Charging, Tolling & RUC

Austrian motorway operator Asfinag is to launch an invitation to tender at the beginning of 2015 for operation of the country’s toll system from 2019. Contracts with Austrian supplier of road tolling systems Kapsch TrafficCom and Raiffeisen Informatik's (R-IT), the IT department of Austrian bank Raiffeisen International (RBI), will expire at the end of 2018. The truck toll was introduced in Austria in 2004 and since then has run smoothly using microwave-based system for toll collection. Asfinag's managi

Colin Sowman reports from a two-day meeting where industry leaders, academics and political advisers presented their thoughts on the future of mobility. Most governments do not dare to introduce tolling systems… they are too frightened.” So said Georg Kapsch in his capacity of chief operating officer of Kapsch TrafficCom, during a forward-looking press event at the company’s headquarters in Vienna.

Satellite-based tolling opens up new options for authorities and can be integrated with DSRC systems as David Crawford discovers. As the proud custodian of the European Union (EU)’s longest road network covered by a single (truck) charging scheme – and the only one to include all major roads - Slovakia has become the continent’s poster-nation for the virtues of GNSS/CN (Global Navigation Satellite System/Cellular Network)-based tolling. It is also proved to be a very fast implementer. Speaking at the 2014 I

Managed lanes have something of a patchy track record and can pose authorities problems as well as solutions. Many authorities in the US and beyond have converted, or are converting, parts of the highway network into ‘Managed Lanes’ and charging motorists a fee to avoid the delays on the adjoining free use lanes. Some authorities have converted underused High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes into priced-managed high occupancy/toll lanes (HOT lanes) whereby the price charged can vary depending on a number of fa

Instead of always striving for the latest shiny toys Kevin Hoeflich of HNTB advises a 10-steps method for selecting the most appropriate technology. Amid the hype and razzmatazz surrounding the launch of Apple’s iPhone 6, the company also announced its new mobile payment system, Apple Pay. Built into the new iPhone 6, Apple Pay works at 220,000 merchants across America and is supported by major US banks and the big three credit card companies.

The WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) in Sydney, Australia, has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom subsidiary, Kapsch CarrierCom Australia, the contract to supply a roadside tolling system to support capacity enhancement to the M4 motorway widening project as part of Stage 1 of the WestConnex motorway scheme in Sydney. The award covers two contracts for the initial phase of the project, one for the roadside equipment for the M4 widening segment and one for maintenance and support. The project is designed to in

Andrew Bardin Williams looks at a novel option for new toll road authorities. While somewhat politically controversial, outsourcing has gained traction in the business world as a model worth investigating for its efficiency and cost saving benefits. Lean start-ups tend to employ independent contractors instead of full-time employees in an effort to remain flexible and avoid costs associated with pensions, retirement places, health insurance, office space and benefit packages.

China is to launch a national unified electronic toll collection (ETC) system in 2015 in a bid to solve freeway congestion, save logistics cost and cut emissions. The national ETC network will be primarily completed by the end of 2015 based on a regional system that will cover 14 provinces by this year end, said Xu Chengguang, spokesman of the Ministry of Transport (MOT). The ministry expects around 25 percent of passenger cars to be equipped with transponders and all toll stations along major express

Sanef, the French subsidiary of Spanish construction firm Abertis, is part of the consortium awarded the contract to improve the safety of the tunnels along the Boulevard Périphérique Nord de Lyon, along with the operation, maintenance and renovation of the toll road over 20 years. The contract also includes the management and maintenance of the road and its equipment over 20 years, including the management of the toll payment systems, for which Sanef will receive a fee of US$12.5 million a year. The

PT Marga Utama Nusantara, a toll road management company in Indonesia is using Fujitsu’s SPATIOWL traffic information service, a cloud service that utilises location information, to collect probe data such as vehicle location, time and speed, and generates and accumulates traffic information, such as congestion conditions and their duration. Indonesia’s increase in traffic due to population growth and rapid economic development has intensified the problems of traffic congestion and frequent traffic accid