Within the space of two weeks, Norwegian tolling and ITS technology supplier, Q-Free, has won two major contracts in Europe and the USA, one of which is the largest in the company’s history.
A partnership between Q-Free and Slovenia’s majority state-owned telecommunications company, Telekom Slovenije, has signed a 110.5m (US$124.2m) deal with the country’s highway operator, Druba za Avtoceste v Republiki Sloveniji (DARS), to set up a nationwide electronic truck tolling system. Following a tender procedure, DARS chose Telekom Slovenije and Q-Free to install and operate a free-flow multi-layer truck e-tolling system for highway and motorway traffic. The delivery period is one year commencing upon validation of the contract, followed by a service and maintenance period of 10 years, with an option to extend the service and maintenance period for an additional three years. The contract value for Q-Free is approximately NKr470m (US$57.5m).
“I am really proud to represent Q-Free and to announce that we have managed to get our largest ever contract signed,” commented Q-Free’s president and CEO, Håkon Volldal. “This contract, won in a highly competitive race, confirms our leading technology offering, our industry experience and know-how, and our role as a trusted partner. We look forward to delivering a state-of-the-art nationwide truck tolling system in Slovenia, together with our partner, Telekom Slovenije.”
The company’s division in the USA, Q-Free Open Roads (Q-Free OR) has been awarded a 1.2m (US$1.4m) contract to maintain and enhance the West Virginia Division of Highways’ (WVDOH) Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS). In 2008, Open Roads Consulting (ORC) designed and deployed its OpenTMS product as the WVDOH’s statewide ATMS platform. At the time it was considered to be the most fully featured and easy-to-use off-the-shelf ATMS solution on the market, enabling intelligent and automated transportation operations. Following the original deployment, ORC upgraded and enhanced the WVDOH’s OpenTMS system, and this work continued following the acquisition of ORC by Q-Free in September 2014. The collaborative effort between Q-Free OR and WVDOH has resulted in West Virginia becoming a national leader in ITS, and the agency is now using Version 8 of the OpenTMS platform.
OpenTMS is a platform-independent, extensible, ATMS solution built around an open, modular architecture. OpenTMS runs in a web browser and is designed to support the dynamic traffic management marketplace, where configurability and customization is of primary concern, as enterprise architectures, GIS and database technology, and ITS devices are continually evolving.
OpenTMS is a platform-independent, extensible ATMS solution built around an open, modular architecture. OpenTMS runs in a web browser and is designed to support the dynamic traffic management marketplace, where configurability and customization is of primary concern, as enterprise architectures, GIS and database technology, and ITS devices are continually evolving.
New initiatives and modules added to the WVDOH platform since 2008 have included:
A statewide 511 traveler information system that includes a website, cell phone app and interactive voice response (IVR) telephone system A total of 24 computer-aided dispatch (CAD) 911 integrations providing real-time highway-related incident information to the WVDOH transportation management center (TMC) Video analytics system providing 24/7 automatic incident detection, working in the background to assist TMC operators Truck parking guidance system supplying the freight industry with information on available truck parking spaces in rest areas Automated incident management system presenting TMC operators with recommended incident response plans specifically written to follow WVDOH standard procedures.
