DRIVERS ON THE A4 KATOWICE-KRAKÓW JOIN THE AUTOMATIC SIDE OF THE FORCE STALEXPORT AUTOSTRADA MAŁOPOLSKA S.A. SUMS UP THE FIRST MONTH OF PREFERENTIAL TOLL RATES FOR AUTOPAY, A4Go OR TELEPASS USERS

In the total of toll payments for journeys via the A4 Katowice-Kraków motorway, the share of automatic transactions has increased to ca. 23 per cent. Autopay, A4Go and Telepass users will be offered preferential rates for travelling on the concessionary section of the A4 at least until the end of March this year. Depending on the vehicle category, they can save between PLN 3 and 5 on each gate.

Journeys cheaper by up to 30%, fast travel times without stopping your car before the gate, no queues at dedicated fast-track gates, efficient online services for individual and company accounts – automatic payments are currently the most convenient way to pay tolls on the A4 Katowice-Krakow motorway. An increasing number of drivers are opting for it, including not only those travelling on that section of the A4 occasionally, at weekends or on holidays, but also those who commute regularly, e.g. to work.

Since January this year, toll rates for automatic payments have been similar to those existing on the A4 Katowice-Krakow ten years ago at PLN 7 for category 1 vehicles, PLN 17 for category 2 and 3 vehicles, and PLN 30 for category 4 and 5 vehicles. These prices will remain in force at least until the end of the first quarter of this year.

Following this, as many as 164 thousand vehicle passages using registration plate recognition (videotolling) were registered in January this year, compared with 122 thousand  in December 2019
(an increase of over 34%). In the case of A4Go and Telepass electronic toll collection systems, preferential rates apply to new top-ups made from 1 January 2020. Impulses purchased at a cheaper price will remain valid for two years, regardless of the preferential price list expiry.

About 1,200 onboard devices were issued in January this year. The number of journeys involving the electronic toll collection of A4Go and Telepass has reached 318.5 thousand, compared with 287.5 thousand in December 2019.  (an increase of about 10.8%).

Users of A4Go, Autopay and Telepass have a dedicated orange gate, located leftmost at each toll plaza, allowing three times more throughput and significantly increasing the efficiency of the toll plaza so that drivers save not only money, but also equally precious time.

'During the first month of preferential rates, the share of automatic transactions in total payments for travelling on our motorway increased to approximately 23 per cent. This means that nearly 1/4 of the journeys are already made with the use of the Autopay videotolling application or the A4Go or Telepass electronic toll collection systems,' sums up Marta Dobrzańska from the Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A press office. 'The interest in automatic payment methods is evident not only from the numbers; we receive numerous queries about the terms and conditions for joining either system as well as positive feedback from those drivers who have already decided to switch from manual to automatic payments. If this upward trend can be maintained in the coming months, it will be a reason to open more automatic gates in the future,' she adds.

Videotolling is the method of payment, which based on the identification of the vehicle registration plate. 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 raises 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.

To the regular users of the motorway, including fleet owners, the concessionaire offers 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. The user pays in advance for the appropriate number of impulses corresponding to the number of journeys through the toll plazas. At the moment, A4Go is as a prepayment method, i.e.  prepaid, and there are plans to extend this solution with a postpaid formula, i.e. to connect the on-board device with a bank card charged after passing through a toll gate.

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.

Information on automatic payments and preferential rates is available online at www.automatycznaA4.pl. On the A4KatowiceKrakow YouTube channel, you can watch promo videos for automatic payment methods.

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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:

Marta Dobrzańska
Press Office of SAM S.A.
e-mail: [email protected]
tel. 609 808 120