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| German tolling gets under way.
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10/12/04 |
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Germany's much troubled and delayed satellite-based distance-based tolling system began operating on 1st January without any apparent difficulties.
Concerns over predicted long delays at border crossings arising out of lower than anticipated sales of the on-board data capture units failed to materialize - probably because of reduced volumes of traffic over the holiday period. Nevertheless senior figures within the Toll Collect consortium must have drawn a collective breath of relief as the expensive delays of the last 17 months - at one stage said to have been running at €39 million a month in lost revenue -drew to a close. Early reports indicate no problems and a well prepared trucking industry.
"All parts of the system are working flawlessly," said Felix Stenschke, a spokesman for the ministry of transportation. "At the moment there is still only little traffic on German highways but nevertheless we are completely satisfied."
The German government expects about €2.5 billion (US$3.35 billion) in truck toll revenues each year. In addition, it is currently seeking billions of Euros in compensation from Toll Collect for 16 months of lost revenues in addition to the daily fine that the consortium has been obliged to meet since November 2003.
A number of worries continue to exist particularly over the quantity of OBU (on-board units) supplied and the effect this will have once the country returns to normal work patterns after the New Year. On top of this, rumours over the reliability of the software resulting in the occasional display of erroneous messages were, in the latter part of last year, doing nothing to steady the German government's (or Toll Collect's) nerves.
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| Further information, visit: www.bundesregierung.de/ |
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