Trucks should book time slots for the Autobahn

truck to truck.Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa

A booking system for truck journeys over the Brenner – could this be a solution to the traffic dispute between Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol? One thing is clear: it still takes time. And there are many unanswered questions.

With a digital traffic management system for freight traffic, Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol want to solve the ongoing dispute over the chronically congested Brenner route. In concrete terms, this should look like this: trucks must book certain time windows (slots) for the route over the important Alpine pass.

On Wednesday, the Tyrolean Governor Anton Mattle, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder and the South Tyrolean Governor Arno Kompatscher signed a corresponding joint declaration of intent at a meeting in Kufstein.

Ultimately, the legal basis should be an intergovernmental agreement between Italy, Austria and Germany, which is now to be promoted jointly.

The goals are: to control and equalize traffic over the Brenner Pass, avoid traffic jams, thereby protecting the health of local residents and nature – but also securing goods traffic on the important north-south route across the Alps. From a Bavarian point of view, the aim is also to end the regular traffic jams in block handling of trucks in Austria, which should then be a thing of the past.

However, it is still unclear when that will happen. The target is said to be a period of one to two years. Initially, further detailed studies on the implementation of the system should be available by autumn.

Passage at certain time windows

In principle, the slot system should be such that trucks have to book specific times for the passage in order to make the traffic flow smoother. If slots are fully booked, the journey must take place at a different time or on a different day. The system could be established between Rosenheim and Trento in Italy. “It will be a kind of bookable motorway – free of charge, but binding,” said Söder. Details, such as how many slots a freight forwarder can book at the same time, are still open.

With a digital traffic management system for freight traffic, Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol want to solve the ongoing dispute over the chronically congested Brenner route.Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa

“Solutions in the field of mobility can only be found together, only with partners,” said Mattle. Mobility must be designed in such a way that it is not dangerous for the population, that it is as environmentally friendly as possible and that the infrastructure is not overstrained. That’s why you have to intervene.

Söder emphasized: “Our goal today is discussion instead of argument.” Even if the new system cannot be established overnight, it is important that a solution is now found after a long “radio silence”. This is also important for the whole of Europe.

Kompatscher said that even if the Brenner route is of strategic economic importance for Italy, “free travel for all” will not work. And it will be a long time before the planned Brenner base tunnel is completed, with which many goods are to be shifted from road to rail.

increase in traffic

Truck traffic on the Brenner route has increased drastically in recent decades. In 2000 there were 1.1 million trucks, in 2022 2.5 million trucks, said Mattle. This means that the Brenner now accounts for 40 percent of all goods traffic crossing the Alps. Accordingly, the loads on and along the route have increased drastically.

With block handling at the German-Austrian border, Tyrol has therefore been metering truck traffic on certain days for several years. As a result, there are long traffic jams in Bavaria. This had caused a lot of disputes between Bavaria and Tyrol in recent years, including repeated threats of lawsuits from Bavaria.

The Free State also reacted by banning transit trucks in regions along the autobahn in order to prevent evasive traffic and congested through-roads in Bavaria on days with block processing in Tyrol. (dpa/red)