Email

By Harriette Halepis

Come 2012, residents of The Netherlands won’t have much to look forward to when it comes to long road trips. The Dutch Transport Ministry is looking to tax each driver 3 euro-cents per kilometre (7 cents U.S. per mile) by way of a GPS tracking device.

GPS & Road Travel

The proposal includes the suggestion that each driver purchase a government issued GPS tracker, have the tracker installed, and submit to filing a complete kilometre report at the end of each month. Even though this seems like bleak news to Netherlands motorists, there is one bright spot at the end of this GPS fueled proposal – the new kilometre tax would replace the current 25% sales tax that is applied to new cars, and it would also rid motorists of any registration fees.

The Dutch Government believes that “6 out of 10 drivers would pay less than they do today, with higher costs falling on those who drive most and at peak hours (Green Car Reports).” The entire idea of tracking motorists and then asking those motorists to pay per kilometre may seem like an outlandish idea to North American drivers, but there’s one thing that must be considered in this whole scenario: the Dutch population as a whole relies a lot more on bicycles and public transportation than North Americans do.

Incidentally, there are some types of vehicles that wouldn’t be outfitted with GPS trackers. These vehicles include public transportation vehicles, classic cars, and motorcycles would go untracked and untaxed. Some environmental activists believe that this same basic model would also work in North America, but that notion is entirely debatable.