News
New road user charging system piloted in Norway – with Q-Free as technology provider
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is piloting a new concept for Road User Charging, aiming to make the use of roads even more secure, fair, and user-friendly. Q-Free is proud provider of the technology.
“We have pioneered tolling since 1984 and have always been at the forefront of trends and needs. It´s very exciting to now test our new concept “GeoFlow” at a large scale together with progressive partners such as Norwegian Public Road Administration and SINTEF”, says Senior Development Engineer in Q-Free, Ola Martin Lykkja.
While todays tolling systems are based on passages through fixed tolling points on the road network, GeoFlow has a distance and fuel differentiated road user charging scheme: With the help of an on-board-unit and an app, the driver gets instant information about the cost of the driving and can as plan journeys ahead and use parameters such as hour and zone to get an overview of the pricing of the different alternatives. A dynamic pricing system with higher costs in rush hours and urban zones for example, can help to regulate traffic, further reduce congestion and shape even more environmental, economic and socially sustainable driving patterns.
After several smaller pilots, the project group is now eager to test at a larger scale and seek 200 drivers who are motivated to test the system.
“For a solution to thrive in a complex environment, diverse feedback is important, and we hope people from various backgrounds wants to participate and give their valuable feedback”, says Lykkja. “The only requirements we have for participation is that you have a driver’s license, drive a fossil fueled or hybrid car, and frequently moves within the urban zones of Trondheim, Norway. Good to know is that GeoFlow is designed for privacy, personal information never leaves the vehicle and thus keep your driving history private.”
If you are interessted in participating in the pilot, sign up here (form in Norwegian), or mail its-pilot@vegvesen.no for more information. You can also learn more by checking out this clip from the daily news in Norway or watch our GeoFlow concept video.
The pilot is a collaborative project between SINTEF, Q-Free, The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, and The Research Council of Norway.