From Friday, paying the tolls for cars leaving the motorway system at the Vučevica toll station during the night will be possible exclusively with the electronic toll collection (ENC) system. This is part of a pilot project for a new regime of toll collection at smaller and low-frequency toll stations, announced the Croatian Motorways (HAC) public company on Wednesday, reports Jutarnji List on January 30, 2019.

According to the announcement, the ENC ONLY exit system will be operational only overnight, from 10 pm to 6 am, and the Vučevica toll station is the first to enter the new regime. The purpose of the ENC ONLY system is to reduce operating costs while maintaining the existing standard for toll stations. It also aims to encourage the use of ENC devices and remind users that ENC brings them a significant toll discount of at least 21.74 per cent.

“The implementation of the ENC ONLY system at several low-frequency stations is planned as a transitional solution towards the introduction of a new toll collection system based on electronic, contactless charging,” announced by the HAC.

The company explained that the Vučevica toll station had been included in the pilot project because during the year the night shift averages just ten vehicles, of which four use ENC already. The HAC also points out that the permanent users who use the Vučevica exit during night shift have been informed about the new regime with leaflets and new signs on the motorway. There is also the free info phone number 0800 0422, which provides support to drivers, as well as the ability to remotely lift the ramps in case of emergencies.

Earlier this year, the HAC announced that one of its primary goals this year is to select the new toll collection system. During 2018, the Spanish company IDOM S.A.U., as the selected consultant, worked intensively on a detailed analysis of possible technological solutions for the system. In the first quarter of 2019, we should know which toll system will be implemented. That will be followed by the preparation of the tender documentation for the procurement of the selected method, and implementation of the new permanent system should start in 2021.

Translated from Jutarnji List.

More news about Croatian motorways can be found in the Travel section.

The weather is foggy, it is hard to see, and drivers are driving too fast. Brother and sister Tihomir and Tihana Jurić have seen too many traffic accidents in which pedestrians are injured precisely because of such weather conditions, so they decided to act to put an end to it. The result of their efforts to make traffic safer is the Zebra Cross, a "smart armour” that is mounted on the pillars next to pedestrian crossings and uses lights to alert drivers that someone is trying to cross the road, reports Večernji List on January 20, 2019.

"Yes, the system works even when there is fog, snow or darkness, whenever the pedestrian is trying to cross the road but cannot be easily seen for some reason,” explains Tihomir Jurić. With their invention, the team, which also includes Alen Skorić and Matteo Vit, applied to the Zagreb Startup Factory and in December won the first prize worth 160,000 kuna.

“Drivers often cannot see pedestrians, even when the weather is fine. It is in the drivers’ interest to protect the pedestrians, and we have decided to do something that will help them,” explain the brother and sister.

The “smart armour” is mounted on the pillar and has built-in sensors that respond to pedestrians. The post then illuminates the pedestrian, and at the same time turn on the flickering lights that are facing the oncoming cars. They have the fog lights, which can reach the drivers even when the visibility is at its worst. Thus, the lights warn the cars that someone will cross the road and that they should stop.

"Of course, some drivers do not stop even when they see someone standing on a pedestrian crossing, but we cannot teach them the rules of the road. We can only hope that drivers will stop and protect pedestrians,” says Vit, who is in charge of all the software and hardware components of the Zebra Cross.

All team members are entrepreneurs in the IT sector, and they worked on the Zebra Cross alongside other jobs in their companies; however, they recently decided to leave everything and dedicate themselves to the joint project. They are already negotiating with the Zagreb city authorities to launch tests on the streets.

"It is not simple, since we are directly interfering with the current traffic light rules, so we have to talk with the Ministry of Transport. But we have been getting positive reactions, so we hope the Zebra Cross will soon be seen on many pedestrian crossings,” concludes Tihomir Jurić.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Hana Ivković).

For more news on Croatian inventions visit the Made in Croatia section.

More than 58.5 million vehicles used the Croatian motorways managed by the Croatian Motorways (HAC) and Rijeka-Zagreb Motorway (ARZ) companies in 2018, which is 5 percent more than in 2017, while tolls have been charged in the amount of more than 2.87 billion kuna without VAT, which is 6 percent more, reports Večernji List on January 4, 2019.

The increase in the number of vehicles by 5 percent compared to 2017 means that the motorways under the jurisdiction of the HAC and ARZ saw almost 3 million more vehicles, while the 6 percent increase in revenue from the tolls brought in 160 million kuna more.

The HAC also reveals that the provisional data show that the highest toll income in 2018 was realized on the A3 motorway (Bregana-Zagreb-Lipovac), about 946.9 million kuna without VAT, while the highest revenue by month was recorded in August, in the amount of 450.7 million kuna excluding VAT.

"According to currently available data for 2018, we note an increase in traffic and toll revenue on all highways, which means that HAC achieved planned results in terms of revenue and traffic growth for 2018," the company said.

The total HAC revenues for the first 11 months of 2018 amounted to 2.07 billion kuna, while expenditures amounted to 1.64 billion kuna. As noted, this continued a trend of revenue growth and reduction of expenditures, with the expectation that positive trends will continue in 2019.

Among the 2019 business goals, one of the most important is the selection of a new toll collection system. In 2018, the Spanish company IDOM S.A.U., as a selected consultant, worked intensively on detailed analysis of possible technological solutions. “In the first quarter of 2019, we will know which toll system will be implemented. In the middle of the year, we plan to start preparing tender documentation for the procurement of the selected system, and the implementation of the system should start in 2021," the HAC said.

For 2019, they announce the continuation of the modernization and the operational restructuring with the aim of further reducing operating costs, as well as the continuation of the investments, with a focus on the completion of the 5c transport corridor project and a bridge over the Sava river.

More news on the Croatian motorways can be found in our Travel section.

Translated from Večernji List.

ZAGREB, November 28, 2018 – Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković presented on Tuesday a summary of large infrastructure projects in Croatia that are underway and or are nearing completion, in response to several objections in parliament to his claim that the 2019 budget was geared toward investments in transport infrastructure.

This ministry has launched 14 billion kuna investments that will be implemented with assistance of Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme, the EU-funding instrument Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), he said.

"At the moment, we have signed a little more than 70% of the agreements pertaining to Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Programme, and more than 90% of those pertaining the EU-funding instrument Connecting Europe Facility," Butković explained.

Now, large infrastructure projects in Croatia are underway – Pelješac Bridge, the D403 motorway for which a grant agreement will be signed in Rijeka in the next few days.

He boasted of large railway projects too: Dugo Selo–Križevci which is currently underway, Zaprešić-Zabok, Vinkovci-Vukovar for which a grant has been secured.

A tender will be advertised in the next few days for a large railway project that will connect Zagreb with the Hungarian border and that is the Koprivnica-Križevci-Hungary route with total value of more than 300 million kuna, he added.

Two weeks ago, he continued, works were commenced on the extension of the Y-motorway in Istria valued at about 160 million euro and talks are underway for the second B2 phase. A tender will also be advertised this year for the continuation of the 5C corridor and the decision to finance that project will be put to the government in February next year, which is currently being negotiated with large European institutions, he said.

He announced the procurement of new trains and noted that investments would be made in railway crossings too, the railway through the Lika mountainous area, and so on.

For more on the infrastructure projects in Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, September 19, 2018 - The Croatian Automobile Club, the acronym of which in Croatian is HAC, on Tuesday outlined models for the development of the protection infrastructure on Croatian roads and risk assessments for the A3 and A4 motorways within this year's European Mobility Week, and underscored the high level of Croatian road safety.

ZAGREB, September 18, 2018 - Croatia's motorway operators – HAC and ARZ – have collected 2.2 billion kuna in road tolls year-to-date, which is 6% more compared to the corresponding period in 2017, and by the end of the year a total of 2.8 billion kuna is expected to be collected from tolls, HAC informed on Tuesday.

Istria is one of few parts of Croatia without a real motorway. That is about to change.

The 1,471-metre-long tunnel was partially constructed, but a bridge and another tunnel leading from it are still nowhere to be seen.

There is at least something in which Croatia is better than most other countries.

Long lines for toll payment should become a thing of the past.