Calls Go Out for Passenger Car Toll on the Autobahn

The Bavarian interior minister's suggestion, a 100-euro ($126) annual windshield sticker that would be required for cars to travel on the autobahn, would enable the country to lower gasoline taxes, he said, and stop people from traveling over the border. In the Czech Republic, for example, a liter (just over a fourth of a gallon) of gasoline can be up to 33 euro cents cheaper than the 1.38 euros paid in Germany.

"We have to reduce gas prices to an extent that a sticker would be cost-neutral for citizens traveling around 10,000 kilometers," he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily.

He added that it is estimated that "gas station tourism" and the failures of many gas stations in Bavaria have resulted in tax revenue losses of between 4 and 6 billion euros a year.

Beckstein said the toll system would mean freeway maintenance in the future would be financed more by those who actually drive on them. Right now, he said, the government's budget of 6 billion euros a year for highways is not enough.

"We need annually from 1.5 to 2 million more," he said.

Beckstein has found some support for the idea in Günther Oettinger, the premier of the state of Baden-Württemberg. According to him, it is time to rethink the idea of a passenger car toll, something that surveys have shown is very unpopular with the German population. Still, he predicted there would be a parliamentary majority for the introduction of a sticker toll system in the legislative period beginning in 2009.

Transportation ministry says no

But German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has rejected the toll calls, saying the toll system used for trailer trucks will not be extended to passenger cars.

"A car toll is not up for debate," he said. "That's also true for the time after 2009," the end of Chancellor Angela Merkel's term.

Tiefensee has said the administrative costs of such a system would be higher than the new revenue it generated. He said it would penalize commuters, who are already seeing reductions in tax breaks they enjoyed, or would prompt them to avoid freeways and bring more traffic, pollution and noise to populated areas.

Germany has the most extensive highway system in the EU. The country introduced a satellite-driven toll for trucks last year to help with modernization costs, which provides an annual revenue of about 3.5 billion euros.

But according to Economics Minister Michael Glos, a member of the Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU), a passenger car toll should not be ruled out. He is the chair of a CSU working group on the issue of gas station tourism and has said his group wants to study the issue before it evaluates the toll suggestion.