Charging, Tolling & RUC

A new study, Interstate 2.0: Modernising the Interstate Highway System via Toll Finance, by US public policy think tank, the Reason Foundation, details how much it will cost to reconstruct and widen Interstate highways in all 50 states and shows how to pay for the modernisation efforts with toll revenues. It makes the case for lifting the federal prohibition on tolling existing lanes of the Interstate highway system and states: “…as the reality of the cost of Interstate reconstruction and modernisation s

After years of delays and cost overruns, the newly built US$6.4 billion eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened with few problems other than the traffic snarls that were common around the toll plaza of the old span. The single pylon suspension span replaces a structure that was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It is designed to withstand the strongest earthquake estimated by seismologists to occur at the site over a 1,500-year period.

One of the ten key projects launched in 2006 by Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport aims to build the world’s most intelligent highways. In a world where eighty per cent of traffic accidents on expressways are attributed to driver negligence, Korea records the lowest level of traffic safety among OECD member countries. The smart highway project aims to reduce the accident rate and encourage people to use expressways more conveniently by integrating information, automobile and road mana

The new headlamp RFID tag from Hong Kong based RFID provider Star Systems International has been designed for those situations where a tag cannot be used due to a windshield’s metallic content or aesthetic reasons. The Star Aries headlamp tag is tuned to work while affixed on a vehicle’s headlamp. It delivers superior read and write performance along with high levels of security and tamper resistance and is suitable for automatic vehicle identification (AVI) applications such as E-tolling, electronic veh

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has scheduled three public meetings to present all electronic tolling (AET) information and solicit comments from members of the public. MassDOT proposes to convert and replace the I-90 Western Turnpike and I-90 Boston Metropolitan Highway System interchange-based manual cash and electronic toll collection systems with a new system of tolling relying only on AET. The project will include both roadway tolling infrastructure and toll collection sys

Work has begun on an ambitious US$8 million project to implement an innovative new electronic tolling system at the UK’s Humber Bridge, where the existing systems have remained largely unchanged since the bridge opened in 1981. The project is set to be completed by autumn/winter 2014 and will include a major redevelopment of the tolling plaza and systems, together with the creation of some of the first open tolling free-flow lanes in the UK. These will enable drivers to cross the Humber Bridge without s

Q-Free reported revenue of US$25 million for the second quarter 2013, an increase of 29 per cent from the same quarter last year. Operating profit (EBIT) improved to a positive US$51,000 from an operating loss of US$3.8 million in the same period last year. Loss before tax was reduced to US$391,000 from a loss of US$3.9 in the second quarter 2012. The improved earnings mainly reflect changes in the revenue composition, with higher product and service and maintenance revenue.

Delaware is set to become the first US state to combine E-ZPass and Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) call centre services when TransCore completes the upgrade and expansion of the DMV and E-ZPass customer service centres. After a competitive bid process, TransCore was awarded the US$30 million, three-year base term contract with multiple extension options and will install the system in parallel with the existing service centre operations while relocating to a new DMV facility. Project completion is expected

Schneider Electric has been selected by the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA) to install and operate its open road tolling (ORT) solution for Texas Toll Loop 49, acting as NETRMA’s tolling system integrator. Schneider Electric will install advanced tolling software and hardware including cameras, image capture and toll tag identification software and other maintenance equipment that will detect and classify vehicles at highway speeds. The system will enable travellers to pass through ga

Technology installed on the toll system in the Czech Republic by Kapsch TraffiCom is identifying seven to ten wrong-way drivers per month, according to says Ctirad Weissmann, director of the National Transportation Information Centre. Kapsch and the Czech Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD) received the prestigious Czech Transportation Technology of the Year 2012 award for the project. The system for the identification of wrong-way drivers has been part of the Czech toll system on highways D1, D2 and D5 sin