Toll revenue increases by half a billion crowns: Kapsch TrafficCom toll system brings 17 percent revenue growth for the Czech Republic
The toll revenues in the Czech Republic are increasing continuously. In the first six months of this year, the toll system of Kapsch TrafficCom AG collected 3.1 billion Czech crowns (CZK) (roughly 137 million euros) in toll fees. This represents an increase in toll revenue of roughly 17 percent achieved by the Czech Republic’s perfectly functioning toll system built by Kapsch TrafficCom.
The Czech toll operator RSD recently released the current figures on the Czech toll system for the first half of 2008. In the first six months of the year, RDS already took in half a billion CZK (roughly 22 million euros) more than during the same period of the previous year – in other words, an increase of 17 percent. Overall, the Czech toll system has brought in revenue amounting to 8.7 billion CZK (roughly 385 million euros) during the first one-and-a-half years of operation (since January 1st, 2007). The strongest month to date was April 2008 with roughly 560 million crowns (about 25 million euros).
“Increasing revenue from the truck toll allows the Czech Republic to focus more strongly on maintenance and expansion of the road infrastructure. The Czech Republic profits in this way from its increasing significance as a transit country,” explains Erwin Toplak, Member of the Management Board of Kapsch TrafficCom AG. “In addition, the Kapsch toll system makes it possible to actively intervene in long-term traffic developments and supplies accurate and up-to-date transit volume data.“
Main roads already supplying five percent of the revenue
In a breakdown of the various road categories, three-fourths of the toll revenue is earned on Czech motorways. With a share of 36 percent of the total revenue, the D1 is the most financially significant route. This is followed by the D5 with 19 percent and the D8 with eight percent. The 200 km of main roads added to the toll network in January 2008 contribute five percent of the total toll revenue.
Tolls are currently collected on 1,000 km of motorways and major roads within the Czech Republic, with an additional 200 km of main roads added as of January 2008. The tolls apply to vehicles exceeding 12 t. These vehicles pay an average of 4.05 CZK/km (€ 0.16). The Czech Ministry of Transportation plans to expand the collection of tolls to include vehicles over 3.5 t as of January 2009. Over 325,000 on-board units are currently active within the Czech toll system, and 400,000 registered trucks are expected by the end of the year.
Kapsch TrafficCom is an international supplier of innovative road traffic telematics solutions. Its principle business is the development and supply of electronic toll collection (ETC) systems, in particular for the multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) of the traffic, and the technical and commercial operation of such systems. Kapsch TrafficCom also supplies traffic management systems, with a focus on road safety and traffic control, and electronic access systems and parking management. With more than 140 reference projects in 30 countries in Europe, Australia, Latin America, in the Asian/Pacific region and in South Africa, and with almost 12 million on-board units (OBUs) and nearly 11,000 equipped lanes, Kapsch TrafficCom has positioned itself among the leading suppliers of ETC systems worldwide. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 20 countries.
