Ecotaxe Truck Tax in France: VITRONIC to Equip Fixed Enforcement Gantries | 11.01.2012
A state-of-the art lightweight: The latest TollChecker generation from VITRONIC
Wiesbaden. VITRONIC GmbH from Wiesbaden, Germany, will supply key components for all fixed enforcement gantries for the nationwide truck charging system to be implemented on 15,000 km of French roads. The multi-million euro contract is part of the prestigious Ecotaxe project. VITRONIC was selected by French THALES group which is in charge of the enforcement system. This project marks a major milestone for the German tolling and traffic enforcement expert.
Tax for vehicles over 3.5 tons on French national roads
The introduction of a distance-based tax for trucks is the most important traffic project implemented in France for decades. From mid-2013 onwards, all vehicles over 3.5 tons in weight will have to pay a tax on national roads. The fee will be collected by means of an onboard GPS satellite system. VITRONIC has been selected to equip more than 170 fixed gantries with an innovative automatic enforcement solution. The latest generation TollCheckerfreeflow systems will monitor about 1,000 road lanes all across France. The VITRONIC system, based on technology proven for the first time in Germany for truck tolling since 2005, provides fully automatic vehicle detection, classification and identification by license plate in free-flowing traffic.
Superior TollChecker technology ensures maximum benefit for customers
“I am proud that after tolling projects in Germany, Australia and Eastern European countries, we can again contribute to the implementation of a large-scale road user charging project. This proves that we have been on the right track in strengthening the quality, performance and cost efficiency of our technology”, says Dr. Norbert Stein, General Manager of VITRONIC. “The superior technology of the TollChecker systems ensures maximum benefit for customers.” In particular, Dr. Stein mentions the high vehicle identification rates made possible by the use of LIDAR technology, the industry leading license plate reading rates, as well as the implementation of the monitoring with just a single gantry. Developed already since 2001, VITRONIC’s solution is the first single gantry tolling system worldwide.
VITRONIC's direct customer for the “Ecotaxe Project” is THALES COMMUNICATIONS & SECURITY, a company of the French THALES Group that is in charge of the overall enforcement system. THALES COMMUNICATIONS & SECURITY is part of Ecomouv’, the project company controlled by the Italian operator Autostrade per l’Italia, which was awarded the contract for the overall project by the French government. VITRONIC and THALES have been partners for many years in a large variety of projects. “VITRONIC is an important partner for us, and we highly appreciate their reliability and excellence in innovation”, says Patrick Bauchart, Head of the Revenue Collection Systems Domain at THALES.
About the Ecotaxe project
In the “Ecotaxe poids-lourds” project, a distance-based tax for trucks is introduced on selected national and local roads as well as on the free highways of France. The project set up by the French Ministère de l’Écologie, du Développement Durable, des Transports et du Logement (MEDDTL) will be implemented by the project company Ecomouv’; work starts before the end of 2011 and completion is scheduled for mid-2013. On a total of 15,000 km of “Free highways”, “Routes Nationales” and “Routes Départementales” a tax will be charged for all trucks of over 3.5 tons in weight. The tax collection will be enforced by various methods, including mobile, handheld, transportable and stationary checks. Before the tax is introduced on nationwide roads, there will be a test phase in the Alsace region.
About VITRONIC
Since its foundation in 1984, VITRONIC GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, offers machine vision systems in industrial automation, logistics and traffic technology. The product range spans from standard products to individually customized solutions. All products are developed and produced in-house by VITRONIC. VITRONIC's core competence in the field of traffic technology is the enforcement of vehicles in free-flowing traffic. State and local authorities as well as private service providers use VITRONIC products for increased road safety. Tolling system operators use these technologies for automating toll collection and enforcement. The company is the among the world's leading industrial machine vision companies and has a workforce of about 400 in five continents. VITRONIC products are currently in use in 40 countries.
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