This article looks at new proposals arising from the ARENA project for reducing spending on lorry road user charging enforcement infrastructure in Sweden. A case has been suggested for "more intelligence, less hardware", based on ensuring that the incidence of violations stays below two per cent. Communication with on-board units could be restricted to border crossings, with other enforcement carried out in spot checks by cameras or roadside monitoring. If an increase in violations was found, a higher level of enforcement would be deployed, cutting enforcement costs considerably. A market would develop where the toll authority would contract to parallel service providers: end users could contract with the service provider that best fitted their needs. Interoperability is approached through two models; one for DSRC short-range systems and the other for those using GNSS satellite communication. A separation between toll authority and service provider is envisaged, to encourage competition and interoperability: it is not seen as necessary to harmonise technologies and procedures. The proposed European Electronic Toll Service would emerge as a market-driven solution.
Abstract