Lorries get free rein on Polish motorways

After two months of negotiations with carriers, the Sejm has introduced amendments to the bill on paid motorways in Poland. Now the bill enables drivers of vehicles heavier than 3.5 tonnes, who had to pay for the route beforehand, to pass Polish motorways for free.

Until now drivers have had to pay twice for the pass. First they had to pay a fixed road charge and then an additional fee for using a particular motorway. Thus, drivers were often omitting those sections for which they were supposed to pay, using alternative routes. 

The bill applies only to lorry drivers. The fees paid by passenger cars will remain unchanged. Resigning from charging lorries for using motorways means that the companies managing the roads want compensation for their lost income. They argue that if the lorries are exempt from the charges, traffic on the motorways will increase and thus the maintenance of the roads will be more costly.