News item | 06-03-2025 | 10:00 AM
Along the highways in the Netherlands are care places where road users refuel, load or eat or drink something. A lot will change in the coming years at care places. More and more electric cars are being added and there is a need for more parking spaces for truck drivers. The cabinet wants care places to remain a pleasant place. Entrepreneurs who offer loading, refueling and shops are of great importance.
That is why the ministry is working on new policy. An important part is the distribution of permits for refueling, loading and shops on care places. This distribution must be fair, with equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs. So that road users can interrupt their journey in a safe and pleasant way at a care site. From Thursday, the draft bill will be about the care places of the future in consultation. The proposal is not yet certain, the ministry gives all those involved the opportunity to respond to this.
Under current policy, many charging points have already been added, but the layout of the care places along the road is not always logical and well -arranged. Rijkswaterstaat does not determine where these facilities are placed, this determines the applicant himself. This means that some care places are not optimally arranged in terms of safety and clarity for road users. It is therefore necessary to better design the care site.
The draft bill has a few starting points. Permits for refueling, loading and running a store will soon be auctioned separately. This separation makes the individual services interesting for a broader group of potential entrepreneurs, and makes it easier to get a place at a care site. This increases the competition, so that the motorist or truck driver has enough choice at a good price.
Not everything is certain yet. Whether one or more permits are allowed for the same facility at a care site, it has not yet been decided. That is one of the questions that are present in the consultation.
In addition, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets will give an opinion on the competition at or between care places. And implementing agencies Rijkswaterstaat and the Government Real Estate Agency are being asked to look at the feasibility of the draft proposal. All these advice is included in the next version of the bill.
This consultation is a first important step to the ‘care site of the future’. Where there is sufficient supply and freedom of choice for the road user. And where you can safely rest as a motorist and truck driver.
Information
The consultation runs from March 6 to April 17, 2025. More information about the draft bill can be found on the website Internetconsultatie.nl.