Kapsch TrafficCom, together with two of Europe’s biggest truck tolling service providers, Tolltickets and Axxès, is launching a brand-new onboard unit (OBU) that is certified for the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS).
To help accelerate the move toward interoperable truck toll collection across Europe, Kapsch and Axxès have been working closely on designing and supporting EETS systems. French company Axxès currently acts as an EETS provider with over 39,000 client companies, serving a fleet of 200,000 trucks that are equipped with a satellite tolling system by Kapsch.
Rosenheim-based Tolltickets, which became a Kapsch Group company in 2017, provides customers throughout Europe with truck-tolling services and systems, including vignettes and onboard units, as well as transaction handling and online authorization services for fleet card companies.
Axxès is one of the most dynamic players in the interoperable heavy-vehicle toll market, offering freight and passenger transporters an intelligent, reliable toll collection system for paying European tolls using a single OBU and a single subscription.
Axxès and Kapsch have decided to make use of their long-lasting cooperation by working jointly on the development of new EETS-compatible systems and services. Both companies are willing to address the new toll domains opened to the EETS market in the near future, starting with Germany and Italy. EETS will facilitate daily operations for road users, improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.
Currently, in the various EU member states, road users pay tolls to the respective local toll chargers, which obliges an internationally operating truck to equip and register with an OBU in each country it enters.
In the future, only one contract with an EETS provider and a single OBU will be needed, with the interoperable system complementary to the national electronic toll services of all the member states. Kapsch’s new EETS-OBU uses leading-edge technology, offering improved usability, a smaller size, and larger capacity for value-added services.
“Due to a variety of ITS-services and technical features, such as Bluetooth connectivity, the EETS-OBU provides additional value for drivers and transportation companies in their daily business,” noted André Laux, chief operating officer at Kapsch TrafficCom.
Peter Selmayr, general Manager at Tolltickets, added, “The new OBU can be used on the entire EETS-capable toll road network in Europe, even in Italy which uses a different communication technology.”
