RideScout™ CEO Defines the ‘Fully Burdened Cost of Transportation’

In an October 1 blog post on The Huffington Post, Joseph Kopser, RideScout™ CEO and Iraq war veteran connects the dots between the 2.9 billion gallons of fuel that American drivers idle away in congestion each year, the U.S. service members who “were paying for that oil with their blood and lives and tolling.

When he gave the keynote address at IBTTA’s 2014 Summit on All Electronic Tolling, Managed Lanes & Interoperability in July, in San Diego, CA Kopser said nothing had prepared him for the effort it took for U.S. troops to protect Iraqi oil fields, refineries, depots, and pipelines. He picks up the same theme on HuffPo.

“They were escorting fuel conveys through some of the most hostile territory in the country, in what came to be known as one of the most dangerous assignments of the war, full of roadside IEDs,” he writes. “Back in the States, I saw millions of dollars worth of fuel being wasted by inefficient generators and vehicles—the very fuel we were there to protect.”

Those staggering human impacts are part of Kopser’s definition of the “fully burdened cost of transportation.” Arguing that road pricing is “a signal, not a burden,” Kopser says all-electronic tolling “gives you an accurate picture of what it costs to build and maintain a modern, efficient road.” He also reinforced the idea that tolling is about seamless, door-to-door mobility for users of all ages and that gas in a precious commodity not to be wasted.