Toll on two-lane roads to drive costs down

June 30, 2009

More than 10,000 kms of roads may get tolled across the country. In what may be called a first, the ministry of road transport and highways is considering a proposal to toll two-lane roads. This is being done to not only recover the cost of construction but also ensure funds for their maintenance and upkeep. According to a senior government official, the move has come as a part of the government’s attempt to attract more road developers and also reduce the burden on annuity and build operate transfer (BOT) projects.

So far two-lane roads are not tolled across the country. But the idea is being considered especially because the government may award the construction of two-lane national highways on certain lean traffic areas across the country. This is being done to reduce the cost at a time when developers have been shortage of funds, as the official said.

The move will require making changes to the toll policy of the government, which provides for tolling of four and six lane highways currently. The ministry had introduced a new toll policy in December 2008 by the way of which toll rates had been doubled or trebled on certain stretches.

The current toll policy stipulates a fee of Rs 0.65 per kilometre for cars jeeps etc, Rs 1.05 per km for light commercial vehicles, Rs 2.20 for buses and trucks, Rs 3.45 for heavy construction machinery and Rs 4.20 for vehicles with over seven axles. However, these are the recommended rates for four and six lane highways and a similar schema would have to be prepared for two lane highways, if the proposal gets implemented.

The fee for two-lane highways is expected to be much lower but the location will also matter in determining it. For instance, it may be higher for hilly terrain roads.

The government has been working on a plan to re-engineer roads and thereby reduce their cost. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is considering the removal of a number of additional structures on highways that escalate the cost. Taking this further, the minister for roads recently suggested that even in areas where two lane roads are being considered tolling should be implemented.

However, there is a flip side two lanes as well. They are less safe than four or six lane highways as there is no divider to prevent head on collisions. Even though we support the idea, the viability of tolling two lane highways would have to be considered in the light of the administrative cost of collection, a road expert from the National Highways Builders Federation (NHBF) said.

Currently there is a network of over 70,000 kms of national highways in the country, the maintenance of which comes under the central government. Even though national highways are only 2 per cent of the total road network, they carry bulk of the country’s traffic at over 65 per cent.

Source:indianexpress.com

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Kapsch TrafficCom AG is awarded two prizes

June 22, 2009

Press Release

Kapsch TrafficCom AG is awarded two prizes: important award for innovative traffic telematics solution in the USA and the Stock Exchange Prize in Austria

Kapsch TrafficCom AG was recently awarded by the well-known US traffic organisation, ITS merica for an innovative traffic telematics solution. ITS America awarded the “5.9 GHz Dedicated hort Range Communications (DSRC) Smart Road Technologies for Traffic Safety and Mobility” by Kapsch with the “Best Innovative Practice” prize. Specifically, the prize was awarded for the innovative Kapsch implementation of forty 5.9 GHz DSRC toll portals in New York City and New York State. Kapsch TrafficCom has been active in the USA since 2008. The ITS America award once again underscores the leading position of Kapsch TrafficCom as an internationally active vendor of innovative traffic telematics solutions.

“The ITS Award is the most important prize of its type – only this programme honours the most innovative, efficient and influential achievements in the industry worldwide”, explains Erwin Toplak, Management Board Member of Kapsch TrafficCom AG. “We are pleased that this coveted award honours our performance in the field of 5.9 GHz DSRC networks for improving the safety, reliability and
infrastructure of US roads”.

Kapsch TrafficCom has been active in the USA since 2008. In the previous year, the company completed the testing of a 5.9 GHz DSRC telematics test station in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado, with impressive success. Kapsch TrafficCom received the latest award for its innovative implementation of forty 5.9 GHz DSRC telematics stations in New York City and New York State in a demonstration installation. These telematics stations communicate with on-board units, which are located in the vehicles and contribute to improving traffic safety, mobility and environmental compatibility. The architecture used enables the operation of more than 20 applications from the fields of safety, mobility, toll payment and toll information. The 5.9 GHz DSRC system from Kapsch TrafficCom was introduced at the ITS America Annual General Meeting 2009, which was held from 1 – 3 June 2009 at the Gaylord National Convention Center.

“With 5.9 GHz DSRC, intelligent transport solutions achieve a new technological dimension that significantly increases the benefit for the user”, says Scott Belcher, President of ITS America. “Kapsch is the driving force when it comes to launching high-performance 5.9 GHz DSRC applications for safety, mobility and payment infrastructure on the global markets. As traffic services in the USA are continuously gaining in importance, we expect improved transport infrastructure to provide the market with more safety, among other things”.

At about the same time, Kapsch TrafficCom achieved second place in the Small and Mid Cap Prize category of the Vienna Stock Exchange Prize. This prize evaluates companies that are listed on the ATX Prime Index and distinguish themselves particularly positively with regard to criteria such as reporting, investor relations and technical market factors.

Kapsch TrafficCom is an international provider of innovative traffic telematics systems. Kapsch TrafficCom develops and supplies mainly electronic toll systems (Electronic Toll Collection – ETC), especially Multi-Lane Free-Flow (MLFF) ETC systems, and offers the technical and commercial operation of these systems. In addition, Kapsch TrafficCom offers traffic management solutions that focus on traffic safety and traffic influencing, electronic access control systems and parking space management. With more than 220 customer references worldwide in 36 countries on all five continents, with a total of more than fourteen million OBUs and nearly 12,000 equipped road lanes, Kapsch TrafficCom has positioned itself among the global market leaders of ETC systems. Kapsch TrafficCom has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 22 countries.

Vienna, 19th June 2009

For further information:
Brigitte Herdlicka
Public Relations & Sponsoring
Kapsch Group
Phone: +43 (0) 50 811 1710
1120 Vienna, Am Europlatz 2
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.kapschtraffic.com
www.kapsch.net

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