At the most recent EuRegio summit, the mayors of Salzburg, the Berchtesgadener Land and Traunstein passed a resolution calling for toll exemption from the Walserberg to the south of Salzburg. The reason: “For the relief of the state capital Salzburg as Austria’s largest border city and central hub of the EuRegio area, but also for faster accessibility of the southern part of the Berchtesgadener Land district, for example in disasters such as the flood situation there in July 2021 , this exemption would be a big step.«
The fact is that the inner district can be »quickly reached«, albeit with a vignette. Blue light organizations on duty do not need a vignette. Especially at the Salzburg-Süd exit in the direction of Berchtesgaden, the Asfinag toll sheriffs catch many toll offenders who don’t want to know about the toll obligation or who have simply forgotten it.
The toll exemption on the A1 was argued in 2019 with a relief for the city of Salzburg, in fact this “relief” is not measurable to this day. Opponents of the toll exemption at the time said that the toll system in Austria would become a “patch rug, motorists would switch to the autobahn even more and pollute the environment,” according to former Transport Minister Alois Stöger.
At the time, the motorway operator Asfinag expected a loss of income of up to 40 million euros for the routes decided on, including the Walserberg to Salzburg-Nord section. In fact, after the Corona years, income has increased significantly again.
Michael Hudelist
