Amsterdam to pay drivers to avoid rush hour

Thursday 05 March 2009

Amsterdam council is to encourage drivers to avoid motorways during rush hours by offering them cash incentives, reports local paper Parool on its website on Thursday afternoon.

Drivers must apply through their employer to take part.

If accepted, their car will be fitted with apparatus which registers when they use the main highways reaching the capital - the A1, A2, A4, A7 and A8. Drivers will receive a maximum amount of €100 a month which will decrease each time they make use of the motorway during rush hours, says the paper.

The scheme will begin at the end of 2009 and will probably continue until the introduction of pay-as-you-drive scheme in 2011 or 2012. The A10 ring road is unlikely to be part of the scheme.

A spokesman told the Parool that the aim is to reduce the number of cars on the road. 'We hope people will leave their cars at home more often, choose another means of transport or work from home,' he told the paper.

A similiar scheme is already being tested on the A12 between Gouda and The Hague.

© DutchNews.nl

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