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Consider alternatives to building more roads
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January 9th, 2008 issue

The government received a huge windfall last year — 5.7 billion Kč ($320.6 million) in revenue from the new electronic toll on truck traffic.

Even though that figure is nearly double the highest revenue projection, it reflects a problem: The tax isn’t working as it’s supposed to.
One of the main goals of the toll was to encourage freight companies to switch from roads to railways and rivers, according to ČESMAD Bohemia, the Association of Road Transport Operators. And that’s not happening.
In fact, with the number of new hypermarkets, warehouses and industrial zones growing rapidly, truck traffic is sure to get worse before it gets better.
The new suburban-style shopping malls sprouting up across the country mimic similar growth in the United States after World War II. Many are not near existing rail lines, and they all cater to consumers who can afford cars.
Before the country starts choking on the kind of traffic congestion that now plagues every major U.S. city, here’s an unsolicited suggestion for politicians who have not yet decided what to do with the bonus e-toll revenues: Spend them on expanding and upgrading the country’s rail infrastructure.
A few years ago, such an idea would probably have been dismissed as too “green.” But, with the new consciousness about climate change, and oil topping $100 a barrel, it’s a propitious moment to consider alternatives to building more highways and fueling the growth of vehicular traffic.
We realize that using e-toll revenues to improve rail transportation is in some ways a simplistic notion. České dráhy (Czech Railways) has a host of existing problems to address, and few new developments are being planned with rail connections in mind. But it would be even more naive not to consider alternatives, given the current situation.
The volume of traffic moving in and through the Czech Republic is only going to grow. The country occupies a strategic spot on European transit routes; indeed, one of the reasons for the e-toll’s success is the number of trucks using Czech roads to get to Germany and Austria. And the number of personal vehicles on the road is growing steadily.
More highways are already in the works. Last year, the Czech Road and Motorways Directorate announced plans for new road-building projects totaling 30 billion Kč ($1.7 billion). And the inflated cost of building roads in this country — more expensive than in Germany, according to a recent report — suggests that money will go as much to support corruption as infrastructure improvement.
With e-toll revenues expected to continue to rise, now is the time to consider creative alternatives. Of course, any new plan would require support from the European Union. But the Czech Republic could be a leader in the EU, promoting innovative new transit strategies rather than feeding an outdated system.
There’s already a great tradition of rail in all of Europe. Now is the time to capitalize and build on it.


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