Prague, 3 December 2019 - Since its launch, the new satellite toll system has registered more than 3.5 million vehicle passages on toll roads using the new on-board unit. CzechToll collected more than CZK 40 million in tolls on Monday. Due to the presence of traffic police officers and significantly better driver cooperation than the company had expected, only minor and short-term complications in traffic were reported.
As at midnight yesterday, 322,000 cars were registered in the new toll system, more than 70% of the expected number. Over 223 thousand on-board units were issued. During the first working day, CzechToll issued 9,000 OBUs at border points of sale; activity at inland points of sale was minimal given that 93% of the vehicles had already been registered by domestic hauliers before the start of the system.
The new system collects tolls efficiently, the number of recorded incidents is minimal in relation to the total number of vehicles driving on toll roads. “At the moment of the launch of the new toll system, the Customs Administration deployed all 25 vehicles, which are currently working around the clock. Until this morning, 38 incidents have been detected. Incidents involved missing OBUs (16 cases) or incorrectly set units. One case in which the on-board unit was missing was handed over for administrative proceedings,” said Martina Kaňková, spokesperson of the General Directorate of Customs.
Warnings of the risk of traffic complications at the border points of sales continue to apply. Although no dangerous situation occurred due to the presence of traffic police yesterday or this morning, the longest queue at Lanžhot reached two kilometres, but also in the coming days an increased number of lorries from abroad will need to stop at the registration points.
“Over 130,000 vehicles, which passed the Czech Republic at the turn of 2018 and 2019 and were counted in the statistics of the expected number of registered vehicles, are still not registered. We do not know whether they will pass through the Czech Republic today, this week or in January. But we must be prepared for them to come anytime. This is one of the reasons why we continue to ask drivers to be cautious at border crossings where shorter queues can form occasionally, ”said Miroslav Beneš, the spokesperson of CzechToll.
CzechToll has invested more than CZK 60 million in measures to double the capacity of the border points of sale operating under extraordinary circumstances, which involve about 700 staff. At the borders, CzechToll is ready to register 15,000 drivers per day without a new on-board unit, and another 65,000 drivers per day can register their vehicle inland.
