Critical
Success
Factorsfor Implementing
RUC Systems

Bernhard Oehry
Rapp Trans AG
Basel, Switzerland

Table of Contents
1. What is a good RUC system ?
2. A good RUC system is …
3. Summary and End

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What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• one that works!
- Good technology

3What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• one that works! feasible- Good technology proven and low risk concept

4What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• feasible- proven and low risk concept5What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable• feasible- proven and low risk concept

6What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable

how to use
how to react• feasible- proven and low risk concept

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.. a good RUC system is understandable

Some options discussed for a RUC scheme in Helsinki
8What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable

how to use
how to react- good effects• feasible- proven and low risk concept9What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable

how to use
how to react- good effects

wanted effects on traffic and environment
cost effective
fair regarding areas and users• feasible- proven and low risk concept

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.. a traffic problem is essential
Three ingredients• a major traffic problem• trust that charging helps• not facts, but perception

11What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable

how to use
how to react- good effectswanted effects on traffic and environment
cost effective
fair regarding areas and users- to all stakeholders

me & youbusiness
politics• feasible- proven and low risk concept
12What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable

how to use
how to react- good effects

wanted effects on traffic and environment
cost effective
fair regarding areas and users- to all stakeholders

me & youbusiness
politics

but this changes over time !

• feasible- proven and low risk concept
13Acceptance changes over time14

What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable- good effects- to all stakeholders• feasible- proven and low risk concept

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Charging technologies in a nutshell• Vignette- Pay for a day/month/year• Automatic number plate reading- Camera to identify vehicle and location- Not for payment• Short range communication- DSRC to identify charging location- DSRC for charging transaction• Positioning + wide-area communication- GPS to identify charging location- GSM for charging transaction

GPS16

On-board unit technologies compared• Short range communication- Abbreviation DSRC
- Cheap devices (10…20€)- Battery powered- Can be self-mounted- Requires special road-side infrastructure- Good if only few charging points• Positioning + wide-area communication- Abbreviation GPS/GSM- Costly devices (100…200€)- Powered from the vehicle- Must usually be installed- No special road-side infrastructure- Good if large charged network

GPS17

The challenge of the urban environment18

… what with people without on-board unit ?
• Occasional users• Foreign users
These users come without equipment,
and need a simple and quick way to pay
Payment has to be fair.
If occasional or foreign users- pay less, everybody becomes an occasional user
- pay more, it is against EU equal treatment laws

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… what with people without on-board unit ?
Possible solutions for occasional and foreign users- temporary on-board unit
- manual option via self-service terminal, internet, SMS, etc.

- let foreigners go for free

The solution for occasional and foreign users… decides about the sophistication of the charge- capability of technology cannot be exploited… is a tremendous cost driver- high costs for a 24h/7d operations, but low income20

… what with people without on-board unit ?
Examples from other systems
German Heavy Vehicle Fee- Manual booking of a trip via terminal or internet- Clumsy and costly

Austrian Heavy Vehicles Fee- All users must have an on-board unit
- Efficient, but currently only for trucks and DSRC

Stockholm and The Netherlands- Foreigners go for free since they are not causing the congestion- Can be an acceptance problem

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… what with people not wanting to pay ?
• Nobody throws a coin
into the basket if
there is no barrier• Charging technologies
usually automate thethrowing, not the barrier

Enforcement is required such that on average
it is cheaper to pay correctly than to cheat
Enforcement is- costly, requiring a lot of personnel- institutionally difficult, requiring personnel with police powers- risky, requiring water-tight court-proof evidence
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… what with people not wanting to pay ?
Enforcement = Detect + CatchDetection can be automated with sophisticated technology- DSRC to read out on-board units- automated licence plate readers- laser scanners for measuring vehicle size and shape- cameras and flashes to record images23

… what with people not wanting to pay ?
Enforcement = Detect + Catch
Catching national users is easy: just write a letter
Catching foreign users is difficult: stop and pay on the spot

In order of decreasing cost efficiency:
Tamper proof on-board equipment
Automated fixed enforcement stations
Mobile patrols stopping known offenders
Patrols making random spot-checks

24Cost drivers• Operations drives the costs- Occasional users need a lot of attention- Enforcement needs a lot of personnel- Customer contact (help-desk, call centre, etc.) is costly- See the high costs in London and Stockholm• Important is total cost of ownership over 10 years- Initial investment costs are not so important,but daily operations over all the years is very important Occasional users and enforcement are big cost drivers

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What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable- good effects- to all stakeholders• feasible- proven and low risk concept- solution for occasional and foreign users- can be enforced

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What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable- understandable- good effects- to all stakeholders• feasible- proven and low risk concept- solution for occasional and foreign users- can be enforced• flexible- regarding future developments and inclusion of other services- market oriented and open for commercialisation- interoperable with other countries

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How to achieve interoperability ?
• Different charging concepts- fees for a certain duration of allowed use- tolls, i.e. fees per use of a certain infrastructure- distance dependent usage charges- access charges for zones and areas• Different technologies- simple paper stickers- automatic licence plate reading- different flavours of radio links (DSRC)- GPS / GSM• Different classification and tariff structure- a car in one country, a minibus in the next, …
- per number of axles, emission class, weight, …

• Different legal and institutional background- public or private sector operator- fee or charge or tax or levy or …
- with VAT or without VAT
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How to achieve interoperability ?
Technical compatibilityTechnical standards

0100 1010

RSE

0111 10000000 0101001
1010 01 1001
1110111100 1OBE

Procedural solutions


Roles of the involved entities
Data exchange and clearing
Handling of classes, exceptions, …

USER

ISSUEROPERATOR

Contractual agreements

Who is responsible for what ?
Who is to pay for what ?
Who owns the system ?

ClaimContract
Contract Issuer
Issuer(Home(Home Operator)
Operator)
Payment(foreign)(foreign)
EFC
EFC Operator
Operator(Transport(Transport ServiceServiceProvider)
Provider)Contract
Contract
Claim(payment information)

User
User

Payment29

How to achieve interoperability ?
Progress in developing interoperability offee collection system has been slow.
The European Commission has reacted by putting forward
a Directive, mandating interoperability:• Directive 2004/52/EC on “interoperability of electronic road toll
systems in the community” adopted in April 2004
• The Directive requires the introduction of a new service: the“European Electronic Toll Service, EETS”• Vision of one on-board unit and one contract for all systems• The Directive prescribes the use of 3 technologies:- satellite localisation- mobile communications according to GSM/GPRS standards- 5.8 GHz microwave DSRC

• Details to be laid down in Commission Decisions
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How to achieve interoperability ?
After 4 years of studying, drafting, and negotiating
Europe still has no “Commission Decision” defining
details of the EETSGPSGSM

DSRC

Commission Decision issued October 2009

- 3 years later: EETS operational for heavy vehicles- 5 years later: EETS operational for all vehicles

GSM

DSRC

GPSLessons learnt:• Interoperability of fee collection systems is indeed avery difficult problem• Several actors have no good business case

DSRCGPSGSM- Toll Chargers receive income in any case
- Only relatively few users are truly “roaming” and benefit- Industry sells only one box instead of several

GPSGSM

DSRC
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What is a good RUC system ?
A good RUC system is …
• acceptable

Where are the risks of failure ?

- understandable- good effects- to all stakeholders• feasible- proven and low risk concept- solution for occasional and foreign users- can be enforced• flexible- regarding future developments and inclusion of other services- market oriented and open for commercialisation- interoperable with other countries

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The 3 most important risks
1. The RUC project looses political support
2. The project is stopped for political reasons
3. Politicians stop the projectAcceptance is the most critical factor
Achieving high acceptance is• difficult to steer and plan
• a non-linear process• timing is critical (“window of opportunity”)• depends on people’s believes rather than facts
33Summary
For a RUC project the risks lie• not in technology, but in the acceptance,
which means that a good RUC system has to- be easy to understand how it works- must make people believe that it has good effects

The difficulty in creating such a good system lies
• not in technology, but in processes,
which means that a good RUC system has to- be easy to use for occasional and foreign users- must make all users pay through good enforcement
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A good RUC system is• acceptable- understandable- good effects- to all stakeholders• feasible- proven and low risk concept- solution for occasional and foreign users- can be enforced• flexible- regarding future developments and inclusion of other services- market oriented and open for commercialisation- interoperable with other countries35• acceptable- understandable- good effects- to all stakeholders• feasible

Bernhard Oehry
Tel.: +41 / 61 / 335 78 46
Fax.: +41 / 61 / 335 77 00
Mail: bernhard.oehry@rapp.ch
Web: www.rapp.ch- proven and low risk concept- solution for occasional and foreign users- can be enforced• flexible- regarding future developments and inclusion of other services- market oriented and open for commercialisation- interoperable with other countries

Congestion pricing is art, not craft !
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