Charging, Tolling & RUC

A new report issued by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) in advance of the busy Fourth of July holiday travel season indicates that as Americans take to the roads this summer they will more often choose toll roads to get them to their destinations than in years past. The report, 2015 Report on Tolling in the US, reveals that the number of trips drivers have taken on tolls roads has increased 14 per cent over the last four years, rising from 5 billion trips in 2011 to 5.7 b

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) has applauded the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee’s introduction of its surface transportation reauthorisation legislation titled the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act. It has joined twelve other organisations, including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, American Road & Transportation Builders Association, ITS America and the US Tolling Coalitio

The European Union has launched an infringement procedure on Germany’s introduction of a law introducing a road charging scheme for cars. At the same time, it passed a law ensuring that vehicles registered in Germany benefit from a deduction of the road charge from the annual vehicle tax bill. This will lead to a de facto exemption from the charge for cars registered in Germany. Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: "A toll system can only be compliant with European law if it respects the fundame

Ptolemus Consulting Group has released the 2015 edition of its electronic toll collection (ETC) Global Study 2015, which indicates that the average penetration of electronic tolling by revenue in Europe is set to increase from 71 per cent in 2015 to 86 per cent in 2025. The growth is lead by the increase use of road user charging schemes dedicated to trucks following the first steps made by Germany.

The adaptation of machine vision to transport applications continues apace. That the machine vision industry is taking traffic installations seriously is evident by the amount of hardware and software products tailor-made for ITS applications that are now available on the market. A good example comes from US-based Gridsmart Technologies which has developed a single wire fisheye camera that provides a horizon to horizon view for use at intersections. Not only does the single camera replace four or more in a

The European Commission will consider a legal challenge against Germany over the new road toll law, according to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Critics argue that the toll discriminates against foreigners. The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung that the planned German road toll did not appear to conform to EU rules prohibiting discrimination against foreigners. "The Commission, the guardian of the EU treaties, now has to explore

A Fluor-led joint venture, Colorado River Constructors, a partnership with Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, has been awarded a four-year design-build contract by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to provide design and construction services valued at US$581 million for the Bergstrom Expressway Project located in Austin, Texas. According to Fluor, the project provides the most significant improvements to the US Highway 183 corridor since the mid-1960s. The joint venture will design and reconst

Rhode Island government (RIDOT) has introduced its RhodeWorks plan, designed to address the state's crumbling transportation infrastructure. Rhode Island ranks 50th out of 50 states in overall bridge condition and has lost 1,200 in the construction sector over the past three months. RhodeWorks is focused on solving these two problems at once.

Q-Free, with its subsidiaries, Open Roads Consulting, TCS International and TDC Systems, will be exhibiting at the ITS America annual meeting, where it will demonstrate the integration of solutions from across its expanding portfolio.

Information technology provider Intergraph has been awarded a contract by the 407 ETR Concession Company (407 ETR), the concessionaire of Highway 407 ETR in Toronto, Ontario, to design and implement an integrated traffic monitoring system to provide the Highway Operations group with real-time spatial information of incidents on the Ontario highway.