Charging, Tolling & RUC

Kapsch TrafficCom has been appointed to deliver two high profile electronic tolling projects in Australia. The contracts will see Kapsch TrafficCom deliver multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) tolling solutions on the Eastern Distributor toll road in Sydney and the Legacy Way toll road in Brisbane using Kapsch multi-lane free-flow single gantry technology. Kapsch TrafficCom’s single gantry solution will be deployed in both projects and to provide stereoscopic vehicle detection and classification, front and rear l

As this issue of ITS International goes to press there is considerable confusion over the introduction of the French Ecotax following widespread and sometimes violent protests. Following a series of postponements going back over several years, the GNSS-based tax on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes was due to come into effect on 1 January 2014 and was expected to raise one billion euros per year. However, the French government has announced that the tax has been suspended indefinitely but is stressing that this is

A new ten year plan released by the Maine Turnpike Authority defers decisions on work to upgrade its three largest toll plazas pending completion of a next generation toll collection study that will consider the costs and benefits of going all-electronic, versus open road electronic tolling (ORT) and cash and a timetable. Objections from local residents and the failure of the Turnpike to consider the alternative of all-electronic tolling (AET) led to the delay of a previous ten year plan in 2009 that set

sanef ITS Technologies America continues to build on its success in North America with two major orders - from the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission (NFBC) and Blue Water Bridge Canada (BWBC). As the operator of the Alliance for Tolling Interoperability (ATI) hub clearing-house, sanef has expertise in interoperability initiatives, and is to supply its FastToll Interop for E-ZPass interface software to NFBC, which will enable the authority to process transactions from customers using E-ZPass transponders.

Within a broader review of US transport infrastructure securities, including ports and airlines, Fitch Rating analysts say the recent slow growth in aggregate traffic is likely to continue but that many established toll roads look financially solid because of their pricing power - tolls that have been well below revenue maximising levels. Their pricing power has been somewhat reduced, Fitch says, by strong increases in toll rates on many toll roads, which mean they have less scope for big increases in to

Austrian-based traffic technology group Swarco has appointed Cees de Wijs as its new Chief Executive Officer. De Wijs, who has almost 20 years of experience in traffic and transport telematics across all transport modes, will take up his new position on 1 January. De Wijs, aged 45, is a Dutch national and holds a PhD degree in engineering from Delft University of Technology. He previously worked for Royal KPN Group and Logica where he was transport and logistics group director, responsible for the comp

Beginning in the first of quarter 2014, Kapsch TrafficCom is to supply on-board units (OBUs) for Norway’s electronic toll collection system, AutoPass. The Norwegian Public Road Administration, which is responsible for the Norwegian public road network, is currently adapting the standards for on-board units to the European norm EN15509 and will replace the native AutoPass OBUs that are currently in use. Along with Norbit, Kapsch is one of two companies that successfully demonstrated its experience and te

Examination of Norway’s tolling companies finds much to praise, and some criticisms too, as Torill Eidsheim told delegates at the ASECAP conference. The cost of collecting tolls has a substantial effect on the profitability, or otherwise, of tolling companies and is within the company’s control to a far greater degree than, for instance, traffic volumes. And while it is easy to assume that all tolling companies incur similar collection costs, that is not always the case according to Torill Eidsheim, pres

Having re-entered the ITS market, 3M is busy shaping the future technology for vehicle detection, tolling and parking, as Colin Sowman discovers. Having sold off its Opticom business in 2007, 3M effectively re-entered the ITS market last year paying $110 million for Federal Signal Technology Group (FSTech) – but why?

Being the first organisation attempting to implement an interoperable system poses challenges and increases risk that must be managed to realise the benefits. The European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) legislation aims to avoid the problems experienced in the USA and provide road users with seamless travel across the EU but it can pose big problems for some toll operators. Take, for instance, the case of the Humber Bridge in the UK. Its case was highlighted at the recent ITS World Congress by Tim Gammons,