Special Toll – Its Importance for Road Financing, Transit Control and Business Locations

A special toll is levied on users of the Arlberg tunnel, the Brenner motorway, the pass section of the Tauern motorway, and the Karawanken, Bosruck and Gleinalm tunnels. Construction of these segments was financed external (bonds, other loans), in order to meet traffic requirements earlier than would have been possible through financing from the national budget. Toll receipts were to cover ongoing operating and maintenance costs, the cost of financing and, ultimately, debt redemption. Yet, if we add internal resources contributed by the federal and state governments to the borrowed funds, no special toll section (with the sole exception of the Brenner motorway) has so far been able to produce an ongoing surplus and contribute towards debt redemption. If accounted for in this manner, the special road construction companies had accumulated debts of a total of € 4.7 billion in 2002, compared to € 7.5 billion in total debt for Asfinag in general as of the end of 2002.