“The lorry avalanche on Austria’s roads brings exhaust gases, noise and a higher risk of accidents. We all bear the costs of damage to health and the environment. With a lorry toll on all roads, we relieve our communities and can invest in the expansion of rail infrastructure! ” – said SPÖ environmental spokeswoman Julia Herr.
The spokeswoman refers to figures by the Austrian Transport Club (Verkehrsclub Österreich – VCÖ); 2.2 billion litres of the 3.8 billion litres of diesel fuelled in the first half of 2021 were purchased by bulk buyers, primarily for lorries.
Herr says that if heavy goods transportation were shifted from the roads to the rails, CO2 emissions were to decrease sharply.
An extension of the lorry toll on all roads brings an additional half a billion euros for investments in a climate-friendly transport system,” continued Herr. –“These are also urgently needed, because an expansion of the rail network and the expansion of existing capacities are required.”
She also promotes the digitization and automation of rail freight so that companies would switch from lorries to rail.
Photo credit @ Wikimedia/Jochen Teufel CCA SA 3.0