Alpine states see ways to tackle truck traffic

Europe's alpine states want stronger regulations for trucks crossing the Alps, a group of transport ministers agreed on Thursday.

Moritz Leuenberger, Switzerland’s transport minister, met his counterparts from Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Slovenia in Vienna, where leaders discussed ways of controlling the impact of traffic moving more frequently through the mountains.

The first step would be to require trucks crossing the Alps to have lower emissions. Fees levied on commercial trucks should also be standardised and based on a Swiss system that considers a truck’s class, weight and distance travelled.

Other steps would provide incentives for trucking companies to use different routes at different times, such as a “market” that would allow businesses to buy, trade and sell their rights to use various alpine routes.

The transport ministers decided in November 2001 to meet regularly after a series of fires in tunnels throughout the Alps. Leuenberger will be president of the conference until 2011, the target date for the new measures.

Before then, the ministers agreed to commission a study on how to implement the measures without hindering the flow of goods and economic growth.

swissinfo.ch with agencies