Global Tolling & Mobility News – Resilience & Sustainability

Welcome to the Fall 2022 edition of Global Tolling & Mobility News, an updated version of the Global Tolling & Mobility Newsletter that will now appear on the Tolling Points blog. This issue focuses on news from around the world regarding resilience and sustainability. We will also highlight some news on tolling and moving smarter. 

The topics of resilience and sustainability have been particularly pertinent to IBTTA in the last few years. IBTTA’s Director of Policy & Government Affairs, Mark Muriello, wrote in a recent Tolling Points article that, “IBTTA and its members are demonstrating industry leadership, not only in building, operating, and maintaining critical infrastructure and transportation services, but also in how we ensure sustainable and resilient investments and operations. IBTTA recognizes the transportation industry’s history in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and the role we must play in addressing objectives to care for the environment and manage the consequences from years of neglect." 

Global News

Roads to Sustainable Mobility 2021 (A sustainability report prepared by ASFiNAG)
ASFiNAG published its first assessment of its social responsibility in 2005. Annual reporting has been carried out since 2010. This year's report presents objectives and strategies for sustainability management, structure and processes and stakeholders. The report also includes fields or action and key figures on resource conservation, energy and emissions in operation, emissions from transport, noise abatement, and more. 

AISCAT Sustainability Report (2020 Data, 2nd Edition, 2022 prepared by AISCAT) 2022
This second edition of the report provides updated presentations of the motorway network operated under concessions and the relative elements that characterize it—such as construction works, vehicle traffic, service areas. The report also includes a more specific analysis of the sector’s contribution towards economic development and its investments in terms of environment, technological development and innovation applied to road transportation, work safety and the consequent commitments to corporate social responsibility.

ASECAP Sustainability Leaflet (A document prepared by ASECAP)
The ASECAP sustainability initiative aims to illustrate how the European toll motorway sector can bring its contribution to economic development, road safety, environment, and growth, by measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the progress made to reach the targeted commitments. A dedicated task force was created that defined a set of KPIs to show progress in the challenges set out by the Paris agreement on climate change, the EU Green Deal, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Vision Zero for road safety goals. The objective of the report will be to show that Europe's toll road operators respond to the needs of sustainable mobility from a broader perspective by communicating and highlighting both to institutions and the public the positive actions and impacts of the toll motorway sector. The published KPIs will show the economic and social benefits that the sector brings to society. A full detailed report will be published and presented at the ASECAP Days meeting taking place in Brussels on November 24-25, 2022 (www.asecapdays.com).

Toll Roads – Key Figures 2021 (A document prepared by SEOPAN)
This document contains information related to sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in toll roads in Spain. It provides figures and data for network and equipment, including the number of electrical charging stations, water protection systems, and infrastructure dedicated to the protection of fauna. Additional information on the tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, energy from suppliers of renewable energy, recycled waste, and more are included.

2021 ASFiNAG Annual Report
In its annual report, ASFiNAG featured a number of articles that touched upon resilience and sustainability:
•    Green power by using existing noise protection walls (page 26)  
•    Green energy through photovoltaic systems (pages 28-30) 
•    Climate Impact Day: all eyes on climate protection (page 32) 
•    New home for three million bees along the highways (page 35) 
•    Road Safety, the ASFINAG Road Safety Programme 2030 (page 59) 
•    2021 information campaign on motorcycle safety (page 61) 

European Taxonomy Applied to Road Projects (A document prepared by SENER & SEOPAN) 
SENER & SEOPAN produces this technical report with the aim of preparing a practical case on the process that companies must undertake to classify their economic activities related to road projects according to the taxonomy, in accordance with the established regulatory framework by the European Union. The report analyzes the steps that must be carried out to verify if the activity or project is considered taxonomic due to adaptation and mitigation to climate change, delving into eligibility and alignment. Likewise, some practical examples of the taxonomic process and the disclosure of the economic indicators that companies must carry out in their non-financial statements are presented. 

Abertis and UNICEF Renew Their Alliance Focused on Promoting Safer and More Sustainable Mobility Among Children and Young People
Abertis—through its Foundation—and UNICEF have signed a four-year renewal of their international collaboration agreement focused on more sustainable mobility for children and youth. This alliance was forged in 2017 to boost UNICEF's programs in sustainable mobility in Brazil, India and Mexico, and involves a contribution of three million euros. Abertis has been committed to the fight against one of the leading causes of death among schoolchildren: traffic accidents. Therefore, the alliance focuses on alleviating the lack of safe infrastructures in school zones, improving the behavior of drivers and passengers, and promoting safe and sustainable mobility for children in cities, reinforcing available resources, as well as legislation in high-risk countries in relation to road safety, promoting its dissemination and compliance.

Emovis Launches New Multisite Center for Excellence for Image-Reviewing 
Emovis, part of Abertis Mobility services and one of the world’s leading providers of toll-based mobility solutions, has launched a new center of excellence for its cutting-edge image-review services. In a further commitment to providing the highest quality service to its clients and users – everyday drivers across the world – the new center will operate from Emovis’ existing venue locations in Santiago de Chile and San Juan de Puerto Rico. The company has chosen a multisite approach to guarantee service continuity and to maximize resilience to potentially external disruptive factors. 

How Technology is Changing Traffic Management 
From Traffic Technology Today (UK), new technology that uses connected-car data and digital twinning can give a real-time picture of traffic situations. Experts from HERE, Iteris, WSP and Bentley Systems talk about the technology in a webinar.

New Tech Could Lead to EV-Charging Roadways 
ITS International (UK)
Holcim is investing in German concrete start-up Magment, a developer of magnetizable concrete, to expand on their collaborative development of a concrete formulation that could be used to charge electric vehicles and they move on a road. Edelio Bermejo, head of global innovation at Holcim, said the companies "share a common goal: to accelerate our world's transition to Net Zero through innovative and sustainable solutions."

Austria Delays Carbon Pricing as Part of Package for Inflation Relief

Reuters

The Austrian government announced relief measures inflationary price increases, including a delay of carbon pricing from 1 July 2022 to 1 October 2022. The new carbon tax will be €30 per ton of CO and added to consumer bills by companies. The tax is planned to be €55 per ton by 2025, translating to increases in gas and diesel prices by 13 to 15 cents per liter. Twenty-seven other countries have carbon taxes, including the UK, Canada, and Japan, but the U.S. is one of the few industrialized nation holdouts. Some of the Austrian taxes will be returned to residents in the form of a of €100 to €200 per year "climate bonus" depending on where you live, with more returned to rural residents with fewer transit travel alternatives.

IBTTA’s Sustainability and Resilience Task Force

The purpose of the Sustainability and Resilience Task Force is to organize the ideas, resources, and efforts of IBTTA members and others in the transportation industry to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of the transportation network and reverse the effects of climate change. The Task Force has accumulated a number of resources for IBTTA members, including reports and resources. Check out the Task Force’s webpage to learn more and access the latest resources.