Road Pricing – Counting the kilometres

Road haulage is big!  It transports more goods than any other means of transport in Europe, and has grown rapidly in recent decades, providing prosperity to those in the industry.  But there have been problems arising from this growth, notably:

• excessive emissions of pollution and greenhouse gases
• noise
• accident victims
• increasing bills to repair road damage

… all caused by lorries which pay for some but not all the damage they cause.

And that is the problem.  Road haulage has grown partly because it does not have to pay the full costs of its activity.  This is a situation which politicians, economists, campaigners and the European Commission recognise cannot be allowed to continue.