The Netherlands is set to become the first country in Europe to
replace road tax with a kilometer charge for all motorists, over 10 years since the idea was first put forward.If the legislation is passed by parliament, motorists will start paying tax on every kilometer they drive, which the government hopes will reduce traffic jams and pollution. On Friday, ministers agreed that the tax will be three cents a kilometer when the charge is introduced in 2012, rising to 6.7 cents by 2018 - for the greenest cars . But if revenues generated by the tax are not in line with expectations, the tax can be adjusted. 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. The transport ministry said on Friday it expected fatal accidents will fall by 7% and carbon emissions would be down by 10%. Traffic jams will be halved and the amount of kilometres driven will go down by 15%. Each car 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.
