Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2003)132-2 - Widespread introduction and interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the EC - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2003)132-2 - Widespread introduction and interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the EC. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2003)132  |
| date | 29-04-2003 |
Electronic road toll systems first appeared in Europe in the early 1990s on motorways operated under a concession where the toll served to finance motorway construction and maintenance. The main objective of such systems is to speed up toll collection, thereby increasing the capacity of the motorway. Various systems were introduced, at local and then at national level, but these systems are mutually incompatible. This has created problems for motorists, who have to affix several tags to the windscreen of their vehicle (sometimes even within a single conurbation) in order to subscribe to the various systems. Italy, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Slovenia and Norway have national systems, but they are incompatible. In view of the growth in international traffic, it is now desirable for these systems to be interoperable at European level.
Moreover, particularly at peak periods, but also more persistently at certain very busy points in the European road network, the collection of tolls causes congestion, delays, accidents and incidents which are detrimental both to road users and to the environment. Electronic tolls put the users and their vehicles at the centre of the transport system. They are an excellent tool for reducing congestion, provided that a sufficient number of equipped lanes are available at toll stations and that a high proportion of road users take out a subscription (and therefore that a large number of vehicles are fitted with the equipment). They allow subscribers to be separated from occasional users as they arrive at or approach the toll stations. The subscribers can then enter dedicated lanes where they will not have to stop or perform any transactions but simply continue to drive at a slow speed. This is the case even if the lane is equipped with automatic barriers, as the dimensions have been designed for this purpose. While the maximum flow for a lane equipped with a credit card machine or a manual toll is 120 vehicles per hour, a lane with an electronic toll can handle between 200 and 300 vehicles per hour, depending on its configuration.
By eliminating these bottlenecks and making the traffic flow more smoothly, electronic tolls also help reduce the number of accidents and thus improve road safety. By limiting cash transactions at toll stations, they also reduce the risks associated with the transport of money.
Electronic tolls are the potential key to developing the information society in road transport, as the same equipment installed in vehicles will allow value-added telematic services and safety systems to be deployed for travellers: an automatic emergency call in the event of an accident, real-time information on traffic conditions or journey times etc. They therefore help to strengthen the European electronics industry, which is at the forefront of this technology and is calling for the implementation of technical standards in order to avoid market fragmentation. In addition, vehicle manufacturers will also be able to incorporate electronic toll equipment into their new vehicles.
Contents
- 2. UPDATE ON STANDARDISATION WORK
- 3. ACCESS TO TOLL SYSTEMS IN NEW MEMBER STATES, AND THE SITUATION FOR HEAVY GOODS VEHICLES
- 4. AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE
- 5. ACHIEVING THAT AIM
- 6. COMBINING SATELLITE POSITIONING AND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS WITH MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM TERM, BUT OPTING EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE MORE MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE LONG TERM
- 7. THE LONG-TERM TECHNICAL SOLUTION FOR DEPLOYING THE EUROPEAN SERVICE: IMPOSITION OF THE SATELLITE SOLUTION FROM 2008 FOR NEW SYSTEMS AND FROM 2012 GENERALLY
- 8. TIMETABLE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE EUROPEAN SERVICE
- 9. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN SERVICE: A REGULATORY COMMITTEE
All existing electronic toll systems are based on short-range microwave technology, many variants of which are available on the market. The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) worked on standards for several years, and in January 2003 it adopted a draft definitive standard. This draft nonetheless contains two variants.
In 1997 CEN adopted pre-standards, but these did not ensure compatibility between systems and left scope for varying interpretations. As a result, Europe now has the two variants referred to above. In addition to these pre-standards, there are also many older but widely deployed systems, some of which have a large number of subscribers.
A European directive is therefore needed to ensure migration towards the future interoperability of the various systems from the user's perspective, because the Member States will otherwise continue to adopt technically incompatible national electronic toll systems, thereby creating additional difficulties for international road traffic and hampering the smooth operation of the internal market. Without this directive, drivers will have to equip their vehicles with several country-specific boxes to ensure problem-free driving throughout the European road network.
This Directive is based on preparatory work carried out under the Research and Development Framework Programmes and in the context of the trans-European networks.
Electronic toll systems first appeared in just a few countries, but they are now spreading throughout Europe. A number of European countries have recently introduced, or are planning to introduce, electronic tolls as a tool of traffic regulation policy, either in urban areas (Netherlands, United Kingdom) or for certain categories of vehicles (heavy goods vehicles in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Some of these countries are moving towards more recent technologies, such as satellite positioning (global navigation satellite system (GNSS): GPS, then Galileo) in conjunction with mobile communications (using the GSM/GPRS standard). This choice eliminates the need for costly investments in roadside equipment, and allows the most advanced technology to be used, but depends on further developments in satellite navigation systems, in particular Galileo. These countries are thereby opting for a reference technology in the future development of road transport. Without waiting for the operational implementation of Galileo in 2008, the EGNOS precursor system will, as of 2004, enable a higher degree of positioning accuracy than that given by GPS alone. Satellite positioning in conjunction with mobile communications is also the only solution that allows easy application of 'zone tolls', i.e. tolls applied to vehicles entering or leaving a given geographic area (e.g. a conurbation). However, other countries have taken a more conservative approach, depending on their road-charging policies and the topology of their network, and are continuing to opt for microwave technology.
There are no plans in the Member States to introduce new toll systems using any technology other than that based on microwaves or the GPS/GSM combination.
Thus electronic tolls in Europe will in future be based on the multiple use of three technologies, which could cause real difficulties for travellers. Take the situation of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) for example. For some years HGVs have had to pay a tax in Switzerland, a country through which a high proportion of transalpine road traffic has to pass. To that end they have to install a complex device in the cab, which must be visible from the outside so that police and customs officers can see that it is working and being used correctly. The Swiss system combines the use of the DSRC microwave system and GPS. At the end of May 2002, Austria announced its decision to implement a different system, based solely on DSRC, to apply charges to HGVs. Germany announced a similar decision in June 2002, with the combined use of the three technologies. The situation will become even more complicated when other European countries such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom introduce HGV charges, or countries like France allow HGVs to use their existing national electronic toll systems (Italy already allows this). Can it be acceptable that HGV drivers will eventually have to accommodate half a dozen electronic boxes (each measuring 1.5-2.5 dm³ and weighing 1-2 kg) in their cab merely in order to pay toll fees? Such a situation would also be unacceptable on account of the price of the equipment. There is thus an urgent need for boxes capable of reading all the systems used in Europe to be made available to drivers who engage in international transport. The industry believes this can be done and that it will not involve any major increase in the price of the box. Indeed, some manufacturers believe the current price of EUR20 for a box capable of communicating with one single microwave system would increase to EUR25 for an interoperable box capable of reading all the microwave systems in use in the Union. The real increase in the price of boxes will be linked to the addition of the satellite/mobile communications system. However, the price of a box with satellite communication would not increase significantly through the addition of microwave-reading equipment.
Moreover, as the methods for operating these boxes are different, there is a growing risk that HGV drivers will make mistakes, whereby they may accidentally break the law (e.g. by incorrectly declaring the trailer or the number of axles), which will create difficult situations for users and infrastructure operators. Action therefore needs to be taken to harmonise and rationalise boxes.
This Directive was announced in the White Paper European transport policy for 2010: time to decide. It lays down the conditions necessary for a European electronic toll service to be put in place as soon as possible on all parts of the road network subject to tolls. This service will be based on the principle of 'one contract per customer, one box per vehicle'.
The Directive does not deal with road-charging policy as such and does not prejudge possible future road-charging policy options. On the contrary, the technical solutions adopted mean that all the policies currently planned at EU and Member State level can be implemented. And by ensuring the interoperability of toll systems in the internal market, the Directive will facilitate the implementation of a Europe-wide infrastructure-charging policy. The recommended technologies can cover all types of infrastructure (motorways, roads, bridges, tunnels, etc.) and vehicles (HGV, light vehicles, motorbikes, etc.).
Motorway operating companies have invested large sums of money (several hundred million euros per network) to install systems on their networks which were originally intended to provide a better service to the drivers of light vehicles. Account must be taken of these investments and their amortisation (in accounting and technical terms) so as to migrate progressively towards interoperable systems as part of the 'European service'. It will be possible for existing national and local systems to be maintained alongside the European service for local use until they are decommissioned, though the obligation for operators to make interoperable receivers available to users who want them will make an appreciable contribution towards easing this situation for users.
In this way progress can be made towards the interoperability of existing systems. However, some of the countries referred to above want to introduce an electronic toll system for HGVs in 2003 or 2004. Certain cities, such as Rome and London, have decided to install a toll system to control vehicle access to the city centre. Technical guidelines therefore need to be laid down now to ensure the interoperability of future systems. Moreover, the market is in favour of establishing a reference system for the future.
In response to these twin problems, the European electronic toll service will be based on a short-term solution (until 2005) taking account of existing systems, and then on a long-term solution (2008-2012), decided on and presented below.
The Commission is asking manufacturers to pursue action to lead as quickly as possible to the adoption of common standards for the three technologies.
6. COMBINING SATELLITE POSITIONING AND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS WITH MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM TERM, BUT OPTING EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE MORE MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE LONG TERM
This combination, presented in Article 2, is intended to allow charging on the road network without having to build new stations. The widespread introduction of road-charging policies requires new technological solutions capable of covering all road infrastructure. Toll lanes cannot be built on all parts of the road network, including town centres, for financial, environmental and safety reasons.
This proposal is based on the use of new technologies that are already available: the GNSS/GSM combination, together with microwave technology, which is already in widespread use in the Union. These three technologies are the only ones currently being considered for new toll systems in Europe.
The use of satellite positioning and mobile communications technologies is advocated for the deployment of the European electronic toll service as well as for all new national systems, these technologies being more flexible and better suited to the new Community charging policies. Moreover, they are a component of many active safety systems, which manufacturers are starting to install in their vehicles. However, operators who want to use microwave technology for new systems will be allowed to do so until 2008.
This choice safeguards the continuity of investments which have already been made in several European countries, whilst taking into account the fact that the qualities of the new technologies will inevitably dominate in the near future, especially as they will open the door to the new value-added services aimed at travellers which were mentioned in the introduction. This choice also gives operators the freedom to choose the best solution for their specific problem, whilst ensuring the conditions necessary for the deployment of the European electronic toll service.
7. THE LONG-TERM TECHNICAL SOLUTION FOR DEPLOYING THE EUROPEAN SERVICE: IMPOSITION OF THE SATELLITE SOLUTION FROM 2008 FOR NEW SYSTEMS AND FROM 2012 GENERALLY
In 2008, microwave technology, a product of the 1970s, will be over 30 years old, and will have been left behind by new technological developments, even if it is still in use on the motorway networks. Satellite technology, on the other hand, boosted by the full implementation of Galileo in 2008, will have matured and had the time not only to prove itself but also to acquire the necessary experience to be able to support the European electronic toll service by itself. In particular, the difficult problem of fraud prevention, which is currently handled by means of complex short-range roadside-vehicle communication, should become easier to deal with thanks to the emergence of new technological solutions.
There is also a risk that between now and 2008 there may be further attempts to introduce new microwave systems, creating more problems of technical interoperability.
That is why the Directive stipulates that in 2008 the satellite solution involving the combination of satellite positioning and mobile communications must be adopted, in preference to microwave technology, for all new systems brought into service on or after that date as part of the European electronic toll service. To safeguard investments recently planned or made in certain countries, notably Austria, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and Italy, microwave systems which are still in service may nonetheless continue to be used, though a migration strategy will have to be drawn up for 2010 in all the countries which continue to use them. Migration will have to be completed by 2012.
The Commission will have to produce a report by 31 December 2007 to assess whether the problems in evidence today regarding the utilisation of the satellite solution have been properly dealt with. If this report, drawn up in collaboration with the Electronic Toll Committee, shows that systems based on satellite and mobile communications technology have still not solved all the utilisation problems, the Commission will put forward a proposal to allow microwave systems to continue to be used alongside satellite/mobile communications systems.
It should be noted that adoption of the technical solution based on satellite technology and mobile communications technology will also mean the disappearance of toll barriers for the majority of users, who will be able to pay without stopping. A limited number of installations will remain for occasional users and those without the requisite equipment.
In this context, it is very important for manufacturers to ensure that the standardisation work in the European standardisation bodies is completed not just for microwave technology but also, and above all, for technologies based on satellite and mobile communications technology.
The technical and contractual arrangements for the full deployment of the European service on the technical bases described above will be examined by the Committee set up pursuant to Article 5.
The service will be deployed in two stages:
- from 2005 for electronic toll payments by HGVs, buses and coaches,
- from 2010 for cars.
By 2010, technological progress will have made it possible to install in all four-wheeled vehicles equipment communicating with the outside world via microwave, GSM/GPRS and GNSS interfaces supporting a range of telematic services, including electronic tolls. This technological leap, which has already started, will bring the cost of equipping a vehicle down to the current cost of a microwave tag (between 20 and 50 euros).
The European service will permit the full implementation of all HGV-charging and urban congestion-charging policies which the European Union or the Member States wish to introduce. In addition to being more appropriate for the 'zone tolls' defined above, satellite positioning in conjunction with mobile communications avoids having to install equipment at a later date on road networks which were not built with space for toll plazas.
By 2010, interoperability between national electronic toll systems will have been achieved by the deployment of a 'European service' offered to all types of customer.
The essential principles of the European service are described in Article 3. As the service will be offered by all toll infrastructure managers, it puts the traveller at the centre of the road transport system. Open to all and available throughout the road network by means of a single subscription contract, it will provide a single interface between the customer and infrastructure managers, in accordance with the basic principles of European legislation, particularly as regards the protection of privacy and personal data.
A precise definition is required of the details of the European service and of a large number of accompanying technical measures. For example, a memorandum of understanding needs to be established between European infrastructure managers for the deployment of the service and the establishment of a netting system.
The Commission is responsible for defining the 'European service' and is taking the necessary technical decisions to this end, in accordance with the committee procedure referred to in Article 5 of the Directive. Article 5 of the proposed Directive sets up a committee to assist the Commission, composed of representatives of the Member States with practical experience in the fields of electronic tolls and road management. Such a committee does not currently exist, and will therefore have to be set up. It will base its work on the findings of research projects conducted under the Research and Development Framework Programme and in the context of the trans-European networks. Preparatory work has already been carried out under the auspices of the Commission, involving national authorities, infrastructure managers and manufacturers.
The following issues inter alia will have to be addressed:
- precise definition of the service offered: in particular functional and technical specifications of the service, the quality of the service and its level of deployment at toll stations with a view to limiting queues, slow-moving traffic and incidents of all kinds resulting from toll collection. Payment methods relating to the subscription contract, and after-sales service, etc., will also be addressed;
- definition of the electronic toll applications: i.e. a single method of using the electronic toll equipment. For example, smart cards used as bank cards and smart cards used for health and health insurance purposes are technically compatible, but only the former enable you to withdraw bank notes from an automatic cash dispenser. The same type of problem arises here;
- launching and following up technical harmonisation activities with the European standardisation bodies;
- any technical additions to the standards or pre-standards used and which ensure interoperability; procedures for taking account of technological developments, in particular the development of mobile communications;
- harmonisation of electronic toll procedures between operators: vehicle classification, signs on toll gates, occasional users without the necessary equipment;
- specifications for incorporating equipment into vehicles;
- procedures for approving, at European level, on-board equipment, roadside equipment and the way equipment is incorporated into vehicles, particularly from the point of view of road safety;
- validation of the chosen technical solutions vis-à-vis the European rules protecting the freedoms and fundamental rights of individuals, including their privacy. In particular, conformity will have to be ensured with Directives 95/46/EC i and 2002/58/EC i;
- procedures for dealing with operating anomalies (equipment breakdown, intentional or unintentional incorrect use, incidents, etc.), essentially in the international context where the customer is from a country other than the country of payment;
- definition of a memorandum of understanding between road operators enabling the service to be implemented on the European road network, and a single contract for customers. It should be possible to extend this memorandum of understanding at a later date to banks, whose payment cards will be associated with electronic toll systems.
The Commission and the committee will seek technical advice from groups of experts appointed for this purpose. In particular, the Commission will work with a group of experts made up of representatives of operators of the 'European electronic toll service', the electronics and motor vehicle industries, and users of the service, professionals and individuals These groups of experts can be given the task of drafting the preparatory documents for the work of the committee. The Commission will also be able to seek the opinion of other committees or working parties, including the Working Party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data set up by Article 29 of Directive 95/46/EC.