Motorway toll: Why a car toll could make sense

The new Transport Minister Steffen Bilger, who has only been in office for three weeks, is sitting in a Berlin television studio on an evening in August.

The interview with the moderator Sandra Maischberger is about his bumpy appointment as minister, delayed trains and money problems at the railway.

But then Bilger brings up an old topic again: the car toll. Maischberger asks whether a new attempt is needed.

Bilger smiles painfully and explains that such a levy is not part of the coalition agreement.

“Of course I know that there are arguments for it, because almost all other European countries also have toll systems,” says Bilger.

"It's very annoying that the toll debate in Germany has fallen apart."

Bilger doesn't want to go into further detail; his ministry also tries to appease when asked by ZEIT.

It seems that they do not want to spark a new debate about a car toll.