Type of Scheme
- Nationwide network of motorway tolling with variable charging.
Date of Introduction
- First credit-financed toll motorway started in 1968.
- Nationwide toll collection on all motorways and express roads started in 1997.
Background
- Tolling introduced on higher cost sections of motorways in mountains in late sixties and mid seventies to support financing of urgently needed high level roads crossing the Alpine area.
- In 1996, Austria's parliament legislated for future toll collection systems and extended tolling to the entire motorway network.
- A short-term intermediate solution, a Vignette system (working on time-based charges) was implemented in 1997.
- In 2004, electronic toll collection introduced for vehicles over 12 tonnes allowing them to make distance-based payments rather than time-based.
Network of motorways and expressroads in Austria - sections in red under construction or planification
Aims
- Primary aim was to collect funds for maintenance, operation, upgrading and future development of motorway network.
- Secondary objective was to find a solution to reduce debts in state budget by means of transferring entire high level road network, including debts, into the private sector.
How it Works
Charges:
- All vehicles above a permissible gross weight of 3.5 tonnes are obliged to pay a distance related toll.
- Motorcycles, cars and light goods vehicles have to pay a time related user fee by purchasing a Vignette.
- Vignette charges for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes are: 72.60 € for one year; 21.80 € for two months and 7.60 € for ten days.
- Vehicles more than 3.5 tonnes pay a distance-based charge using electronic toll collection system.
- Toll rates per km are grouped in three classes of vehicles, according to the number of axles: 0.130 € for 2 axle vehicles; 0.182 € for 3 axle vehicles and 0.273 € for 4 or more axle vehicles.
- Infrequent users of toll roads can choose to pay toll using the pre-pay procedure.
- Regular users set up an account with the system providers and money is collected after the user has made their journey. Almost 85% of all toll-transactions are carried out by the latter method due to its convenience.
The open toll system
Gantry for toll communication
Technology:
- The ASFINAG, a 100% state owned company existing since 1983, is responsible for the collection of toll on the entire motorway and express road network.
- ASFINAG is responsible for the whole motorway system, including design, construction, maintenance, operation and financing.
- The tolling system uses microwave technology requiring all HGVs to install an electronic device - On Board Unit (OBU) - on the windscreen.
- This OBU - called Go-Box - communicates with roadside radio-antennas mounted on gantries to record the mileage the vehicle has undertaken and charge accordingly.
- More than 800 gantries have been implemented on the motorway network.
- Go-Box units can be purchased at large number of retail outlets, 24 hours a day at a cost of 5 €.
- Go-Box must be also be installed by infrequent drivers using pre-pay.
- 480,000 of these units have so far been distributed.
- Each Go-Box is equipped with a switch for the change of vehicle class in the case of an additional trailer.
Enforcement:
- Done through stationary toll-enforcement-gantries, portable enforcement equipments and by toll-enforcement-officers using mobile control units.
- 100 permanent enforcement gantries spread over the network primarily in parts of the high traffic density and consist of equipment for automatic vehicle classification by laser scanner.
- System reads number plate of vehicles by automatic character recognition and when appropriate, sends signals to the enforcement officer.
- The ASFINAG has 100 toll officers and 30 control vehicles from the mobile control unit to implement enforcement. To prevent toll dodgers, officers are authorised by law to stop vehicles and to take action for non-compliant drivers.
Revenue
- All revenue is earmarked for the use on the charged road network.
- No additional financial support is given to the motorway sector from the regular budget.
- Infrastructure costs are passed on to users on the basis of the distance travelled.
- In 2004, the revenue raised by ASFINAG as a result of new electronic toll collection was 5.7 billion €.
Benefits/Results
- Only 2% - half of the estimated amount - of local and regional traffic diverted to parallel roads.
- Percentage of non-conforming users was less than 2%.
- Introduction of a km-based electronic toll system was significant step in achieving equitable distribution of costs in the road system.
- To deter diverting traffic after introduction of motorway tolling, local authorities responsible for management of secondary road network, took action by introducing traffic restrictions or weight restrictions for heavy goods vehicles on their roads.
Public Opinion
- Experience of implementing tolling for the first year of operation shows system is well received by users.
Problems
- High toll charges on parts of the motorway network in the Alpine crossing appear to be at odds with the European Union's Directive that 'the weighted average tolls shall be related to the costs of constructing, operating and developing the infrastructure for the network concerned'.
Website
Austrian Road Administration / Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (BMVIT):
www.bmvit.gv.at.
References
Friedrich Schwarz-Herda (2005). Toll Collection in Austria. Implementation of a fully electronic system on the existing motorway network. PIARC Seminar on Road Pricing with emphasis on Financing, Regulation and Equity, Cancun, Mexico
publications.piarc.org/ressources/publications_files/3/1662,RR327-036.pdf.
Friedrich Schwarz-Herda (2004) - Toll Collection in Austria: a contribution to sustainable freight transport? Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology
www.transportenvironment.org/docs/presentations/2004/vienna_conference/2004-10_p9_vienna_conf_sens_areas_schwarz-herda.pdf (Adobe Acrobat file).
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