivered by trucks. The number of trucks on the road will only decrease to the extent that we decide to live without the goods they deliver.
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Xavier Navarro 3:06AM (7/06/2007)
The issue here are big trailer trucks, not smaller ones. There's a lot of traffic between the Iberian peninsula (fruit, vegetables, wine, cars) to Central Europe that necessarily has to cross France. This is where the french government is going to add the eco-toll.
A similar policy exists already in Switzerland, although trailers must be loaded onto trains until they reach the opposite side of the country.
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