Straßenmaut

Straßenmaut, or road toll, is a charge levied for the use of public roads. It is used to fund maintenance, modernization and expansion of road networks, and to allocate the costs of road wear more closely to those who travel on them. Maut schemes can be national or supranational and may apply to different vehicle types, weights or distances. The methods of collection range from simple time-based vignettes to complex distance-based systems, often implemented with electronic toll collection and vehicle identification technology.

A common form is the vignette, a prepaid sticker or digital permit that authorizes use of designated motorways for a set period. Vignettes are widely used in several European countries for passenger cars, including Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, among others. The concept ties road access to a fixed time window, regardless of actual distance traveled within the toll zone.

Distance-based tolls charge by the amount of vehicle travel, typically on motorways and heavy-vehicle routes. These systems use electronic toll collection, on-board units or number-plate recognition to calculate charges according to distance and often vehicle category, axle count or emission class. Germany’s LKW-Maut is an example applied to heavy goods vehicles on autobahns and federal roads, while many countries also use distance-based schemes for trucks or buses and, in some places, for all vehicles.

Policy and practical considerations include funding stability for infrastructure, fairness between travelers and freight operators, administrative costs, and compliance enforcement. In the European Union, toll schemes are subject to regulatory scrutiny to ensure non-discrimination and transparent methodology.