With a few weeks to go until City Transport & Road Pricing Europe conference 2021, CiTTi meets speaker Matej Kranjc, project director of DARS, who will discuss the introduction of the E-Vignette in Slovenia.
Taking place on 11-12 May 2021 via virtual conferencing platform Swapcard, City Transport & Road Pricing Europe 2021 will explore the latest developments and technologies shaping urban transportation via four key content themes: road pricing and tolling; emissions and sustainability; congestion and traffic management; and transportation infrastructure.
This two-day online event will see over 20 expert speakers highlight the latest road pricing and tolling projects, discuss intelligent transport infrastructures and present urban mobility schemes being implemented in major towns and cities across Europe, from Ljubljana and Oslo to Brussels and Lahti.
Name: Matej Kranjc
Job Role: Project Director
Organisation: DARS
What is the best thing about your job?
A sense that I am contributing to the success of projects that are crucial to the company in which I work and that I can make good use of all my knowledge and experience I have gained.
What is the biggest challenge facing those with responsibility for tolling and road pricing in 2021?
Balancing promotion of the use of zero-emission vehicles with fair tolling. An electric vehicle occupies the road and causes congestion in the same way as a petrol vehicle. Furthermore, due to the Covid-19 crisis, changes in traffic flows due changing business models and a decline in tourist traffic will affect toll revenues.
What’s your best piece of advice for those looking to implement road pricing or tolling solutions?
You need to understand users well and be prepared for surprises at the same time. Carefully consider the technology you will use, consider all business processes from toll collection, sales networks, billing and enforcement. Enforcement is key to financial efficiency.
Does legislation help or hinder development in the sector?
Both. For example, EU directives are guidance for future development. On the other hand, the GDPR is necessary but an obstacle for data collection and big data analysis.
How will the business of road-user charging have changed by 2030?
The collection of toll data will be strongly influenced by systems pre-installed in vehicles, which will also be able to report the status of vehicle emissions. A significant proportion of toll data collection will be based on ANPR. Enforcement data processing will be at a higher level due to advanced artificial intelligence algorithms and real-time data exchange between countries and stakeholders. Modern technologies, such as blockchain, will be introduced to exchange data between stakeholders in the toll process. New means of payment will be introduced. Furthermore, toll chargers will have to adapt to new business models, flexible tolling models and new services such as mobility-as-a-service and multimodality.
Why are you looking forward to speaking at City Transport & Road Pricing Europe 2021?
This is a good opportunity to exchange ideas and meet people from the industry.
At the conference you’ll also be able to hear from Continental, Transport & Environment, Greenplan, the cities of Stuttgart and Oslo, the European Green Capital 2021 project… and more! You can view the full agenda here. All times are shown in CET (GMT+1). All sessions will be available after the conference on-demand.
For partnership enquiries, please contact Robert Gouge at robert.gouge@akabomedia.co.uk or by calling +44 (0) 20 8065 0465. For speaking opportunities, please contact Claudia Davidson at claudia.davidson@akabomedia.co.uk or by calling +44 (0) 20 8037 1777.
Meet some of the other speakers at City Transport & Road Pricing Conference Europe 2021…
