s-traffic switzerland - enforcing hgv metering by dsrc

S-TRAFFIC SWITZERLAND - ENFORCING HGV
METERING BY DSRC
Christian Egeler
Associated Partner
Rapp Trans Ltd.
Hochstrasse 100, CH 4018 Basel, SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 (61) 335 78 14; Fax +41 (61) 335 77 00
e-mail: [email protected]
www.rapp.ch
Dr. Matthias Rapp
Partner
Rapp Trans Ltd.
Hochstrasse 100, CH 4018 Basel, SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 (61) 335 78 51; Fax +41 (61) 335 77 00
e-mail: [email protected]
www.rapp.ch
THE ALPINE HGV METERING AND THE S-TRAFFIC
In the aftermath of the Gotthard Tunnel accident in 2001 the main transit corridor through
Switzerland was blocked for three months and considerable traffic problems arose, especially with
Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV). With the re-opening of the tunnel new safety measures were
introduced in both major Swiss Alpine motorway tunnels, the Gotthard and San Bernardino. One of
the most important safety measures was the introduction of a HGV metering scheme for the two
tunnels.
HGV per day (both directions, daily average)
Period
Gotthard
San
Bernardino
Simplon
Great
St.-Bernard
Total Swiss
Alpine
crossings
2003
2’749
405
188
186
3’528
2004
2’648
422
178
178
3’426
Table1: Traffic volumes Swiss Alpine crossings
The minimal distance between two HGV is officially posted and the numbers of HGV passing
through the tunnel per hour is strictly limited. At the entry of each tunnel HGV have to pass a
checkpoint where the HGV traffic flow is metered (also depending on the general traffic flow). At
the checkpoints only few HGV can line up and wait to enter the tunnel. The enlargement of these
areas was not possible because of the geographical and alpine situation. Therefore, waiting areas
have been created in a certain distance from the final tunnel metering checkpoint.
1 (5)
In total 8 waiting areas have been established. On some routes and in some directions there are
several waiting areas to pass (up to three) before the Alpine tunnels can be approached. The
waiting areas closest to the tunnel entrance meter the HGV traffic in direction to the tunnel. Some
of the waiting areas are only in operation if needed. This is mainly the case when the other waiting
areas are full because of special traffic conditions like temporarily closed tunnels (snow) or
temporarily closed border crossings (national holidays, etc.). All HGV have to use this system of
waiting areas and metering checkpoints.
Southern Switzerland is relatively small part of Switzerland on the south side of the Alps and
economically heavily dependent on the Northern part of Switzerland. It would mean a major
disadvantage for the economy in the Southern Switzerland if the local traffic will be stuck in the
waiting areas. Therefore a special regime, the S-Traffic has been introduced. HGV serving Southern
Switzerland are allowed to by-pass the waiting areas under some conditions:

The start or end of all transported goods is in the Canton of Ticino

The end or the start of all transported goods is in one of the other Swiss Cantons1

A special sign (S-Sign) has to be posted on the front and back of the HGV
Ausgenommen
3.5 t
Figure 1: Official S-Sign
S
Figure 2: Signage on motorway
At the HGV waiting areas the HGV traffic is diverted into it except the HGV carrying the S-Sign, the socalled S-Traffic.
Anteil Fahrzeuge m it S-Schild
Gotthard und San Bernardino
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
04
04
D
ez
N
ov
kt
04
O
04
Se
p
4
04
Au
g
l0
Ju
04
Ju
n
ai
04
M
Ap
r0
4
M
rz
04
04
Fe
b
Ja
n
04
0.0%
Gotthard: Anteil Fahrzeuge mit S-Schild in % (Mo-Sa)
Gotthard: Anteil Fahrzeuge mit S-Schild in % (Mo-Fr)
San Bernardino: Anteil Fahrzeuge mit S-Schild in % (Mo-Sa)
San Bernardino: Anteil Fahrzeuge mit S-Schild in % (Mo-Fr)
Figure 3: Vehicles with mounted S-sign at Gotthard (red) and San Bernadino (blue)
(Share of total HGV traffic volume, first column Monday to Friday, second column Monday to Saturday)
1
For some transport starting or ending in most Cantons no special permission is needed in order to
profit from the special regime. For some, mainly the Cantons in the Western part a special permission
has to be requested.
2 (5)
Legende
Explanations
Basel / Bern
S
Abstellfläche
Waiting
area
ÜGV
Schwyz
Metering
point
Dosierstelle
ÜG
V
S
Knutwil (LU)
Luzern
S-Traffic
Güterverkehr von/nach der Südschweiz
35 km
National
motorway
Autobahn
richtungsgetrennt
S
ÜGV
Traffic
ÜGV HGV
Übriger
alpenquerender Güterverkehr
Axen (UR)
National
highwaynicht richtungsgetrennt
Nationalstrasse
S
V
ÜGV
Stans (NW)
25 km
Chur
S
ÜG
Attinghausen (UR)
25km
Thusis
Göschenen (UR)
2 km
V
ÜG
Nufenen (GR)
Gotthard Tunnel
Gotthardtunnel
Gegenverkehr
two-way traffic
17 km
0.5 km
Airolo (TI)
2 km
ÜG
V
S
31 km
S
Hinterrhein (GR)
4 km
SanBernadino
Bernardino
San
Tunnel
Stalvedro Tunnel
Einbahnverkehr
one-way traffic
(TI)
6.6 km
San Bernardino
(GR)
27 km
17 km
Soazza
(GR)
Giornico (TI)
S
S
ÜG
V
ÜGV
Bodio
Bellinzona
Chiasso
Figure 4: The Alpine HGV Metering Scheme and the S-Traffic by-passes
Southbound
Northbound
Knutwil
Stans
Axen
Bodio/Giornico
Stalvedro
35 days
59 days
138 days
permanent (311 d)
n. a.
Average operation time when activated
(17 hours with HGV traffic)
6.7 h
40%
7.7 h
45%
--
17 h
100%
n. a.
Average maximal HGV queue when
activated
128
132
16
60
23
Maximal queue
290
300
51
300
200
Days in operation
Table1: Activation of additional waiting areas
3 (5)
CURRENT ENFORCEMENT OF S-TRAFFIC
Currently there is only manual spot-checking to enforce the S-Traffic at the bypasses. A check at the
metering check-point or at other locations is difficult as there is no proof available that the vehicle has
actually used the S-Traffic regime. Additionally the S-Sign is posted in most cases permanently on the
HGV which is legally allowed, i.e. the S-Sign is mounted also in the case when the vehicle has passed
through the waiting area.
In a project of the Swiss Federal Roads Authority assisted by the Swiss Customs Authority and the
Cantonal Police of Uri several possibilities to improve the enforcement of S-Traffic violations have
been analysed. Back-office solution as well as solutions with direct enforcement either at the metering
check-points or at border crossings have been assessed.
PROPOSED ENFORCEMENT OF S-TRAFFIC
Basic information
The current law does not allow foreign operators to transport goods within Switzerland, only import
and export is admitted (“cabotage” law). Therefore only Swiss vehicles may use the S-Traffic regime.
An important factor for the proposed enforcement solution was that all Swiss vehicles are equipped
with an On-board Unit (OBU) for the national HGV fee (LSVA). The OBU is vehicle-bound and
contains several vehicle data, e.g. the licence plate. The functionality of this OBU allows to read out
and write data on the OBU without stopping the vehicle using a Dedicated Short Range
Communication (DSRC) interface.
In the Swiss LSVA scheme the OBU produces several events which are used centrally to calculate the
fee due. One of the most important events are crossings of the Swiss border. Therefore all border
stations for HGV are equipped with DSRC beacons to generate and register these events.
Description of DSRC enforcement solution
All by-passes of the HGV waiting zones will be equipped with DSRC beacons. A passage of
a vehicle equipped with a LSVA OBU will be registered on-board as well as on-site. The
passage event is fed in the central LSVA data warehouse.
Main solution
HGV which have used the S-Traffic regime have to stop and have to be emptied completely
before they can execute another transport, e.g. across the border. This takes some time and
allows to identify HGV which have used the S-Regime and appeared at a border station in a
too short travel time.
In the back-office, the time stamps of S-Traffic by-pass events are compared with the time
stamps of border passages of the same vehicle.
For some travel times a S-Traffic violation is obvious (e.g. travel time for distance between
by-pass and border station results in a average speed close to the speed limit). Some travel
times will indicate violations, i.e. only under some conditions the use of the S-Traffic regime
was correct.
After the detection of a S-Traffic violation the transport operator has to prove that he has
fulfilled the requirements to use the S-Traffic regime. This has to be done by showing the
transport documents, the sites where the HGV has been emptied/loaded and description of
the procedures.
4 (5)
Possible extended solution A – Checks at the border station
At the border stations the process described above can be executed on-site. Passages of
HGV which have (possibly) violated the S-Traffic are signalled to the customs staff. As there
are already beacons and signals installed at the border stations only the software has to be
adapted. Additionally the local customs staff has a new additional task.
This extension of the solution allows to catch violators on the trip which makes the collection
of proofs easier.
Possible extended solution B – Checks at the metering check-point
At the metering check-points additional DSRC beacons will be installed in order to signal
HGV having used the S-Traffic bypass to Police units. They can spot-check these vehicles
immediately.
This extension allows a direct enforcement of a S-Traffic violation.
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