< Show all posts

City toll for Bolzano

Despite the Corona epidemic, the city council of Bolzano wants to introduce a city toll for the inner city.

The announcement annoys businesses that have struggled through the last three months of lockdown. For many, the city toll would be an additional threat to the survival of the companies. The topic is thus being discussed controversially and has already been the subject of several meetings of Bolzano's municipal representatives, interest groups and business associations such as hds (Trade and Service Association South Tyrol).  "Our companies have just dared to make a new start, now it is important to welcome commuters and tourists to the city, because their return will be decisive for many industries. All measures aimed at achieving opposite goals are absolutely counterproductive," explains Simone Buratti, hds local representative for the city of Bolzano.  Also under discussion is a model in which a system for monitoring license plates would play the main role. The aim of this type of data collection would be, for example, to levy tolls exclusively on commercial vehicles. "According to public administration calculations, this system would be less burdensome than parking fees; but in practice, these costs would be added to the parking fees. The introduction of new charges at this point would also be absolutely detrimental to the image of the city; instead, existing charges should be abolished", Buratti explained to Südtirol News.