Public Consultation Opened for Future Rest Area Plans

Along the highways in the Netherlands, there are rest areas where road users can refuel, charge, or grab something to eat or drink. In the coming years, a lot will change at these rest areas. The number of electric cars is increasing, and there is a demand for more parking spaces for truck drivers. The government wants rest areas to remain pleasant places. Entrepreneurs who provide charging, refueling, and shops are crucial in this regard.

Therefore, the ministry is working on new policy. An important component is the allocation of permits for refueling, charging, and shops at rest areas. This allocation must be fair, with equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs, so that road users can interrupt their journey safely and pleasantly at a rest area. Starting Thursday, the draft bill regarding the future rest areas will be open for consultation. Not everything is yet finalized in the proposal; the ministry is giving all stakeholders the opportunity to respond to this.

Under the current policy, many charging stations have already been added, but the layout of the rest areas along the road is not always logical and clear. Rijkswaterstaat does not determine where these facilities are placed; the applicant does. This means that some rest areas are not optimally designed in terms of safety and clarity for road users. Therefore, guidance is needed to better organize the rest area.

The draft bill has a few principles. Permits for refueling, charging, and operating a shop will soon be auctioned separately. This separation makes individual services interesting for a broader group of potential entrepreneurs and makes it easier to secure a spot at a rest area. This increases competition, allowing drivers to have enough choices at a fair price.

Not everything is finalized yet. Whether one or multiple permits for the same facility will be allowed at a rest area has not yet been decided. This is one of the questions up for discussion in the consultation.

Additionally, the Authority for Consumers and Markets will provide advice on the competition at or between rest areas. Execution agencies Rijkswaterstaat and the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf will be asked to consider the feasibility of the draft proposal. All these recommendations will be included in the next version of the bill.

This consultation is an important first step towards the rest area of the future, where there is sufficient supply and freedom of choice for road users, and where drivers can safely rest.

The consultation runs from March 6 to April 17, 2025. More information about the draft bill can be found on the Internet Consultation website.