Motorists have to pay more road-toll from now on

toll roads road toll FNBToll Plaza. Photo: wikimedia.org

Norwegian toll companies’ debts more than quintupled since 2002. This means that motorists in this country have to pay more money said the Institute of Transport Economics (TOI) firm.

‘The debt has increased sharply in recent years, and it is ultimately motorists who have to pay’, said Deputy Director, Kjell Werner Johansen, of TOI to P4.

Most road projects are financed by toll companies that take up large loans. Johansen estimated that the debt for toll companies has now reached 50 billion.

Forecasts within the state budget presented in October, show that debt increased more than fivefold from 2002 to 2016.

‘High growth of traffic, and low interest rates, has meant that the high debt has so far been manageable, but there is a real risk that this could change’, according to Johansen.

‘If interest rates start to rise, but traffic growth doesn’t, one will soon hit a difficult situation’, he said.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today