| Driving Revenue
by J J Eden
“We now find ourselves
in need of hiring people
with strong IT skills”
Going back to the original question – is
the tolling market growing? The short answer
is yes, however, not in the traditional sense as
it relates to infrastructure. We as an industry
see a more significant push to cross
industries, such as parking and transit, and
large corporations such as IBM, Microsoft and
other IT and business process management
firms entering the market. Big players bring
more cross-platform solutions that encourage
agencies to work closer to find joint reusable
solutions, and thus avoiding the typical,
highly prescriptive procurement document.
The market shift has created a downturn
on the civil side, while creating high demand
for IT. Outcome-oriented service offerings
are replacing manual processes, while
preparing for automation and significant
changes in the workforce. Although this is
not significant today, it is a growing trend.
Specialized commercial offerings provide
open, scalable business systems that are
adapting to modern technologies,
promoting self-service and automation, and
reducing our administration and oversight
costs so more money can be invested in
infrastructure and mobility options. I, for
one, look forward to these changes and the
continued growth of tolling.
JJ Eden is executive director of North Carolina Turnpike
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com 049
Is the tolling industry
growing or shrinking?
Over the last few months,
I have had several
discussions on the
current state of the tolling industry. While
some say that it is booming and they
can’t hire skilled staff fast enough, others
complain about not having enough work to
go around. At first, this may sound like a
conflict – how can an industry be growing
and shrinking at the same time? If you dig
deeper, you start to realize that the industry
has rapidly changed with the levels of
service offerings.
Not long ago, a tolling agency looking to
form or expand would hire architectural
and engineering consultants to advise them
on how to proceed and manage the
program. From there, a contractor would
design and construct the toll plaza. The
tolling system, design and installation were
typically added to the existing contracts, in
part to assure coordination and help
minimize costs. In the early stages of the
industry, toll collection systems and
infrastructure were merely a single pay item
in a construction contract. As technology
and business needs changed and matured,
toll plazas were replaced by gantries, and
the need for large engineering projects
diminished. At the same time, the industry
saw a dramatic increase in the complexity
of the toll systems being deployed. This was
primarily due to increased reliability and
availability needed to provide revenue
service and meet revenue forecasts.
The skill sets of those responsible for the
design, installation and operation of complex
systems have also changed. We now find
ourselves in need of hiring people with
strong IT, data management and financial
skills. In the early years, this was manageable
as technologies were still being developed.
Today, we find ourselves navigating large,
cloud-based, real-time financial networks.
This requires specialized experience to
support systems, not a small army of bodies.
The other market player is cost. Often, a
specialty IT firm has lower overheads than
traditional AE (architecture/engineering)
firms. Yes, civil work is still needed to
construct the road and gantries, but the days
of the US$100 million civil project are
limited. In many cases, however, AE firms
have filled the void on business rules, and
other areas such as construction, as well as
maintaining market share on toll roads.
November/December 2019 Traffic Technology International
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