Tolls on major and minor roads?

Long and winding road

SPAIN The Under-Director General of the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico), Federico Fernández, recently presented the idea that charges should be made on all roads, major and minor. The thought behi9nd it is that he believes that 'not much infrastructure will be built in the near future', which is probably correct, given the present economic climate. Fernández added, "Building, maintaining and exploiting the roads is not free of cost. The decision the politicians have to make is whether everyone pays for the roads, or only those who use them." Asked if his proposal was the beginning of road privatization, he said, "That could be the way forward." He said that many European countries have an extensive network of toll roads, and there is no reason why Spain should not. In fact, many of the country's roads are financed by tolls, which "guarantee good maintenance," he added. "Tolls, after all, are not only about financing the roads, but also about controlling traffic mobility."