Common European road toll service

The common European road toll service shall become real in three years and shall make paying road toll easier in the whole European Union. Electronic toll systems for vehicles were already introduced by several European countries in the early 1990ies. In general the various national systems, which use car-borne equipment to transmit vehicle data to road operators, are not interoperable. Apart from much administration and loss of time theses national systems also cause high costs for the international freight traffic. The recent decision of the EU-Commission now outlines basic technical specifications and requirements for the common European road toll service. Furthermore rights and duties of the toll-levying authorities have been defined. The aim of the EETS (European Electronic Toll Service) is that only one single on-board-unit must be installed in the vehicle and the administrative service is provided by only one service operator. This shall lead to fewer cash payments at tollgates, avoids traffic jams and thus speeds traffic. Within three years EETS will be available for all vehicles of more than 3,5t and for vehicles for transporting more than nine passengers (including driver). Within five years the service will be available for all other vehicles.