Qld gets new 'free-flow' tolling system

Peter Dinham
Friday, 20 November 2009 05:34

IT Industry - Deals

Thales Australia has partnered with Queensland Motorways to develop and implement Queensland’s first free-flow tolling system on the Logan Motorway, Gateway Extension and Gateway Bridge, which is now just over four months into operation after the contract was awarded to Thales in February last year.

The vice president of Thales’s transport business in Australia, Pierre Maciejowksi, said that with 14 free-flow tolling gantries and associated roadside equipment operational, including one test gantry, Queensland now has an “innovative free-flow solution comprising a dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) multilane communication and high performance transactional system, offering the capacity, accuracy and adaptability to meet current and future transport needs.”

According to Maciejowksi, “the success of the free-flow tolling system for Queensland Motorways confirms Thales’s proven position as an international leader in the design, development and delivery of Intelligent Transport Systems, with a focus on Queensland and Australia.”

Maciejowksi said safety on the road has improved with motorists no longer queuing and weaving at toll points, and since free-flow tolling commenced in July this year, the incident rate on the Logan Motorway and Gateway Bridge has fallen by as much as 80 per cent.

“The closure and removal of toll booths has also resulted in improved traffic flow and travel time reliability, as well as reduced traffic congestion. Tolls are now calculated and billed electronically as the vehicles pass under the overhead toll gantry, regardless of which lane they are travelling in.”

Maciejowski also said that the system leverages “innovative technologies”, system design and testing, systems integration, implementation, civil works and operational capabilities, and in partnership with Thales’s strategic roadside technology partner, Vitronic “Thales complements this system with superior enforcement and classification capability, integrating advanced video-analysis and vehicle classification solutions.”

According to Maciejowski, Thales’s single gantry design is “unique” in the market, and “lowers the cost of erecting civil works, lessens the aesthetic impact in the deployment environment, while still delivering full tolling capabilities.”

He said the operational system is capable of processing more than 5,000,000 passages per day at 300 locations covering 1000 lanes of motorways.

Queensland Motorways CEO, Phil Mumford, said the introduction of free-flow tolling had improved traffic congestion on the Gateway and Logan motorways, “with motorists now travelling at full speed through the toll points.”

Mumford said that “by eliminating the need for drivers to stop to pay tolls, it immediately increases the average speed of traffic flow and improves safety. Motorists are now enjoying the full benefits of freeflow tolling, two years earlier than first planned.”