The Government will introduce a pay-per-use system on high-occupancy lanes

A few months ago the controversy surfaced again and the introduction of a pay-per-use system on high-occupancy lanes was once again debated. Now, the Government, after much hesitation, has confirmed that from 2024 Spain will have a pay-per-use system for motorways and expressways. According to official sources, the aim of this measure is for users to contribute even more to the upkeep of the national road network.

Spain is not the first country to adopt this measure. France and Portugal already have similar systems. In addition, this initiative was already included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan that the Government submitted to the European Union. Raquel Sánchez, Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, has stated that from 2024 payment for the use of the main motorways and expressways will be introduced in Spain. For now the details are limited, but we know it will be called a tariff system.”

Pay-per-use on motorways and expressways in Spain

According to the information available, the Government does not want the term “tolls” to be used, but rather a payment tariff system based on distance travelled. Furthermore, everything points to the revenue being used entirely for the maintenance and improvement of the country’s road network. This new regulation will be included in the future Mobility Law and will eventually extend to other roads.

The Government has argued that this “means moving towards internalising the external costs of transport under the principle of user-pays and also the polluter-pays principle”. Likewise, official sources have added that this measure will seek social and political agreement, but “in the case of heavy vehicles authorised to transport goods by road, the necessary regulatory conditions will be promoted so that the cost of this measure is borne by the shippers”.

For private drivers “an awareness and information campaign will be run on the need for this measure, aimed at making both hauliers and the general public aware of the need for the reform”. As for the price, no special tariff has been confirmed for this future system, although it is true that the possibility has been considered that drivers using high-occupancy lanes would pay 0.01 euros per kilometre. This amount could rise to 0.09 euros depending on the type of vehicle, its pollution and even its age.

As the Government has reported, “with the new measure, not only would revenue for the maintenance of the road network increase, but the investment of approximately 700 million euros required to install the gantries would also be quickly recovered”.