Running Free – with Tolling

This article reports on the latest moves in the free-flow tolling segment. The free-flow tolling of roads and discrete infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels, is an area of transportation that is currently booming. The article describes how tolling in general is on the upswing, often still as a means for funding road projects where public sector budgets can no longer cover the necessary costs. Several high profile examples of road user charging for ‘demand management’ have been launched in recent months with the goal of reducing congestion. These types of road pricing schemes in particular, including a raft of ‘managed lanes’ projects getting underway in the United States and the latest cordon-based city congestion charge launched in Gothenburg in January this year, rely on free-flow all-electronic tolling (AET) systems. Moreover, technological advances over recent years have made conversion to all-electronic tolling feasible for most highway authorities and operators. For instance, Australia installed the world’s first multi-lane free-flow system, the last of the country’s conventional toll plazas is now being upgraded to make the country 100% free-flow.