Infrastructure costs assessment, toll calculation in UE

Assessment of infrastructure costs calculation, tolls calculation and variation for heavy goods vehicles in Member States

Directive 1999/62/EC and following amendments provide the legal framework for the application of toll charges to heavy vehicles in the EU, stipulating that road infrastructure charging shall be based on the recovery of infrastructure costs and of traffic-related externalities. Before implementing or amending tolling arrangements, Member States must provide the Commission with a detailed description of the new system.

As contractor of the FWC, TRT verifies whether the tolling arrangement notified to the Commission fully respects the provisions of the Directive. The methodology applied for the assessment includes:

• determination of the scope of the tolling scheme notified by the Member State;
• identification of costs eligible to be recovered through tolls;
• allocation of infrastructure costs across vehicles categories;
• calculation of the weighted average tolls and cost recovery rate.

In its assessment reports, TRT provides sound and evidence‐based analyses of the methodology used for infrastructure costs calculation, assessment of compliancy with the Directive’s core principles, as well as recommendations for possible modifications and improvements.

Thus far TRT has assessed eight cases, including tolling arrangements from Italy, Spain, France, Bulgaria and Poland.