Charging, Tolling & RUC

The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) reached a major milestone when it switched on the automated payment option at several of its toll plazas, meaning that road users with electronic tags no longer have to stop to pay tolls manually with cash or credit cards. Automated payment is carried out automatically through a tag fitted to the vehicle to identify the account holder, debit their toll account with the appropriate toll fees and automatically open the toll boom, without the need to stop and

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has announced the addition of Scott Koblentz, former senior manager for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) toll program, and Scott Doering, most recently vice president and managing director for electronic toll system supplier TransCore, to its tolling team. Koblentz is now global director of service solutions for CTS with an emphasis on toll projects. As the regional tolling and managed lanes program manager for SANDAG, he led the management and operatio

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has awarded Xerox a seven-year contract for the implementation of a state-of-the-art customer service system for processing toll transactions across the state. The deal involves processing more than one billion transactions per year and managing over five million accounts. Xerox will consolidate multiple tollway operations into one efficient back-office system, which it says will reduce costs, drive operational efficiencies and provide a better customer exp

Following its 650-page Road Charging Global Study, published earlier this year, Ptolemus Consulting Group has released its ranking of electronic toll collection (ETC) suppliers, said to be the first independent evaluation of e-tolling suppliers worldwide. Companies were assessed across three distinct groups: systems integrators, technology suppliers and service providers. Kapsch TrafficCom was found to be the number one global systems integrator, with Autostrade per l’Italia and Sanef ITS completing the

Q-Free’s management is taking the next steps decided to move the company from a road user charging supplier to a fully-integrated ITS company. Over the last few years, Q-Free has acquired eight companies in order to broaden its technology and customer base. To maximise the potential of these assets the company plans further streamlining and reduction of fixed costs and investment, including organisational changes, reduction in the management team and organisation, and optimisation of investments in sales

According to Chinese website Xinhua, Beijing is likely to trial a congestion charge in a bid to address its congestion and air quality. Close to 5.6 million vehicles vie for space on Beijing's roads and vehicle emissions account for 31 per cent of the city's smog sources, according to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.

The City of Laredo has selected TransCore to provide a comprehensive upgrade to the toll collection system on its four international bridges between the US and Mexico. Each year, more than 6.7 million vehicles and three million pedestrians cross the Gateway to the Americas, the Juarez-Lincoln International, the Colombia Solidarity, and the World Trade bridges. The three-year project, which will be completed in 2018, upgrades both the electronic and cash payment toll collection systems.

Australia-based Transurban and the Virginia Department of Transportation have announced extensions to the I-95 and I-395 in Northern Virginia. The 395 Express Lanes project will convert the existing two I-395 high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes into three Express Lanes and extend the current dynamic tolling and traffic management system. It also involves an extension to the 95 Express Lanes for 11 kilometres north to the Washington DC border. Transurban has also announced an in-principle agreement VDOT

S public policy think tank the Reason Foundation has unveiled a detailed long-range transportation plan to reduce the traffic congestion that has plagued southern California for decades. The Reason Foundation plan would decrease southern California’s infamous gridlock by creating a connected network of variably priced toll lanes on all of the region’s major highways and expressways

Q-Free has been awarded a three-year, US$3.7 million order for tags from Sociedad Concesionaria Vespucio Norte Express in Chile. “We are pleased to win this highly competitive bid for tags. The last contract awards in Chile are confirming Q-Free’s attractiveness in the market for tags and systems,” says acting CEO Roar Østbø.