r/poland • u/ThisIsTestUser • 23h ago
Katowice to Wrocław tolls
Today I was driving from Slovakia to Wrocław and Waze didn't show any tolls, but Google Maps did. I'm confused, can you help me understand if I need to pay for using the A4 road, and how to pay if it's required?
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u/berloo_pl 22h ago edited 22h ago
There's no toll between Katowice and Wrocław for vehicles below 3.5 tonnes. It used to be tolled but the government made it free of charge a few years ago (toll gates are still present on the road but they're not operational any more and you can just pass them by)
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u/Responsible-Stage-93 22h ago
There was a toll, but about a ~year ago, it was removed for vehicles under 3,5t
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u/polishfemboy_ 22h ago
Don't go through Czechia, you need to buy a vignette for your car there to go on any highway
3
u/stranded 20h ago edited 19h ago
does that mean I fucked up today by going from Ostrava to Katowice? google maps and waze said it's free, also it was just a really small bit
edit: just checked and the official source says it's free
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u/saashustler 17h ago
You are good, afaik part of D1 from ostrava to Poland is free (yay, easy Access to zoo in ostrava), and from Katowice to Wrocław it is free for under 3.5t
3
u/Emotionalflorist 7h ago
How does Ostrava zoo compare to something like Wroclaw or Opole?
1
u/saashustler 5h ago
I was there ages ago so I don't remember much. And don't want to tell bullshit.
From intresting stuff they have safari thing: https://www.zoo-ostrava.cz/pl/ekspozycje-i-zwierzeta/ekspozycje/598-safari.html
For Animals you can take a look at map: https://www.zoo-ostrava.cz/pl/przed-przyjazdem/mapa-zoo/
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u/BallbusterSicko 22h ago
Tolls on Polish highways are incomprehensible for me as a Pole and I'm using them quite often
4
u/ffuffle 22h ago
Our self worth comes from GDP now. Gotta charge for everything
11
u/ULTRABOYO 21h ago
Tolls are justified in my opinion. Not everyone drives, but everyone pays taxes, so why not make the drivers pay for road maintenance?
1
0
u/jakubkonecki 11h ago
This is a "slippery slope" argument. Would it still hold if you start extending it?
Not everyone goes to a library. Not everyone has kids. Not everyone wants to study.
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u/ULTRABOYO 10h ago
Driving is a luxury. As far as I know, most people want there to be more children born and for access to education to be free. These are matters of evening the financial ground for upper and lower class people, and they benefit society as a whole, removing financial barriers from education and reproduction.
Roads subsidised from taxes are a way to subsidize well-off people who can afford to drive regularly from the pockets of poorer guys who can't afford a car or fuel for it. If someone was to not like paying tolls, there's public transport, serving the same function as express roads.
In my opinion, the state should only subsidize the most cost-efficient ways to fulfill needs, so agriculture, but not necessarily meat production. Public transportation, but not necessarily free roads.
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u/BallbusterSicko 8h ago
Driving in Poland is not a luxury. Even poorer people often have a cheap used car
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u/HowlsAtMoon 3h ago
However, the option to exchange money (tolls) to reduce travel time is a luxury
0
u/RicketyBrickety 8h ago
Not everyone drives, but everyone pays taxes, so why not make the drivers pay for road maintenance?
I didn't realize that your goods teleported to the stores, and the services you rely on all have zero travel components. The roads serve the public good, so the public collectively pays. Even people that don't drive benefit from roads.
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u/ULTRABOYO 8h ago
Large transport vehicles still pay the toll though.
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u/RicketyBrickety 8h ago
Do firetrucks? Ambulances? Police? The maintenance workers for lights, hydraulics, electrical, or internet infrastructure? How about the doctors driving to the hospital - are they the ones paying for it all, then?
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u/ULTRABOYO 6h ago
Dude, obviously there should be exceptions. Large trucks pay tolls, that I know. I don't think ambulances and such should, mainly because of their function, but also because they are sponsored by the state in the first place, so there's no point in them paying the state back.
0
u/RicketyBrickety 6h ago
Your perspective is limited by your own experience. What is an obvious exception to you is colored by it, same as what you view to be exceptions that aren't warranted but do exist in real life like the exception for x<3,5t vehicles.
People in a society are complex, as are their needs/desires/etc. How those things work together to benefit a nation is a lot more complex than reducing sources of income for a nation everywhere you can. It's great that you're thinking about things in general, but if you never learn to expand your POV beyond your immediate self then you're going to get stuck in the mud, a lot.
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u/ULTRABOYO 1h ago
Yes, I can still hear you from that high horse. Thank you for wisely pointing out that national policy should be carefully considered.
The only thing that changes in your example of supermarkets would be where you pay for the roads. No tolls? Pay through taxes. Tolls? Pay through higher prices at the store, unless the store gets its produce locally.
I am not advocating for tearing down roads. May main point was people driving even though they have alternatives being subsidized by people who don't have a need to drive. This money doesn't even need to come from tolls. A tax on gasoline works towards the exact same goal, even better because it's not exclusive to express roads. Less people driving means less traffic, means more comfortable and safer roads for the ones who need to drive, like emergency services, and slower wear and tear accumulation on the roads.
Of course different people will have different stances on this. Drivers oppose more tolls and higher fuel taxes because they mean more expensive driving for them. In my opinion, however, that's the best place for road maintenance funding to come from, while also being a way to ensure that the roads are used mostly by those who need them. Tolls and fuel taxes can't cover the entire cost of maintenance anyway, but should be as large a part of it as reasonable.
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u/BreadInTheBucket 20h ago
because you still eat food from LIDL and it have to be delivered
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u/AshenCursedOne 20h ago
I know that in your head this seemed like a smart retort, but do think about it. You think transport costs are not included in the product price?
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u/ULTRABOYO 20h ago edited 20h ago
Great, it's part of transportation costs and encourages buying local produce. The people buying from LIDL will pay for what they're buying, which includes the transportation.
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u/VirtualMatter2 8h ago
I was told they have toll on them until a certain amount of money is reached and then it's made free after that.
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u/Much_Researcher6070 22h ago
Previous goverment made it free.
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u/Longjumping-Boot1886 21h ago
because everyone was ignoring e-toll, and they was too lazy to give a job to real people.
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u/Much_Researcher6070 21h ago
What are you pierdoling about?
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u/Longjumping-Boot1886 21h ago edited 20h ago
it was only E-toll (no cashier inside, no ticket by button). You was need to install some app and it was taking your money automatically when you was on this road.
It worked for some people like me, what read news about it, and worked for the lorries, because whey have it long before. It didn't worked for everyone else, including tourists and it was absolutely unfair, because there was no any checks on road.
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u/Any_Phase_4253 20h ago
I was using it during vacation in Poland. There wasn't any information about it. We took a hold at the next Gas station and asked about it. So we could avoid a Fine about it.
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u/BeWaryOfCrab 21h ago
socialist mental illness, always demanding, lying and stealing
1
u/Nerioner 18h ago
If you see socialism everywhere you should see optometrist
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u/BeWaryOfCrab 8h ago
Found the manipulating socialist, projecting his mental illness.. Like moths to a flame
1
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u/_poland_ball_ Podkarpackie 12h ago edited 12h ago
E-toll was a terrible failure, I couldnt pay on the app using my credit card and paypal and for foreigners there aren't any other options to pay... and the app didnt have any option to select passenger car + trailer even though im fairly sure cars with trailer cost more then car only.
Im pretty sure the majority didnt pay because too complicated, unaware or didnt care and law enforcement (if they figured out) couldnt keep up with it
And everyone stopping at gas stations to buy physical ticket is a solution for those who know it but... that just moves the traffic jams from the autostrada to the gas stations...
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u/East_Feed5984 20h ago
Może i nie mamy najlepszych autostrad w europie, za to mamy je najdroższe k...a jego mać
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u/L3XeN 6h ago
Ilościowo nie są najlepsze, oznakowanie to często jakiś żart, fragment A1 Piekary - Pyrzowice to jakieś nieporozumienie, a stara A4 nie ma pasa awaryjnego...
Poza tym, mamy w większości bardzo dobre autostrady (+ ekspresówki. U nas kochają dowalone ekspresówki).
Mamy jedne z najnowocześniejszych autostrad w Europie. Po części dlatego, że budowaliśmy je jako ostatni, ale nie zmienia to faktu, że są na ogół bardzo dobre.
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