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Barrier-Free Tolling: Case Study
Barrier-Free Tolling: Case Study
BARRIER-FREE TOLLING
Dublin-Ireland
M50
After a tender period, the National Roads Authority contracted with BetEireFlow - an Irish company created by Sanef Group and Communication and Systems - to deliver the M50 Motorway upgrade. The parties contracted were in charge of the design, implementation, testing and trial before the go-live planned in June 2008. After this phase, the consortium would be in charge of the operations during 8 years.
THE OBJECTIVES GIVEN TO THE CONSORTIUM WERE CLEAR: Reduce congestion by smoothing down traffic peaks, notoriously some of the largest in Western Europe, by encouraging registration. Manage costs effectively and skilfully. Reduce toll collection operating costs.
The constraints of interoperability were that the Toll Collection System had to be compatible with other European tolling systems, such that it could not be in any way interfered with, or affected by, vehicles with tags issued in connection with tolling systems outside Ireland; and no tag issued by BetEireFlow could interfere or affect the collection system or other equipment of a tolling system outside Ireland. Besides technical issues concerning exchange of data between parties involved, interoperability would also have considerable impacts on the Customer Service Centre. One commitment: to put the customer first The pre-operation preparation or ramp-up phase which lasted from January 2008 to July 2008 also held some difficult issues: Through the customer care services it has deployed, BetEireFlow has managed to provide customised Toll products for each type of road users: occasional, regular, fleets. In order to have increased flexibility for scaling up and down, BetEireFlow decided to externalise the management of calls of regular customers. The fleet calls were to be managed internally.
BetEireFlow showed remarkable accuracy in sizing the customer service centre considering the complexity of the task. Sizing implied predicting the nature of problems that could occur and the users reactions to them. The team had to ensure that all influent factors were considered before signing with the subcontractor. Payment and Charging: The fundamental change for customers with this project laid in the way they actually paid the tolls - the shift was from immediate payment at toll plazas to various other payment points and times. It was important that the users felt the benefits of the change, and above all fully trusted the transparent payment mechanisms. The major outcome of this process was to encourage rapid payments and to have maximum reconciliations between transactions, payments and accounts. This meant reducing the need to resort
to the next costly and unpleasant stage, enforcement. The main challenge of the enforcement process was to ensure that cases transferred to the prosecution entity were founded. Setting up a structure for enforcement involved: .
BetEireFlow enforcement team who issued violation notices following unpaid toll transactions and then transferred the case to the prosecution entity when the notices remain unpaid. The prosecution entity comprised of solicitors who dealt with unpaid violation notices based on evidence packs compiled by the enforcement team. A specialised company which managed unpaid toll transactions linked to foreign vehicles.
Before free-flow
After free-flow Launched on time and within budget Ecofriendly solution Efficient Commercial success Political success for the NRA