A toll for motorists in the Brussels-Capital Region alone would be discriminatory, according to FEBIAC, the federation of cars and two-wheelers in Belgium and Luxembourg.
The Federation warned against a proposal to that effect by Brussels Mobility and Public Works Minister, Elke Van den Brandt, noting that only 30% of driving traffic in the region came from outside Brussels and no fewer than 70% of vehicle users lived in the region.
"The urban toll would be compensated for Brussels residents by their circulation taxes,” commented FEBIAC Director General Luc Bontemps. “In that case, the toll would discriminate against Flemish and Walloon citizens working in Brussels or who wish to go shopping there, because they would have to pay an additional tax in Brussels on top of the driving taxes existing in their regions.”
“And it remains to be seen if that would resolve the traffic jams, especially if there are no complete alternatives to cars,” Bontemps added. “A broad, coherent and multi-modal vision of mobility supported by all governments is what our country urgently needs.”
The Federation noted that mobility and the management of traffic jams did not stop at the borders of Brussels. An intelligent kilometre levy that taxes vehicle use based on time and place rather than possession would have a more favourable effect, it suggested.
The Brussels Times
