The government’s plans to introduce a kilometer tax are again in the spotlight on Monday with the country’s biggest newspaper and the ANWB motoring organisation both carrying out polls to test support for the measure.

So far, over 100,000 people have taken part in the ANWB survey while a similar number have voted in the Telegraaf poll. The results so far are still under wraps.
Last week, transport minister Camiel Eurlings said ANWB members’ support would be crucial for the continuation of the scheme. The organisation has some four million members.
Politicians
However, its director Guido van Woerkom told the AD on Monday that Eurlings is going too far to effectively letting his members decide government policy. The ANWB is only concerned with making recommendations and publicising concerns, he said. ‘Ultimately, politicians will decide,’ he told the paper.
Eurling’s Labour and ChristenUnie coalition partners have also criticised his position. ‘The minister knows extremely well it is up to the minister,’ Labour MP Lia Roefs said at the weekend.
‘Letting ANWB members decide something instead of democracy? It does not work like that, minister,’ said a ChristenUnie spokesman.
Faith
Van Woerkom told the Volkskrant on Monday that many people do not think the government is capable of introducing such a major project as a kilometer tax on driving.
‘If l talk to members, read internet blogs and letters in newspapers, the majority appears to mistrust the government,’ he said. ‘There is no faith in the leadership of this country and that is a very worrying development,’ he said.
People believe they will end up paying more and they believe the tax will infringe on their right to privacy, he said. And they do not believe the government is capable of bringing in such a project on budget.
Woerkom pointed to the major problems associated with the launch of the Betuwe freight railway line, the high speed train link with Brussels, the new Amsterdam metro and the introduction of the public transport smart card. ‘That [the smart card] was not supposed to cost people more but it has done,’ he said.
Opinion poll
According to a Maurice de Hond opinion poll on Monday, some 45% of the Dutch oppose the introduction of the kilometer tax and 42% are in favour. In November, 55% of those polled backed the plan.
If the legislation is eventually passed by parliament, motorists will start paying tax on every kilometer they drive, which the government hopes will reduce traffic jams and pollution. The tax will be higher during the rush hour and for more polluting vehicles.
To make sure motorists are not worse off, road tax will be scrapped and the purchase tax on new cars will be reduced. Some 60% of drivers will be better off, the government claims.
Each car on the roads will be fitted with a GPS device which will use satellites to monitor where and when the car is driven and send the information to a central billing point.
Do you support the introduction of a kilometer tax? Take part in our poll