According to current forecasts, the use of electric vehicles will multiply by 2030. The proportion of autonomous vehicles that exchange data with each other and constantly move in traffic without ever parking is also expected to increase significantly. When this happens, however, the Austrian state will lose income from, for example, gasoline tax or parking.

Together with her colleagues Stefanie Peer (University of Economics, Vienna) and Martin Adler (University of Amsterdam), the economist and technology researcher Tanja Sinozic from the Institute for Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) has examined the possibilities and risks in a recent article.

"If we want to avoid major deficits, we have to discuss new policy measures now and see how we implement them so that public money is preserved. After all, losses would have an impact on other areas such as education and health. Our aim was therefore to analyse various price models that could be used to raise money. This also includes smart mobility pricing, i.e. users of autonomous vehicles pay less tax for journeys on which they avoid traffic jams and peak times."

Ego trips should cost more

Thanks to technology, your trip an a taxi is well-documented. It is easy to know who is going where, how long it will take, and whether the route with the least traffic has been selected. This information can be used to create attractive price models depending on the trip. "In the USA, you can already use UberPool to decide whether you want to car pool, and you can also choose to take less frequented routes. This makes the trip cheaper. Similarly, companies could be told that they benefit if they try to avoid disruptions."

By: DRied