(Ferrovial) Shadow Tolls

This type of toll enables users to make the most of a toll highway, almost without realizing. In this type of concession the government administration pays the concessionaire directly, depending on the volume of traffic and other operating parameters, such as level of service, times of heavy traffic or availability of lanes.

The information on real traffic is obtained through counting and classification of the vehicles which pass through specific sections of highway using specialized electronic equipment which captures parameters indicative of the type of vehicles as they pass (length, number of axes, weight at each axis, distribution of metal mass, etc.) by placing various detectors on the ground and using other electronic and magnetic devices.

To enable the administration to check the information obtained from the automatic counting and classification, this information is complemented with images taken by video equipment or digital cameras.

The data and images obtained at the various control points on the highway are transmitted in real time by optic fiber cables to the concessionaire’s traffic control center where they are stored on a data base server for calculation of the toll collection, statistical traffic service level analyses, as well as systematic checking of the equipment.

The first shadow toll systems were installed in the United Kingdom in 1995. The second generation of this type of facilities, now incorporating the latest techniques in traffic control technology, is being implemented in various highways in Spain and Portugal. Two concessions in which Cintra is involved, the M-45 circular highway in Madrid, and the Algarve SCUT in southern Portugal, are already using this technology.