An Austrian and French company are partnering to jointly tackle technological evolutions in the electronic tolling systems market, paving the way for fully-interoperable European Electronic Tolling Services (EETS).
Austrian company Kapsch TrafficCom, a global leader in tolling systems and equipment, is joining forces with Axxès, a French-based tolling services and systems provider, with the two companies announcing their willingness to cooperate further in the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) domain.
The planned long term partnership is based on a close and strong cooperation in order to offer a better and wider range of services to both road users and operators. EETS was mandated by the European Union (EU) under Directive 2004/52/EC, which lays down the conditions for the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in EU countries. The Directive requires that all new electronic toll systems brought into service shall use one or more of the following technologies: satellite positioning (GNSS); mobile communications (GSM-GPRS); and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) microwave technology.
The directive also set up EETS, by which road users only subscribe to a single contract with an EETS provider in order to pay the charges related to any charging scheme requiring an onboard equipment. EETS was adopted across the EU in October 2009. Axxès and Kapsch have been working successfully together for years several on a variety of projects, such as the Belgian ‘Viapass Kilometer Charge’ for trucks weighing over 3.5 tons.
The commonly introduced system was the first to be successfully certified as EETS-approved in time for the commencement date on April 1, 2016. Axxès currently serves a fleet of 200,000 trucks equipped with a GNSS system provided by Kapsch.
With over 30,000 client companies, Axxès, as an EETS provider, is a dynamic player in the interoperable truck toll market, offering freight and passenger transporters an intelligent, reliable collection system for paying European tolls using a single onboard unit (OBU) and a single subscription. Kapsch provides end-to-end tolling services, acting as a one-stop shop, from components and design to the installation and operation of toll collection and traffic management systems. Axxès and Kapsch have decided to make use of their long lasting cooperation by working jointly on the development of their systems. Both companies are willing to address the new toll domains opened to the EETS Market in the near future, starting with Germany and Italy. Axxès and Kapsch anticipate their cooperation to be beneficial to the mobility of the end users and an incentive to the ETS market in Europe.
