30% CHEAPER TRAVEL BY PASSENGER CARS ON A4 KATOWICE-KRAKOW MOTORWAY. STALEXPORT AUTOSTRADA MAŁOPOLSKA S.A. INTRODUCES PREFERENTIAL RATES FOR AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS OF A4 KATOWICE-KRAKOW TOLL. PLN 3-5 CHEAPER WITH AUTOPAY, A4Go AND TELEPASS AT EACH TOLL GATE.

As of 1 January 2020, Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. introduces preferential rates of A4 Katowice – Kraków motorway toll for those who use automatic payment methods. Depending on the vehicle category, drivers will save from PLN 3 to PLN 5 at each toll gate. This means a 30% discount for passenger cars.

A4 Katowice-Krakow motorway users can use two automatic payment methods – video-tolling, which has been in operation since July 2019, and the electronic tolling service A4Go and Telepass, which was launched three years ago.  By introducing automated tolling, the concessionaire has introduced a new quality of travel on the A4 section under its management, enabling instant transactions at the toll gates, with practically no need to stop and no additional involvement of drivers. Separate lanes dedicated to Autopay and A4Go made it possible to obtain up to three times the capacity of traditional lanes.

In addition to saving time, lower travel costs are another reason for choosing this method of toll payment. 
From the New Year until at least 31 March 2020, the drivers who pay for their journey using a video-tolling or an on-board unit will save between 15% and 30% for each journey, depending on the vehicle category. The rates for automatic payments as of 1 January 2020 will amount to PLN 7 for category 1 vehicles, PLN 17 for category 2 and 3 vehicles and PLN 30 for category 4 and 5 vehicles.

– The capacity of Toll Plazas, which are the bottlenecks in the tolling system in Poland, on the A4 Katowice-Krakow motorway depend to a large extent on the openness of drivers to use the fastest and most convenient payment methods. At the moment, automatic transactions represent about 17.5% of all payments at the toll gates. We want to increase the number of such transactions in order to significantly reduce the time needed to pass through toll plazas, especially during the periods of increased traffic. Therefore, we want to reward every decision made up to now and every new decision to join the automatic payments with a lower toll rate similar to the one applied on the A4 section managed by Stalexport ten years ago. We plan to increase the number of automated payment toll gates if they become more popular among the users. We hope this will encourage drivers to use Autopay, A4Go or Telepass devices. Eventually, the comfort of travelling on our motorway depends on the popularity of these payment methods – says Rafał Czechowski, spokesperson for SAM SA.

Videotolling – as easy as it gets

Drivers who use the A4 Katowice-Krakow motorway only occasionally - on weekends or holidays, yet also those who travel more frequently on that section, for example when commuting to work, can use videotolling – method of payment based on the identification of the vehicle registration number. The journeys are paid for via Autopay application, which allows you to register the vehicle in the database and link the registration number with a credit or debit card. Cameras on the toll gates read the registration plate and the system rises the barrier immediately. Three gateways dedicated to this form of payment, marked with the symbol of a black camera on a yellow background, available in every toll plaza ensure fast passage, even during periods of heavy traffic. The same application can also be used for the concession section of the A1 motorway.

A4Go – Full control of business trips

The concessionaire offers to the regular users of the motorway, including fleet owners, an electronic toll collection system (A4Go) based on the on-board unit installed on the windscreen of the vehicle. The system communicates with the antenna at the highway toll gate – the barrier is raised after the vehicle is assigned a category, and the history of the journey and transaction can be tracked in real time through the Internet user account. At the moment, A4Go is as a prepaid card. The user pays in advance for the appropriate number of impulses corresponding to the number of journeys through the toll plazas.

– Next year, we are planning to expand the electronic tolling system A4Go with a postpaid option. The on-board unit will be linked to a bank card, similar to Autopay, which will be charged after passing through a toll gate. We are also planning to introduce new videotolling operators to our motorway – says Rafał Czechowski.

To maximize the efficiency of automated tolling, the A4Go and Autopay users are exclusively dedicated a leftmost orange toll gate on each toll plaza.

The introduction of automatic payments is the next stage of the programme of increasing the capacity of toll plazas, which has been consistently implemented by Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska since 2011. In the first stage of the Toll Collection Device Replacement project, preceding the launch of automatic payments, the toll plazas in Mysłowice and Balice were extended to include additional vehicle service stations, including toll gates to enable payment by passengers. Other investments included: replacement of collector's booths and toll collection devices with those adjusted to fleet and fuel cards, as well as launch of a contactless prepaid A4 card dedicated to drivers travelling regularly on the concession section of the A4 motorway.
Subsequently, the electronic tolling system A4Go and Telepass was launched, and in 2019 – videotolling.

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Information about SAM SA

Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. manages the 60-km section of the A4 Katowice-Kraków motorway. This is the first fully operational road of this type in Poland, built as part of the public-private partnership, as a brownfield project  on the basis of the road constructed in the 1970s  and 1980s. Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. obtained a license for its adaptation to the requirements of the toll motorway and operation in 1997. It required numerous investments. All investment projects and current maintenance of road lanes are funded from revenues obtained from the collection of tolls for the concession section and loans received from the international banking consortium. Unlike other concessions for the management of toll motorways, the project implemented by Stalexport Autostrada S. A. does not burden the State Treasury with any obligations. Moreover, it has not received any grants or guarantees of the Treasury.

Additional information can be obtained from:

Rafał Czechowski
Spokesman of SAM S.A.
e-mail: SEND A MESSAGE
tel. 601 063 200