ASFINAG
The Austrian national road traffic control centre in Vienna Inzersdorf, was the excursion destination for the CdH-members in February.
ASFINAG, the state-owned corporation responsible for planning, financing, building and maintaining Austria's motorways, and for the collection of motorway toll revenue, gave insights into their traffic management operations.
"Founded in 1982, ASFINAG (known in English as the Austrian Motorway and Expressway Network Corporation) operates and maintains over 2,178 kilometres of motorways and expressways in Austria - a country whose road network is characterised by challenging and diverse topographical and climatic conditions", host, Dr. Josef Fiala, General Manager ASFINAG Services GmbH, told his guests: "Here, at the Austrian national road traffic control centre, ASFINAG monitors the flow of traffic on Austria's motorway and expressway network, carrying up to 200.000 vehicles per day, with the help of 4,000 video cameras and 2,000 km of fibre optic transmission cable. To enhance the effectiveness of the centre, it also has direct communication with road traffic control centres in neighbouring countries."
In order to enable quick response to incidents on all motorways - including 153 tunnels - throughout the country, there are a total of nine traffic management and monitoring centers. The regional traffic management operators and tunnel monitoring stations provide the hubs for communicating and coordinating with local emergency response teams. Mobile traffic management teams in well equipped vehicles assist in removing problems on the motorways as soon as possible. Moreover, cooperation with various other organisations and bodies; e.g. with public emergency services or with Ö3, Austria's biggest radio station; helps ensure the dissemination of important information quickly.
Utilization of the latest technology is a prerequisite for fulfilling ASFINAG's responsibilities, of which the trade delegates could get a taste when they later visited the traffic management centre control room, guided by Mr. Michael Schneider, coordinator of national and international traffic management. A large array of monitors on an extensive video wall show live pictures from several sections of motorway throughout Austria, watching over the drivers safety - ASFINAG's primary goal: "And, to make the tunnel in the medium and long term even safer, ASFINAG uses an internationally unique high-tech acoustic security system, which recognizes the sounds of accidents and subsequently triggers an alarm", Mr. Schneider explained. Acoustic monitoring, thermal scanning, state-of-the-art LED lighting, and much more, ensures optimal tunnel safety.
Traffic Manager, Mag. Hartwig Hufnagl, who gave further background information about the latest developments and future goals regarding Austrian traffic management, stated: "By using new technologies and innovations, we want to keep Austria's motorways and expressways amongst the safest in Europe". "ASFINAG acts as an economically responsible motorway operator. We are convinced that modern and sustainably developed infrastructure is essential both for the mobility requirements of every single person and for Austria as a location for business", Dr. Fiala added: "In brief: we ensure a safe and appropriately developed network of motorways and expressways." ASFINAG is grouped into three divisions: ASFINAG Service GmbH, headed by Dr. Fiala, is responsible for handling the operation of the motorways and expressways, for all activities of operational and electrical maintenance, as well as network and traffic management. All structural and operational measures are aimed towards the strategic objectives, such as increasing customer satisfaction, ensuring network availability, improving traffic safety, optimizing service standards and economic efficiency.
The Bau Management GmbH (BMG) is responsible for managing important construction projects on the ASFINAG road network - not only the main carriageways of motorways and expressways, but also junctions, rest and inspection areas, noise reduction measures, motorway operation and maintenance facilities as well as traffic control systems.
ASFINAG Maut Service GmbH (MSG) is responsible for collecting tolls on the ASFINAG road network. A distinction is made between the time-based car toll ("toll sticker"), the mileage-based car toll on special sections, and the mileage-based electronic HGV toll. ASFINAG is funded entirely by revenues from tolls on the primary road (motorway) network. As a one hundred percent user-financed company ASFINAG does not receive any financial assistance from the state budget. All proceeds from the sale of the vignette, truck tolls and special toll roads are reinvested into the construction, operation and safety of the primary road network of Austria.
