Alpine Crossing Exchange

The Alpine Crossing Exchange is a tool proposed by the Alpine Initiative to reduce road freight traffic across the Alps. It can be applied as a fine control measure in addition to the kilometre tax, tolls and tunnel fees, and can be implemented in all affected countries. The Alpine Crossing Exchange would function as follows: politicians define the desired amount of traffic for the individual mountain passes. The rest is taken care of by the market. The permitted trips are sold to the highest bidders in an Internet-based exchange market on a daily basis. Only those who can provide a transit permit are allowed to use the corresponding Alpine routes with their lorries. The price for a permit will not grow infinitely, but will settle at a level which is close to that of rail transport. As soon as the price gets higher, it is cheaper to use rail. Because bidding is carried out via the Internet, everybody can take part and there is no discrimination.