Hybrid tolling system in Olympia Motorway to operate in 2020

2020 is expected to be the year of operation of the Olympia Odos hybrid tolling system in Greece. This pioneering system will make Olympia Motorway the first motorway to enter into the era of distance-based, “fair” charging in the country.

Much has been written and discussed recently about this system, as well as interoperability.

But what is the “hybrid tolling system”?

Its operation is both “smart” and extremely simple. O-pass users will be charged at each toll station according to the concessionaire’s pricelist per charging zone, as originally envisaged in the motorway charging scheme.

However, users that leave the motorway at an interchange situated before the end of the charging zone will get a refund based on the actual kilometres traveled into their o-pass account.

To that end, the existing system will be equipped with 30 additional “free flow” gantry stations situated at selected entrance and exit points of the motorway that will be able to record the distance-based trip of all o-pass users.
Market sources predict that other motorway concession companies will follow Olympia Motorway’s lead and install similar systems.

The Canadian IBI Group, contractor of the innovative project

Who is implementing this innovative -for Greece at least- system? The implementation of the Olympia Motorway hybrid tolling system has been awarded to the long-standing Canadian company IBI Group and is essentially an extension of the current Olympia Motorway tolling system, which was also installed by IBI Group back in 2017 – as well as the Motorway Traffic Management System.

The country Manager of IBI Group Hellas, Mr. Antulio Richetta commented at ypodomes.com: “We are proud to be the first to deliver this unique project in collaboration with Olympia Motorway, based on the existing electronic tolling system, and introducing a state-of-the-art distance-based pricing model in Greece.

The project is expected to greatly benefit both local communities along Olympia motorway and frequent users of the motorway.”

In this project, IBI is responsible for the turn-key provision of the hybrid system including the overall project management, the design, supply of the tolling software, equipment procurement, installation, integration and configuration, as well as after sales services including software support and maintenance.