INTRODUCING AN ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION SYSTEM IN GREEK MOTORWAYS

Tolls have been operating on Greece's primary road network since the 1970s. There has, however never been, until now, a strategic study undertaken to review and plan the future of the toll collection system. This paper describes work carried out as part of this strategic study, namely reviewing the effectiveness of an up-to-date toll collection system and assessing the most effective way of implementing it in practice. Recent upgrades to the road network including the construction, both current and planned, of extensive sections of motorway, have made the need to adopt an integrated and planned approach to toll collection more urgent. Continued traffic growth coupled with continuing world wide developments in toll collection technologies have also highlighted the need to review the existing system and develop a comprehensive future strategy for upgrading the toll collection system serving the new road network. This includes a need to study the levels of service provided to the road users, vehicle operating costs, as well as examining system infrastructure and operating costs, both current and future. This in turn leads to the need for an assessment of Electronic Toll Collection systems (ETC), which will have an effect on layouts and civil engineering costs, as well as operational costs. This paper analyzes the present and future demand on part of the network under construction, the PAThE Motorway (Patra-Athens-Thessaloniki-Evzonoi). It assesses the need for toll lanes at the existing toll plazas along the motorway, both with and without the introduction of automatic toll lanes. It sets out five possible scenarios for future strategy and concludes by examining the benefits provided by automatic tolling and provides suggestions, based on the expected traffic forecasts, for the modification of the toll plazas.