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

  • Q-Free reports increased revenue, major tag order
    August 14, 2014
    Q-Free has been awarded an order for OBU610 tags from Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) in Australia at a value of US$2.4 million, to be delivered within the second quarter of 2015. “Q-Free has supplied more than two million tags to RMS, representing an important basis for our activity in Australia. We are pleased to see the continued strength of this particular relationship and of our competitiveness in the Australian market,” comments Q-Free CEO Thomas Falck. Q-Free also reported increased revenues
  • Asecap Days 2025: seizing the opportunities
    May 28, 2025
    Delegates during day one of the two-day 52nd Asecap Days conference in Madrid were left in no doubt the financial challenges that face motorway concessionaires as the transition to different mobility increases in pace...
  • Kapsch TrafficCom to acquire Mark IV IVHS
    March 1, 2012
    Kapsch TrafficCom AG has agreed to acquire, through subsidiaries, the businesses of Mark IV IVHS, part of Mark IV, LLC (US), in the United States, in Canada and in Mexico
  • Colombia's growing airport concessions
    June 20, 2014
    Colombia's three airport concessions have shown significant growth over the past ten years, each increasing passenger flow by over 200 per cent, figures from the country's civil aviation body show. Bogotá's El Dorado international airport, which became a concession in 2007, grew 235 per cent, passing from transporting 7 million passengers in 2003 to transporting 25 million in 2013. Meanwhile, Cartagena's Rafael Núñez airport grew 224 per cent from 1 million passengers in 2003 to 3.3 million in 2013.