MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT IN POLAND AND WORLD BANK

WORKSHOP ON ROAD USER CHARGING SYSTEMS

Warsaw , Poland , June 11-12, 2007, World Bank Regional Office

1.         The Road User Charging (RUC) Systems Workshop, held in Warsaw on June 11-12, 2007, was jointly organized by the Polish Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the World Bank (WB).   The workshop’s main objective was to share experience in the design and implementation of modern road charging systems and make this experience available to Poland, as well as other countries that are considering introducing new road user charging systems.

2.         The speakers were asked to present the existing road charging system in the country they represented, as well as the development plans regarding the prospective European interoperability of electronic fee collection systems. Private sector representatives discussed the state of the art in technology and possible future improvements. All speakers were encouraged to use the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of different solutions, which served as a basis for discussions during the workshop.

3.         As indicated in the attached Workshop Agenda, topics addressed in the workshop included an overview of road user charging systems; the current situation of charging users in Poland (e.g., tolls for passenger cars and vignette for heavy vehicles) and plans for the future; the heavy vehicle fees of Germany (satellite based), Austria and Switzerland; the London and Stockholm cordon charge systems; the Norwegian toll ring system; charging systems in France, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Netherlands and United Kingdom; road financing in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and EC requirements for interoperability of different charging systems.

4.         Participation in the workshop, with an attendance of about 70, was on an invitation basis. The prospective participants were formally invited through a joint letter from Mr. Jerzy Polaczek, Minister of Transport, Poland, and Mr. Edgar Saravia, Country Manager, WB.

5.         The workshop gave an opportunity for transportation and other professionals, both from government and the private sector, to exchange best practices, share innovations, explore lessons learned, and discuss research results. The participants included representatives from the Polish Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways, Polytechnic University of Warsaw, World Bank, Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), European Investment Bank (EIB), representatives from more than 10 countries, service providers, technology specialists, consultants and contractors.

6.         According to a senior MOT representative, the workshop provided Poland with a great opportunity to listen to relevant experience of other countries. Such experience will help MOT to decide on the best course of action to upgrade the Polish road user charging system. During the workshop, agreement was reached between MOT and representatives from Hungary and Slovenia on a visit by MOT staff to these two countries for Poland to learn more, in the field, about the results of their experience in implementing charging systems.

Workshop Agenda

List of Participants

Session 1: Road user charging system in Poland
Mr. Jaroslaw Waszkiewicz, Director, Department for the Governmental Program of Roads and Motorways Construction, Ministry of Transport (MOT)

Session 2: Panel discussion on road user charging system in Poland
Mr. Massimo dEufemia, (EIB)

Session 3: Road charging systems in other countries - SWOT analysis, current systems and proposed upgrading

An Overview of Road User Charging Systems, Mr. Cesar Queiroz, WB

Mr. David Kollenhofer, ASFINAG, Austria

Mr. Alain Fayard, Senior Advisor, and Mr. Francesco Gaeta, French Road Administration

Mr. Joerg Konrad and Mr. Mikulas Weiss, Kapsch TrafficCom AG

Mr. Alexander Fuerdoes, Dornier Consulting

Mr. Steve Morello, EGIS Projects
Mr. Magnus Raners and Mr. Martin Mileros, Flextoll

Mr. Norbert Schindler, Siemens

Mr. Galliano Di Marco, Autostrade Spa
Mr. Zoltan Pap, Mr. Tony Stratfold, Mr. George Jamieson, Intertoll- Europe ZRt

Ms. Patricia Wrzesniewska, Satellic, Germany

Mr. Rafal Szwedowski, Halcrow Group, Poland

Session 4: Road charging systems – proposed and in operation

Mr. Ladislav Prah, Managing Director of Slovenian Motorway Company (DARS)

Mr. Árpád G. Siposs, Toll Strategy Manager, Hungarian Road Administration

Mr. Max Herrry, Herry Consult, Austria (presentation on Bulgarian system)

Mr. Donatas Dudonis, Deputy General Director, and Mr. Dainius Miskinis, Head of Economic Division, Lithuanian Road Administration

Mr. Vilnis Millers, Head of Financial Administration Department, Latvian State Roads

Ms. Ylle Karjane, Head of the Development, Department of the Estonian Road Administration

Session 5: Road pricing systems to combat congestion

Mr. Ian Drummond, Divisional Manager, Road Pricing Framework Division, and Mr. Neil Schofield, Head, European Tolling and Charging, Road Pricing Framework Division, Department for Transport, Great Britain

Mr. Christer Rydmell, Service Development Manager, Swedish Road Administration, and Ms. Karin Brundell – Freil from WSP Group Strategy and Analysis

Mr. Jan Vis, Senior Advisor, Traffic Systems Development, and Mr. Ronald Keus, Senior Policy Advisor, Road Transport Unit, Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, The Netherlands

Mr. Kristian Warsted, Roads and Traffic Department, Norwegian Public Roads Administration

Professor W. Suchorzewski, WUT

Session 6:  Interoperability and EETS

Mr. Jan W. Tierolf, Chairman of the Stockholm Group