New taxes to improve air quality. Lithuanian green activists are proposing a congestion tax. It would be expensive to get to the capital city center by car in the mornings and evenings, when traffic is at its peak.
Every morning and evening, a large proportion of drivers in the capital have to spend time in traffic jams.
"It should look like e-tolling - you scan the number plate and when you enter at certain hours, it costs money, depending on the time. For example, it works very well in Stockholm and Milan, and it could also work in Lithuania at certain times. This would reduce traffic and encourage people to use public transport," said Domantas Tracevičius, head of the public institution "Žiedinė ekonomika".
The funds raised would be used to improve public transportation. However, drivers are not happy about the tax.
"We will soon be charged taxes for breathing. Nonsense, maybe we will now introduce taxes for rain, maybe for sunshine," one man complained.
"I won't, not for that fee," said another man.
"If I can take the bus, I will, if that's not possible, I will drive, but I think people shouldn't be punished for that," the woman said.
"Why are there traffic jams here? And there's already a toll on top of a toll everywhere," another interviewee said.
Vilnius Municipality makes it clear that it cannot even introduce such a tax.
"This is a congestion tax, a second car tax, and a pollution tax, but these are already matters for the Government. We would be happy to come up with taxes that we could collect and supplement the budget, but unfortunately," said Vilnius Administration Director Adomas Bužinskas.
Experts suggest not comparing Vilnius with much larger cities, where such a tax already exists.
"For example, in Manhattan, the population density per square kilometer is 1 thousand people, while in Vilnius it is only 18,5 thousand people, which means that the density here is 1,5 times lower. Accordingly, the population density in Stockholm is 12 times higher than in Vilnius," explained Juozas Merkevičius, associate professor at the Faculty of Business Management at Vilnius TECH.
They say that what is needed is to increase speed and widen streets so that people can get from their homes to their workplaces and back faster.
"This is a concept of expressways that would not have regulated intersections and crossings, that is, by installing underpasses, pedestrian bridges, overpasses, as well as widening areas where congestion occurs by creating additional lanes," continued J. Merkevičius.
According to the associate professor, higher street capacity and speed would actually reduce pollution, as cars would not be parked at intersections or crossings.
Green activists are also outraged that the low-emission zones introduced in 13 cities this year are just for show.
"Now there is only a saying - "niu, niu, niu", don't drive. These things don't work. There must be tax measures so that if you drive a polluting vehicle, you pay for it," said D. Tracevičius.
Municipalities justify themselves by saying that the law requires them to be established, but does not allow them to charge for entry.
"The fact that we put up signs and say be nice, don't drive cars because it will cost you at some point in your life doesn't encourage people not to drive. But when there is a clear system, when entry costs a euro or something, people will think about it," A. Bužinskas hoped.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications is reassuring - these laws are not far off.
"In the spring session, the ministry will submit relevant amendments to the law to the Seimas, and we are currently cooperating with both the Lithuanian Association of Municipalities and the LRV Representative Office in preparing legislative amendments," said Juras Taminskas, Vice Minister of Transport and Communications.
A Dutch study recently found that Vilnius' traffic congestion is worse than even European cities like London, Paris, or Berlin. But experts have an answer as to why.
"Because the concept was followed that by increasing the disruption to driving through the city, some people would switch to public transport, that is, separate lanes were created for buses and trolleybuses, without widening the street, but at the expense of the same street," explained J. Merkevičius.
According to Eurostat data, the number of people using their own car in Lithuania is the highest in all of Europe.
We want to ask you, should a congestion charge be introduced in Vilnius?
Author: Vytautas Dumbliauskas I LNK.LT
