Charging, Tolling & RUC

The outlook for the US toll road industry remains positive, reflecting the expectation of continued strong traffic and revenue growth in the next 12 to 18 months, according to Moody’s Investors Service in its yearly outlook, Tolls Roads – US: 2017 Outlook – Strong Traffic and Revenue Growth Support Positive Outlook. Moody’s estimates that median traffic growth among 48 rated toll roads will range from three per cent to four per cent in the remainder of 2016 and into 2017, and that median toll revenue wil

The European Union has finally agreed to Germany’s plan to introduce road tolls, says EurActiv, despite originally saying that the proposals were discriminatory to foreign drivers and would break EU law. Germany will now change its road toll law so that it does not discriminate against drivers registered in other EU countries, German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. However, the plan has met with opposition from Germany’s neighbours in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Denmark. Aust

Austria’s highway and expressway operator ASFINAG (Autobahnen-und-Schnellstrassen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft) has awarded Kapsch TrafficCom the contract to implement and operate the GO Maut 2.0 Mauttechnik toll collection system (national toll collection system for vehicles over 3.5 metric tons). The contract comprises modernising roadside infrastructure at around 500 locations and upgrading the control centre up to the latest technological standards. Instead of two gantries, future roadside tol

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has explored a number of ways to find sustainable road funding. It is facing a nearly US$1 billion annual funding gap over the next 25 years and is looking to explore transportation funding alternatives as the fuel tax continues to become less reliable over time, due decreased purchasing power and more fuel efficient and electric vehicles. This pilot is the first step in an extensive process of evaluating the concept alongside other funding alternatives. I

International technology company Thales has entered into exclusive negotiations with French private equity firm Latour Capital with a view to divesting its ticketing and revenue collection, road tolling and car park management systems business, in line with the company’s strategy of business portfolio optimisation. With close to 850 employees mainly based in France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and Egypt, this business generated sales of US$165 million (€155 mil

Tolling as a Service (TAAS) VeriToll has launched CrowdToll, a crowdsourced image review technology that aims to cut image review costs by more than half while achieving higher levels of accuracy and a quicker turnaround. VeriToll is currently in the middle of its second pilot program with two more in the pipeline in order to fully validate its technology prior to an initial industry offering. Leveraging the sharing economy as Uber, AirBNB and Etsy do, CrowdToll's crowdsourced reviewer pool exists 24/

Australia’s 2017 National electronic Tolling Forum (NeTC), Converging Smarter Tolling Technologies, which takes place in Sydney on 23-25 May, will address the challenges and opportunities faced by the tolling industry and their impact on business and personal mobility.

TransCore is in the midst of deploying over 100 miles of express lanes throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, as part of an initiative to increase mobility along the region’s busiest corridors. With 34 lanes already operational, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) plans to mark the 100-mile milestone by the end of 2018.

The Commonwealth of Virginia, US, has named I-66 Express Mobility Partners as the preferred proposer for the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project. The Cintra and Meridiam-led consortium will design, build, finance, maintain and operate the project, designed to relieve congestion, improve safety and provide more predictable travel times for Northern Virginia and the Washington, DC metro region.

New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has selected TransCore to convert all nine of its bridges and tunnels to all-electronic tolling (AET). Under an accelerated roll-out schedule, TransCore will finish converting the first three facilities by January 2017. The remaining conversions will be completed by November 2017. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo first announced the New York Crossings Project in October, as a broad initiative to reduce traffic congestion and decrease vehicle emissions