New toll road system to stay, with corrections, says official

Budapest, January 9 (MTI) – Hungary’s new toll road system will remain in place despite criticism but some corrections will be made if reasonable, the state secretary for development policy said in an interview published by nol.hu late on Thursday.

Janos Fonagy said the operation of the new system was being monitored and added that “a clearer situation” would have to be created regarding county tolls and their areas of validity.

“I suggested already in early December that it would be more practical to keep the (county) toll valid until the first exit from the motorway after leaving the county,” he said.

Fonagy said concerns about the charging of double fees for Danube bridges on county borders were also reasonable, as well as about the few hundred metres of toll road leading to Budapest’s international airport.

He said that impact studies prepared ahead of the introduction of the new toll system indicated that, according to the best-case scenario, the county toll system would break even.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday morning that the toll road system was being tested and would be finalised only at the end of January.

Under the scheme introduced on Jan. 1 a fee applies to use of the M0 ring around Budapest and links to motorways. E-stickers for individual counties costing 5,000 forints, or 16 euros, a year can also be purchased.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters