Skip to main content

Free-flow toll systems lower operational risks says road operator

Multi-lane free-flow toll systems lower the operational risk of highway concessions, according to toll road operator Renovias Concessionária, which implemented the first such system in Brazil. "Operational risk is lower than manned toll booths as no workers are needed," Renovias maintenance manager Michell Costa told BNamericas. The system in place on São Paulo state highway SP340 detects the electronic fee collection tags in vehicles using both 5.8GHz and 915MHz frequencies, and captures front and re
April 23, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Multi-lane free-flow toll systems lower the operational risk of highway concessions, according to toll road operator Renovias Concessionária, which implemented the first such system in Brazil.

"Operational risk is lower than manned toll booths as no workers are needed," Renovias maintenance manager Michell Costa told BNamericas.

The system in place on São Paulo state highway SP340 detects the electronic fee collection tags in vehicles using both 5.8GHz and 915MHz frequencies, and captures front and rear license plates with optical character recognition (OCR) cameras.

Renovias, which manages 346 kilometres of state roads, took the system live in 2013. It serves more than 2.25 million residents in the Campinas metropolitan region.

Costa said that toll payment evasion is the main reason why free-flow toll systems have not taken off in Brazil as much as in the Chilean capital of Santiago, where they have been in place since 2005.

The four main toll operators in Santiago – Vespucio Norte, Autopista Central, Costanera Norte and Vespucio Sur – recorded a total of US$320 million in delinquent toll payments in 2014, as drivers modify or remove license plates, or refuse to sign up for tags or purchase a daily pass.

Related Content

  • Kapsch flows free in France
    December 2, 2022
    New toll system on A79 set to process 15,000 vehicles per day along 88km stretch
  • Tolling is a ‘powerful tool to maintain and manage an infrastructure network’
    August 15, 2017
    Officials have recently moved to scrap tolls on several highways for the first time in 40 years, bucking a national trend toward more tolls on mostly urban roadways to shift the costs of transportation to those who use the roads, writes Associated Press. A regional authority voted this week to eliminate tolls on the Cesar Chavez Border Highway in El Paso. On the same day, Dallas city council rejected plans to build a toll road along the Trinity River. The council's action appears to be the death knell for a
  • French tag order for Q-Free
    December 12, 2016
    Q-Free has received an order valued at US$3.4 million (29 million NOK) to supply its OBU615 on-board tag unit to French highway company Vinci Autoroute, to be delivered during 2017. The OBU615 supports all current and future 5.8GHz CEN DSRC protocols. Typical applications include electronic toll collection (ETC) and congestion charging, automatic vehicle identification (AVI), electronic registration identification (ERI), access control and parking.
  • São Paulo integrates traffic data
    August 29, 2014
    Brazil's São Paulo state transport agency Artesp has opened a technology centre that will oversee services provided by highways concessionaires. The information control centre uses IBM's Maximum asset management software and intelligent operations centre technology, implemented by local IT integrator and consulting firm Magna Systems. The centre will gather and integrate traffic volume and toll data control centres along 30 highways operated by 19 licensed companies as well as information captured by