Since its inception 40 years ago, the price of Switzerland’s obligatory motorway vignette has not budged. But there is a push in the parliament to change that.
Since the 1980s, the vignette — which is obligatory in either a paper or digital form on the nation’s motorways for all vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes —has cost 40 francs.
Several years ago, the government considered increasing it to 100 francs to generate more funds to maintain and improve the road infrastructure, but that has not happened.
But the move to raise the price is gaining momentum again.
This time it comes from the Centre Party MP Martin Candinas, who has submitted a motion in the parliament seeking a 100-percent price hike — that is, to raise the vignette’s cost to 80 francs.
This measure, Cadinas said, would generate 200 million francs each year to spend on maintaining the motorway network.
He pointed out, however, that this increase should have no impact on Swiss motorists.
Here’s what Cadinas proposes
To avoid imposing an additional burden on Swiss drivers, Candinas is proposing a one-time cut in the mineral oil surcharge — a tax that the government levies on petroleum, other mineral oils, natural gas, and fuel like gasoline and diesel; this surtax currently amounts to 30 cents per litre.
Under Cadinas’ proposal, “gasoline and diesel would thus cost about 5 cents less per litre,” he said, which would offset the higher price of the vignette.
Another advantage of the new system to Swiss motorists: a better flow of traffic.
That’s because, according to Cadinas, foreign drivers transiting through Switzerland to reach another country, would have to pay 80 francs for the vignette, without drawing much sustained benefit from lower petrol prices.
Therefore, he said, a more expensive vignette might discourage foreign drivers from transiting through Switzerland, which would help relieve congestion on certain roads that are particularly prone to traffic jams, such as the Gotthard tunnel, along with many others:
READ ALSO: The numbers that reveal how bad traffic on Swiss motorways has become
Advertisement
Other traffic-reducing motions currently in the parliament
In a similar move, MPs from Switzerland’s main parties — each representing Ticino or Uri, the two cantons located at opposite entrances to the 17-km Gotthard tunnel — submitted a parliamentary motion targeting foreign drivers.
Concretely, they are seeking to tax foreigners who do not spend any time in Switzerland, but merely transit through the country.
In other words, the tax would apply to vehicles “entering Switzerland from a neighbouring country and crossing it to exit through another neighbouring country, without making any significant stops on the territory.”
A typical example would be German tourists crossing Switzerland from Basel to Chiasso on their way to Italy.
The tax would vary according to traffic density, time of day, and day of the week.
Thus, peak periods — such as before Easter or at the start of the holidays — would be more expensive for foreign drivers.
The ultimate goal behind the motions is “to better distribute traffic and reduce traffic jams.”
Advertisement
Will all these motions become reality?
It is too early to say.
The parliament is currently on a break until September 8th, so nothing will happen to the motions until then.
When MPs meet again, both chambers of the parliament must approve the motions in order for the Federal Council to draft legislation to that effect.
And then, it would have to be voted on in a referendum.
