traffic
The number of trucks is rising steeply and in some cases is even higher than ever before. Last year, 1.7 million trucks were counted on the A14 near Wolfurt. According to the Austrian Traffic Club, this is the highest number of trucks that Vorarlberg has ever seen.
At all analyzed counting points in Vorarlberg, more trucks were on the road than in the previous year, and at almost 90 percent the truck load was already above the 2019 level.
1.72 million trucks were counted on the A14 near Wolfurt last year, more than on any other section of the autobahn in Vorarlberg, as the VCÖ analysis shows. And: never before have so many trucks been counted in Vorarlberg. The previous high was also measured here, in the pre-Corona year 2019 with 1.67 million trucks.
At Dornbirn, truck traffic increased in the previous year by 110,000 to around 1.4 million, at Feldkirch by 60,000 to over 1.1 million and through the Pfänder tunnel, at over 1.5 million, 120,000 more than in 2020 and 50,000 drove more than in 2019.
The mobility organization VCÖ reports that 570,000 trucks rolled on the S16 near Ausserbraz last year, which is 55,000 more than in 2020 and almost 20,000 more than in 2019.
VCÖ calls for a shift to rail and a climate bonus
More truck traffic means more noise and more pollutants, more road damage from trucks and thus more frequent construction sites. So what to do? The VCÖ is in favor of shifting freight traffic to rail. It is bad that the number of connections with which companies are connected directly to the rail network is falling. The VCÖ calls for incentives to reverse this downward trend.
In addition, companies that shift their goods from road to rail should receive a climate bonus. It is also said that more truck controls would be important. Because if truck drivers are exploited, for example by working long hours, then this makes transport by truck cheaper – which in turn leads to more truck traffic.