Skip to main content

Kapsch pilots Norway RUC project

Road user charging will be increasingly interesting to authorities as gas tax dwindles
By Adam Hill November 15, 2022 Read time: 1 min
Road user charging is the future - and not just in Norway (© Maksim Toome | Dreamstime.com)

Kapsch TrafficCom and Aventi Intelligent Communication have piloted a road user charging (RUC) project in Norway.

The project, which Kapsch says was "conducted during the summer months", was to find out how fee collection for passenger cars is possible based on vehicle type, emissions class and kilometres driven.

Norway has a high proportion of electric vehicles (EVs) which means that the problem of the rapid decline in vehicle-related tax revenues is particularly acute there - but it is an issue that more and more countries are facing.

The project has been part of a concept selection study conducted by Norwegian authorities to work out the principles of determining and collecting future road user charges and tolls.

“In total, more than two million kilometers of trips, or about 50 laps around the earth, were analysed," explains Alfredo Escriba, Kapsch chief technical officer.

"The system was able to handle the challenging environments of the Norwegian road network, matching routes and calculating rates with an accuracy level above 99%.”

As well as compensating for the loss of tax revenue, advocates of RUC argue that it is a fair and transparent charging system for road users. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Time for a rethink on road user charging
    February 1, 2012
    There is no value in further US VMT charging trials, except to delay the inevitable. These trials should end after completion of the University of Iowa's National Evaluation of a Mileage-based Road User Charge. There is far greater promise in unleashing private operators to commence profitable, non-tolling services, then using these for toll assessment and collection as fuel distributors are currently used to collect fuel taxation. Bern Grush writes
  • Road pricing is inevitable – because the ‘user pays’ principle is fair
    June 14, 2018
    We pay for roads through our taxes: the poor pay proportionately more, and effectively subsidise the rich. It would be fairer to accept the ‘user pays’ principle, says Dr John Walker. Road pricing is already used worldwide to combat congestion and pollution, to compensate for falling revenues from fuel duty (‘gas tax’), to provide an alternative (and fairer) means of charging motorists than the 80-year old fuel tax and to improve the efficiency of and expand transport infrastructure. However, it could and s
  • Kapsch offers EETS–compliant Tolling Services
    June 7, 2017
    Kapsch’s Bernd Eberstaller explains how the company’s new Tolling Services will help expand the number and capabilities of EETS services providers. By 2017, the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) should have been in operation for several years but it still remains some way away and with several significant hurdles still to be addressed. The concept behind EETS is simple enough: road users should be able to drive across Europe using only a single transponder to pay for all tolls, with the account-han
  • CDOT launches road usage charge pilot research program
    November 18, 2016
    The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has explored a number of ways to find sustainable road funding. It is facing a nearly US$1 billion annual funding gap over the next 25 years and is looking to explore transportation funding alternatives as the fuel tax continues to become less reliable over time, due decreased purchasing power and more fuel efficient and electric vehicles. This pilot is the first step in an extensive process of evaluating the concept alongside other funding alternatives. I