Slovakia - electronic road toll from 1st Jan 2010!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EURO DRIVING FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Right, what creeped along slowly and showed many sings of incompetence and numerous flaws is “all of a sudden” getting very real!
They have been working on this for many years (the system should be up and running in 2008); the govt successively rejected multiple proposals (companies behind them) before selecting a “winner”. Series of objections, appeals, lawsuits and other mess followed - only to “confirm” that everything had been kosher. The Ministry signed the contract with the winner (Santoll-Ibertax consortium, courtesy of French Sanef) early this year. The winner set up new company/brand, SkyToll, secured the finances and started to built the system up. Even the gantries are now appearing over the country and it really seems they are going to meet the target date of the 1st Jan 2010!
At the moment there is no “one stop shop” for complex info, so I put together basic bits from various sources (should anybody need it).

Who needs to pay (this way):

  • goods vehicles above 3.5t, buses with 9+ seats
    Others will stay with stickers.

What do you have to pay for?
The same things you’ve paid for so far.
Namely:
All motorways (some 320km) (except for Bratislava “ring road”:

  • D1 (E75/E50) from Bratislava - Zlate Piesky (jct. with road #61) to Povazska Bystrica (end of motorway), then Vrtizer (north of P. Bystrica) - Zilina, Ivachnova (E of Ruzomberok) to Mengusovce (W of Poprad), Branisko tunnel + the the short stretches of the motorway either end of it and finally Presov - Kosice,
  • D2 (E65) from CZ border to Bratislava-Lamac and then from Bratislava-Dvory to H border,
  • D3 (E58) from A border to jct with D2 (Jarovce),
  • as new stretches of motorways are built they will be added to the list,
  • half-profile motorways are toll-free (Poprad bypass at the moment for example, but not Branisko tunnel),

dual carriageways (some 90km):

  • R1 (E571, E77) - jct with D1 at Trnava to Nitra, Hronsky Benadik - Zarnovica, Sasovske Podhradie (E of Ziar n.H.) - Zvolen - Banska Bystrica,
  • R2 (E571) - Tornala and Ozdany bypasses,
  • R6 Puchov motorway feeder,

major through roads (some 330km):

  • stretches of roads 2, 61, 18, 68, 69 running in parallel with tolled motorways (that’s clever, isn’t it),
  • road 59 (E77) Banska Bystrica - Ruzomberok (via Donovaly mountain pass),
  • road 63 (E575) Bratislava - Dunajska Streda - Komarno,
  • short bits of roads 73 (E371) and 50 (E50) between PL (UA border resp.) and lower end of the first village (Vysny Komarnik resp. Vysne Nemecke) - I cannot see a point in these two…

How will it work?
Just as elsewhere, you’ll need a box on your dash that talks to the toll system. (You used to have windscreen full of stickers, now you’ll have dash full of toll boxes - less space for ■■■ boxes and teddy bears. And your feet!)
You can top the box up with some credit that gets spent as you go along or alternatively you can register with the toll co., setup an account and pay monthly invoices.
For the box you’ll have to pay €50 deposit. BUT, as I’ve read the newest byelaw, there’s a mention of not only the deposit, but also of an “usage fee” for the box! So there seems to be a space for some fully legal extra charges! :imp: I eagerly await explantion of this. :imp:

The box can be obtained from http://www.cesmad.sk, not sure if via web yet, but certainly at either of their 8 offices around Slovakia; later also at 13 border crossings (don’t know them exactly yet). Apparently, you can apply for the box even now to avoid the rush at the year end.

There should be a new website for complex info up and running on 19.10.2009 - emyto.sk

Month stickers should be available right until 2.12.2009, week stickers until 25.12.2009 and day sticker until 30.12.2009.

How much will it cost?
They say the charges vary between €0.063 to €0.209 per km based upon weight, axle count, emission cat… 19% VAT may apply ( I think it will). Summary price table is not available yet.

As soon as I know something new I’ll let you know.

2

Thanks for that HomerFaber. As you so rightly say, we’ll soon have a windscreen full of electronic boxes, rather than stickers. So much for the German Toll Collect boxes being adopted elsewhere in Europe!

3

the germans built the system exactly for expansion, as it can be used in
more than one country and you need only then one Box, unless it is designated
otherwise.

4

brit pete:
the germans built the system exactly for expansion, as it can be used in
more than one country and you need only then one Box, unless it is designated
otherwise.

Are there any other countries using the German system yet Pete?

Here is a country, setting up a brand new system.
They seems to be going for yet another independent system.

5

gb1:
Thanks for that HomerFaber. As you so rightly say, we’ll soon have a windscreen full of electronic boxes, rather than stickers. So much for the German Toll Collect boxes being adopted elsewhere in Europe!

Vosa will be pleased to see that then :laughing: :laughing:

6

Vascoingles:
Vosa will be pleased to see that then :laughing: :laughing:

Thats the problem. At the moment, i’ve got German.French/Spanish,Czech,and Austrian, and the instructions all say to put the box centre/bottom of the windscreen. Obviously they won’t all go in the same place, so they’re spreading across the screen. How long before their positioning prevents them from being scanned? And how long before they encroach on the swept area of the screen?
The Toll Collect box was supposedly designed to be used by other countries, but none have taken it on. Too expensive? The systems used by other countries seem much simpler.

7

gb1:

Vascoingles:
Vosa will be pleased to see that then :laughing: :laughing:

Thats the problem. At the moment, i’ve got German.French/Spanish,Czech,and Austrian, and the instructions all say to put the box centre/bottom of the windscreen. Obviously they won’t all go in the same place, so they’re spreading across the screen. How long before their positioning prevents them from being scanned? And how long before they encroach on the swept area of the screen?
The Toll Collect box was supposedly designed to be used by other countries, but none have taken it on. Too expensive? The systems used by other countries seem much simpler.

At least you don’t have a Dart Tag or a Telepass too :sunglasses: :smiley: .

8

I am far from an expert in this field so I had to do some extra reading (and correct the message above afterwards).

Intro to electronic toll systems :slight_smile:

There are DSRC systems (dedicated short range communication) where the on-board units communicate to stationary gantries at toll plazas or positioned along the motorways using infrared, radio or micro-waves. Examples incl. Italian Telepass, Dartfrod tag, M6 toll tag, portuguese Via Verde and many others incl. Austrain Go-Box and Czech Premid box.
The A and the CZ systems are both microwave with the same frequency and from the same company but (made?) uncompatible…

Then there are “GPS/GSM-based” systems, i.e. the unit receives position signals from satellites (GPS) and communicates with on-ground toll system via mobile communication network (GSM). In addition, there’s an infrared port on the box that can talk to control gantries. The gantries are only supplementary to the system and mainly for checks (they also contain cameras). This is the German TollCollect and will be the new Slovak system. Poland will probably take it too (soon).
(It seems the Japanese had such a system before the Germans but I don’t like those “we were first” arguments).
The OBUs are said to be compatible but the system is set to ignore signals from “strangers” (units from abroad/different company).

These units should also be compatible with the future EU-wide toll system (that will be GPS-GSM based too). (What will happen to the CZ and A systems?)
When that happens God knows, but it won’t be until Siemens et al. make enough money from selling 5 OBUs per vehicle.

Now, the OBUs for the GPS-GSM system are lot more expensive than those for the DSRC systems as they contain GPS receiver, mobile phone (of sorts) and a short range transpoder. But, the GPS-GSM systems needs only few roadside gantries to be built and fewer people to run and maintain it. So the initial cost of the “German” way is higher but in long term you’re better off with it.
As the EU-wide toll system will be the GPS-GSM one, manufacturers of the other one are rather keen to sell the product where they can. Add to that the fact the governments are not keen to say " we spent this much on this system that will you charge you" and it’s nearly clear why DSRC systems are more spread. (they also had the time to spread around, being it simpler technology available earlier).

If it is of an interest to you than know that while it was French Santoll-Ibertax who won the SK contract, the system will actually be supplied by Norwegian Q-free and the OBUs are from Siemens. (You’ve got to milk the treasury when you can, haven’t you)
(BTW, Skytoll’s tech manager for the project is an Englishman)

End.

9

HomoFaber:
I am far from an expert in this field so I had to do some extra reading (and correct the message above afterwards).

Intro to electronic toll systems :slight_smile:

End.
(No point in reproducing the whole post)

Cheers mate, that was enlightening :open_mouth: :sunglasses: .

I wouldn’t have done it myself, so thanks for taking the time to research and post it. :smiley:

10

Right, so the emyto.sk page is now up and running - not quite as exhaustive as I expected and only in Slovak.

At least the rates were published:
emyto.sk/pages/page201.htm?

First table is for motorways and motor roads, second for cat. 1 roads.
“nakladne vozidla” = goods vehicles, “autobusy” = buses, “napravy” = axles,

Not what I wanted to see, it’s more expensive than in Germany! :imp: let alone CZ…
the differences between emission classes are not pronounced… euro5 is not really cheaper than euro3…
another cockup imho

I emailed them VAT and page version in another language, will see…

11

right, big update today - bad news unfortunately.

  1. 19% vat applies to the toll
  2. it is not only the motorways, motorroads and SOME cat.1roads as I mentioned earlier. It’s nearly every cat.1 road, with only short stretches in towns excluded.
    See map here: emyto.sk/docs//docs/SKYTOLL_ … nda_A3.pdf

Apparently the law defining the toll roads was passed nearly 2yrs ago, but as nobody gave s…t back then as nobody believed it would ever happen… sickening wakeup call now…

sample prices (assuming euro3 truck >12t, 5axles or more):
CZ border at Lanzhot through Bratislava to H border at Rajka: €17.90 (m-way all the way),
A or H border at Bratislava to Zilina and PL border at Trstena €29.40, continuing eastwards to Kosice €44.90, to UA border at Vysne Nemecke €62,
H border at Sahy through Banska Bystrica to Pl border at Trstena €24,
H border at Milhost through Kosice and Presov to PL border at Vysny Komarnik €14.40,
Cz border at Drietoma through Trencin, Zilina to Kosice €30, to UA border €42.40.

Euro4 and better trucks are cheaper by massive 2%

No sign of English version of the emyto.sk webpage so far; I’ll try to put as much info as I have on the page of mine soon.

12

some good news for change :slight_smile:

  1. there won’t be any “usage fee” for the OBUs, only the deposit. Skytoll argued that usage fee was to encourage users to return the box after use so that fewer are needed and kept in use. The OBUs cost ~300euro each and users only pay 50e deposit.
  2. during the year ticket machines should be installed on fuel stations and borders to allow you to pay the toll and use roads without the OBU,
  3. english version of www.emyto.sk has been launched
13

Don’t forget about this if you get there.
And expect some trouble especially in early days of the new year: they expected some 60thousand vehicles would be registered by the year end, but it’s only about half way there.
There are now many points where you can have this sorted, incl all major border crossings. The offices on border crossings should be open 24/7 until mid Jan. Afterwards only 6-22 :confused: There are also numerous fuel stations where you can get the box, these are open nonstop or some long hours.
However, when you want to have it on contract (post-pay) you’ll need to pay a visit to a “contact point” rather than “distribution point” (check www.emyto.sk for list of all).
What you’ll need: passport or ID, vehicle’s registration documents, trade licence / operator licence or business register extract, bank details, power of attorney, €1 unit usage fee, €50 deposit. Min topup €50.
If you opt for post pay you’ll need bank guarantee (or cash) of €600 and the OBU will have to be fitted permanently for - hold tight - €160 and it’ll be paid to (are you still holding?) hauliers’ association Cesmad SK

14

I’ve put a link to the English version of Emyto’s site in the Euro Drivers Info Point.
Thanks :slight_smile: .

15

do you think this is a way for the slovakian government to recover some of the income they are losing because most slovak trucks are working between spain/portugal and the uk :wink:

16

welshboyinspain:
do you think this is a way for the slovakian government to recover some of the income they are losing because most slovak trucks are working between spain/portugal and the uk :wink:

SK govt doesn’t care about any losses to the treasury, they only care about income to the pockets of their own. You see, when comes to big business in SK it doesn’t matter how good/bad something is, or even how much is it but rather who’s behind it. If “the right people” meet, everything is possible. In this case (the toll) I am not that naive to believe that this system was selected because it suits local conditions the best neither that this company came with best price and service. (well, in fact they came with the highest price). No, those in charge selected this company because with it (the people in it) them, their friends and relatives etc could pocket the most in provisions, bribes and other incentives as well as secure some overpriced jobs for their private companies.

As of the SK hauliers doing work elsewhere - there are many that are just outflagged foreign fleets, I am not sure you can call these SK hauliers. As well as there are some true SK hauleirs working EU-wide. It is one of not many jobs that provides reasonable income/profit. At home they have to face strong competiton from PL, H, BG and other companies - given the fuel in SK is more expensive than in any other neighbouring country, now the toll is going to be more expensive than the one in D, there’s vehicle excise duty which was previously called road tax that does not exist in PL for example, phone bills more expensive than in A, insurance more expensive than in CZ, there is the euro which si the currency in SK, true hard and stable euro compared to weak and cheap zloty, koruna or forint, there are those human relationships - you have to know somebody to get work, you cann’t sub out work as they will nick from you, there’re rogue TMs and fwd’ers that you need to “encourage” etc etc etc - this all is met “in the west” in a smaller scale and the rates offered are a bit better…

17

and there’s me thinking that all the corruption you speak of was supposed to disappear before they joined europe :open_mouth:
i’m not having a go about SK trucks simply stating that if steeltrans base lots of their trucks in spain portugal and the uk as they do then the SK government won’t be getting any revenue from them

18

I agree with what you said welshboy, just tried to explained that SK govt officials don’t see/think that far.
Re corruption: change of system is not enough to change people’s mind
And I’ll tell you one more thing: the EU does not sweep corruption away - it only takes it to another level and calls it lobby :slight_smile:

19

And the farce continues… After first day of its operation (1.1. is holiday in SK) it’s clear the toll system is a mess.

At CZ-SK border at Svrcinovec the queue of lorries is now ~6km long - in two lanes (it was ~10km at night); some drivers have spent there 20hrs. Too many applicants for two ladies (giving out the OBUs). Many drivers left their trucks at roadside and took taxis to Zilina to sort the things out quicker.

Delay at HU-SK border at Rajka is about 4hrs (same reason - lack of staff)

Emyto office at the UA-SK border at Vysne Nemecke is a small hut so drivers queue outside for 2hrs (it’s only -5degC thanksgod). The hut does not accept card payments at all so guys help one another with cash. It’s still Christmas time in UA, the things are likely to get worse next week.

Problems with fuel card payments are reported from many places.

The OBU is fairly big…well, about as big as the German one but about 3x bigger than Czech one. It doesn’t have batteries so has to be plugged to cig lighter all the time - so you cann’t charge your phone, sat nav or light a ■■■ while driving in SK :exclamation:
Some drivers/companies (mainly bus operators) tried to work out how much they paid where to adjust fares appropriately - this proved to be impossible with pre-pay. :exclamation:
But the major blow is - the toll is not paid by km driven as was expected and said but by sections of tolled roads. I.e. once you’ve entered toll road you’ve paid the toll for one section of it, say 10km, although you may only drive on it for 2km and then turn onto minor toll free road. Worse still, if you’re delivering to a point on that section and then going back you’re be registered twice and charged twice too (so you’ll pay for 20km while driving only 4) :exclamation:

The unhappy hauliers founded new union/association and are organizing some small local protests and petitions. But I cann’t see the officials changing their minds or toll rates…
Another hauliers’ association was long overdue as it is often not clear on which side the current one (Cesmad SK) stands. So will see what the new one does for its members (though I remain pesimistic)

20

Avoid Slovakia these days if you can!
You’ll avoid a frustrating, annoying and humiliating experience.

The troubles with electronic toll are just not getting better. There’s a queue at every border crossing, the biggest one at Svrcinovec (CZ-SK), some 200 trucks in it, second comes perhaps Rajka (HU-SK).
To ease the congestions yesterday’s holiday driving ban was lifted, but hardly any improvement was seen. (although it saved Peugeot-Citroen plant from stopping production due to parts shortage).
The whole process of getting the OBU takes 4hrs and more - most of it is waiting in queue, paperwork and activation takes about 30min. At some places the drivers wait outside while temperatures drop to -10.
Fuel cards are not accepted at all and at most places it’s cash only. The forms are in Slovak only. No tables to write on. OBUs not working and stopping working along the way. etc etc etc

Some Turks reportedly just waved their hands when they saw the queue and went on without the toll box - stopped few kms further down the road and fined 1665e each.

Best summarized by one angry yugo on TV footage: “…100 euro, flashing like discotheque, not working. slam it to ground? no, kalashnikov… shoot them all…”

Newly formed operators’ association UNAS demands discussion with transport minister and threatens with “actions”.

Some hauliers got fed up and about 30 lorries blocked one of major through roads in Bratislava, this morning. The police really helped: withheld driving licences to all those 30 drivers - so there’s no one now to move the blocking vehicles away…

…and SkyToll keeps boasting that they collected 250,800 euro on the first day of operations, everything is working, some minor problems, minister on skiing holiday… the police sends explosives to ireland… good start for an annus horribilis for this little absurdistan…