Higher motorway tolls and fuel prices are making it increasingly costly to drive on Italy’s roads.
Motorists in Italy are already starting to feel the pinch this year, thanks to a combination of tax increases and toll charge hikes.
Excise duties on diesel were raised by 4.05 euro cents per litre from the start of January, affecting an estimated 16.6 million drivers.
The move increases the cost of filling a 50-litre tank by €2.50, setting the average driver of a diesel-powered vehicle back an extra €60 per year.
While the government lowered duties on petrol by the same amount on January 1st, consumer watchdogs have highlighted that this won’t necessarily translate to lower prices at the pump, as in the past providers have pocketed the difference.
READ ALSO: Everything that changes for drivers in Italy in 2026
A 2026 budget measure also increased taxes on car insurance policies that cover driver injury and roadside assistance – a move that’s forecast to bring in an additional €115 million per year to state coffers.
Compounding drivers’ financial troubles is the increased cost of motorway tolls, which went up by an average of 1.5 percent at the start of the year.
Italy’s transport ministry said its efforts to block the hike were “thwarted” by a Supreme Court ruling that said motorway companies should be allowed to increase tolls in line with inflation.
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The average cost of using a toll road starts at between €0.08 and €0.09 per kilometer for a standard Class A car, increasing with vehicle size and the number of axles.
Not all of Italy’s highway tolls have increased: the hike only applies to roads operated by companies that are in the process of updating their economic-financial plans.
It doesn’t affect the A24 and A25 connecting Rome to Abruzzo’s Adriatic coast, the A10 and A12 managed by Concessioni del Tirreno, or the A5 and A21 connecting Ivrea, Turin and Piacenza.
Autostrade Alto Adriatico, which manages several key motorways in northeast Italy, said it had also made the decision not to increase its rates for now, “bucking the industry trend”.
Tolls on the Salerno-Pompeii-Naples motorway section, meanwhile, increased by almost 2 percent.
Italy’s toll roads are managed by private companies on a concessions-based licensing system, with operators bidding for tenders for long-term contracts to manage and carry out improvements on sections of road.
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Transport regulator ART is responsible for capping fees and ensuring concession-holders can’t abuse their effective monopoly on the roads they manage.
ART’s decision to increase rates provoked a backlash from truckers and haulage companies who accused the transport ministry of passing the buck.
“It’s simply unacceptable,” Cinzia Franchini, president of the Ruote Libere small road haulage businesses association, told Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper.
She said the ministry was “hiding behind decisions made by the Authority and the Supreme Court, claiming that it ‘has no room for manoeuvre’”.
After months of promises to combat rising costs, today the reality is higher tolls and more expensive diesel fuel.”
While it’s possible to take long-distance road trips in Italy without using toll roads, the journey time is typically two to three times as long, and drivers can expect to encounter a lot more potholes.
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There is one good piece of news for motorists in Italy: under new rules published by ART towards the end of last year, drivers delayed by planned roadworks on toll roads will be able to claim refunds from June 2026.
Refunds are set to be calculated based on a complex set of factors, including how long drivers are delayed and the stretch of road affected.
The process for claiming refunds will be completely digital, accessed through a new app, online, or by phone.