The measure was backed by 429 members of the lower house of Poland’s parliament on Friday, while 13 voted against and nine abstained, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The bill now goes to the upper house, the Senate, for further debate. It will also need to be signed by President Andrzej Duda.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier this month that tolls on state-operated highways would be abolished from July 1, while those on privately-operated highways would be scrapped “within a year.”
Morawiecki described highway tolls as “a barrier to mobility” and told reporters that his government was moving to make highways “available to all” in order “to maximise connectivity” and improve road safety.
Meanwhile, Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk said that “the scrapping of tolls will boost traffic on highways and also make alternative, parallel roads safer.”
Adamczyk added that “traffic congestion on roads that run parallel to highways is a potential danger and increases the risk of road accidents.”
He declared that the government was seeking to abolish tolls on privately-operated highways “within a year and hopefully sooner.”
The plan to abolish highway tolls is part of a raft of new spending pledges unveiled by Poland’s governing conservatives during a party convention in mid-May.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP