Romania’s 2011-2020 National Road Safety Strategy includes, among other plans, a Government drive to increase the use of public transport and reduce the use of cars. Besides the expansion of systems for charging and collecting taxes for parking, and encouraging car-sharing, the introduction of a congestion tax is also on the cards.

The idea of a congestion tax was also introduced by the Bucharest Municipality in its Capital City’s Energy Strategy. “The waste of energy due to traffic congestion will be reduced by introducing, via a congestion tax, parking restrictions and traffic control measures,” shows the document, quoted by b365.ro.

Romania had the largest increase of new passenger car registrations in the European Union in January 2012, up 86.4 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Over 4,900 cars were registered in Romania in January 2012, compared to some 2,600 units posted in the same month of 2011.

New registrations of cars in Romania went down by 42.2 percent in 2011 compared to the same period in the previous year, while new registrations of goods vehicles increased by 54.6 percent, according to the Romanian National Statistics Institute (INS).

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)