Satellite-based road tax in the Netherlands in 2011
It's easy to argue that road taxes are quite unfair because they're flat: You pay fees to drive around; it doesn't matter how much you actually use the car.
The Netherlands has decided to improve the country's road tax by taxing according to the vehicle type, usage, hour and roads the vehicle is using. The system uses GPS, a car transmitter and a standard cell phone GSM network to send this information to a central computer that processes the information. Once these figures are calculated, the driver is charged. Congestion and the environment are both taken into consideration in the rate scheme. Using a highway that enters a city in peak hours while driving an SUV will be taxed more than driving a small car in a rural area where private vehicles are more of a necessity.
Dutch officials hope the system will reduce CO2 emissions and congestion, because the Dutch government claims that there is no more room to build more roads. Critics say this system is an attack on privacy: a computer will know where and when you've driven, although the company that implements the system guarantees that this information won't be stored once translated into money. The system starts in 2011 for freight transport and will be expanded to include cars in 2012. Full deployment of the system is scheduled to be completed in 2016. A similar system has been under study in the UK.
[Source: Qué!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Erik Ness 3:53PM (5/05/2008)
Yeah right, it won't be stored. Nonsense. Once it's in a computer, it will be stored and once it's stored, it will be handed over to the first authority to subpoena it.
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Aimless 4:43PM (5/05/2008)
This is NOT a green measure. It's just another tax.
At the moment about 60% of fuel prices in the Netherlands is tax. So when the Th!nks and Tesla's arrive, the government will loose out on all that money. To prevent that, they envisioned a toll road system all over the country, with the help of GPS trackers. The Germans have prooven this tech. works, with their "autobahn maut" (highway toll for trucks). The system will (of course) also be great for writing out speeding tickets.
In return road tax and the 25% registration fee, will be abolished. Which creates a new problem. Without road tax, the road maintenance fund will suffer. So in the near future, a new tax will have be invented to fill the gap.
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Wildgoosechase73 4:46PM (5/05/2008)
Am I the only one that would put a toggle switch on it and have it turned off half the time?
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Aimless 5:02PM (5/05/2008)
@ Wildgoosechase73
In Germany some truckers tried. The ticket was already in the mail before they made it home. (Pesky things, those traffic cameras all over the place)
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Herkimer 5:05PM (5/05/2008)
Why do they think a satellite system is necessary?
Can't we argue that miles-driven is roughly a function of fuel-purchased? Why can't this be taken care of via a gas tax?
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Matt 5:36PM (5/05/2008)
Herkimer:
Fuel tax will be increasingly less useful for governments.
Why?
Because more and more vehicles are appearing that require significantly smaller - or even zero - amounts of fuel. So the revenue on fuel duty is falling, but these vehicles are still using the infrastructure as much as they were before, and it all still needs to be maintained.
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Rick 8:05PM (5/05/2008)
Agreed. This is another attempt to strip people of their food money hinding behind a nobel, but currently in trend, global cause.
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Herkimer 5:57PM (5/05/2008)
6. Matt
That is certainly something I hadn't considered.
Why not tie the tax to tire sales then? Clearly, the more rubber you use, the more wear-and-tear you have caused on the roads. =)
I don't see the need for an expensive, intrusive system like this. More to the point - the potential for misuse is alarming.
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stevefazek 7:35PM (5/05/2008)
yeah if lived in holland. I would either cover my engine bay in brass mesh or just pull the system out.
I knew someone who was about to go over the milage on thierlease and just pulled out the speed sensor wire from the transmission shhhhh
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Dad 8:14PM (5/05/2008)
"Critics say this system is an attack on privacy: a computer will know where and when you've driven"
Big Brother!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be afraid, very afraid.
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s10 9:21PM (5/05/2008)
@rick and Aimless.. This is indeed a new tax, but one that replaces an existing tax. The existing tax is unfair since it is flat, as stated in the article, this one will save you a lot of money if you drive less... and when you drive less, it is good for the environment.
In the Netherlands it is easy to drive less, public transport is very good and will bring you anywhere you want, and for short distances, a bicycle is the healthiest, cheapest and most green way of transport.
If you drive more, than you pay more, which is fair since you are a bigger burden both for the environment and the road system.
The privacy matter is a complete waste of time..
Almost everybody has a cellphone and nobody complains that the cellphone company knows where you are, every minute of the day....
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a3 1:25AM (5/06/2008)
it is almost a kind of an April 1st joke. I live there, in the Netherlands, and I think it is about the tenth time they say there will be a system based on the kilometers you drive (which is fair anyway).
But next to the technical issues, sofar, it has always been the politicians themselvelves that made sure it is not going to happen. Over the past 10 elections this has been an issue and forming a government, which in this country, takes at least 3 parties to work together. Never ever they will agree on this subject because it will cost them votes as it did over the past 20 years. So yes, talking about it is oke, doing it....not done. Certainly not when the next planned elections are in 2010.
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stevefazek 4:09PM (5/07/2008)
gas tax is a usage tax. The more you drive the more gas you buy the more tax you pay. Its far from flat.
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mroverlord 6:59PM (5/06/2008)
Wow...a new and inventive tax..just what the populace needs. At what point are the people going to revolt??
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