The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, José Luis Ábalos, has suggested the possibility of introducing tolls on the roads depending on the type of user who uses them, discarding the payment by citizens who need to transit through them, in front of the possible payment by the economic activities that benefit from the infrastructure.
During his participation in the ‘First Symposium of the Mobility Observatory’, organized by El Español and Invertia , the minister pointed to this possibility, further arguing that ” it is not fair to have territories with toll and others free of it.”
The head of Transport has ensured that these differences in the collection of tolls depending on the territory in which users circulate “is not making a Spain the same for all”, defending a principle “of territorial equality without discriminating against users.”
However, it has indicated that there could be a difference between citizens who circulate on the roads out of necessity , to go to work, and economic activities that benefit from public infrastructure.
“For others, traffic on these roads makes them more competitive in their activity, since they benefit from the level of infrastructure”
“For those who have no other choice, such as those who go to work, you do not have to tax them, but for others the movement on these roads makes them more competitive in their activity, since they benefit from the level of infrastructure”, he has argued.
This debate arises in response to the great financing needs destined to the conservation of the infrastructures already executed, which, according to the minister, already concentrate the entire current public budget, leaving little room for new work.
“Working in equality is not treating everyone the same, but recognizing people’s differences, different needs and their different motives, but it is necessary to give everyone opportunities to act equally,” he continued to justify.
In this sense, with respect to the other major area of mobility of his Ministry, that of the railroad , Ábalos has defended the imminent liberalization of the sector to amortize and make profitable the investment made by the State, while lowering costs for users.
The minister has also referred to the freight railway as “a pending issue for the country”, so he believes that the priority is to move towards intermodality of transport, connecting the train tracks with ports and with road transport through of the so-called ‘rail motorways’.
