Time is a precious commodity. Emovis, part of Abertis Mobility Services, aims for customers to have more time and less stress through low-effort and high-quality tolling interactions. Florida drivers will soon experience this first-hand as the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) and Emovis will embark on a five-year customer service operations partnership.

With hundreds of miles of toll roads, Florida’s Turnpike System is used by more than 3,000,000 customers daily. It is operated by FTE, part of the Florida Department of Transportation. It is estimated that some 2.3 billion toll transactions will be processed in fiscal year 2024, with approximately 5% percent annual growth anticipated for the foreseeable future.

Emovis will establish, configure, staff and operate customer service centers throughout Florida supporting FTE customers. Traditional customer service will be upgraded with a robust suite of communication options allowing customers to receive support through their preferred channel. The Emovis team will ensure optimum resource allocation and cutting-edge technology to drive exceptional service to customers. This enhanced solution supports FTE investments in its infrastructure, architecture and personnel.

In serving Florida motorists, Emovis will build on its impressive track record delivering customer service operations around the world. When customers require personal assistance, Emovis’ interactive routing technology will quickly transfer the call to a representative with the appropriate skills and tools to resolve their issue on the first contact. Emovis’ solution will equip colleagues with skills to deliver the best customer experience possible. This not only drives operational improvements, such as reduced call volumes and handling times, but enhances employee morale and productivity, thus benefitting all stakeholders.

“Our customer service solution centers on ensuring minimal effort for motorists, providing high quality support and communicating in a human and compassionate way,” said Christian Barrientos, Emovis’ Chief Executive Officer. “We are committed to a level of transparency that promotes a deep collaboration with FTE and other stakeholders as we drive toward a new standard for improved customer experience.”

About Florida Department of Transportation

The Florida Department of Transportation’s mission is to provide a safe transportation system that ensures the mobility of people and goods, enhances economic prosperity, and preserves the quality of the state’s environment and communities. The department is committed to building a transportation system that not only fits the current needs of Florida’s residents and visitors, but also enhances mobility throughout the state to accommodate its consistent and rapid growth.

By Miguel Ainsa

Know your paying customers well and your violators even better! This almost sounds like a line you’d hear in an old western classic movie. Actually, it is a credo to live by for tolling agencies.

Individuals who don’t pay their tolls are costly. This isn’t only because of the lack of revenue they should be providing to help maintain the funding of roads. There are also costs related to management and reputation.

As a provider of toll-based mobility solutions, this was concerning to us at Emovis. We were seeing first-hand how our tolling authority colleagues were being negatively impacted. The technology wasn’t adequate in terms allowing ease of payment. It was too easy for violators to evade the system.

We decided a few years ago that we needed to step up efforts to address this problem for the benefit of the industry. Thus, we collaborated with Abertis’ Innovation Lab, a program that promotes projects aimed at finding solutions for smart roads and integrated mobility, for connected, autonomous and electric vehicles. Together, we launched a Smart Enforcement program in December 2020.

Technology focused on ease

We needed to redesign the recovery process and provide customers with new communication channels. Our business intelligence team alongside the engineering department built algorithms that optimized actions for maximizing payment probabilities and cutting debt collection costs without affecting any revenues. This technology predicts motorists’ payment behavior, continuously provides data and adapts to our different customers’ actions. We leveraged machine learning to achieve a more intelligent collection process.

It was also important to instill empathy for unintentional violation. We wanted to create a solution that avoided unnecessary escalation during recovery processes. This reduces complaints and improves the overall customer experience. The Smart Enforcement program’s technology integrates with external third parties to track motorists’ new addresses. This increases accuracy and toll compliance and reduces the work and expense of undeliverable mail.

The technology provides many payment options for customers with a focus on simplicity. It should be as difficult as possible to cheat the system. The ones who pay up front understand that they are not going to “get in trouble”. Violators need to know that they will be chased.

Impact

Emovis’ Smart Enforcement program has a track record in generating results since implementation in 2020 in the United Kingdom and in 2021 in Chile:

• an increase in toll compliance to over 97%, mainly because previously untraceable customers are now located
• a 19% reduction in recovery costs
• a 33% reduction in customer disputes and 30% reduction in unregistered users not paying their tolls without any enforcement activity
• a 25% improvement of the enforcement “cost to revenue ratio” meaning authorities obtained more monetary value for each dollar they spent in enforcement
• 30% reduction in materials complaints
• significant financial savings
• up to 68% savings in commissions to debt collection agencies

It should be noted that as a service provider working for public authorities and concessionaires, Emovis doesn’t directly keep the money that is generated from this program. We care so much about Smart Enforcement because of our commitment to continuous improvement. We need to be doing everything possible to support our partners and provide them better and more effective experiences and outcomes.

Nobody else in the industry has such a Smart Enforcement program. This is in part why the solution received the 2023 International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) Private Sector Innovation award.

Questions to consider

We are clearly seeing how this innovation is impacting the financial side while dramatically improving perception and reputation. It has quickly sustained reduction in enforcement costs.

Think about these questions:

• Are you using the most accurate source of information to find and contact the customer?
• Is it possible to predict the payment behavior of your customers?
• Can you pre-empt and adapt actions to reduce management costs?
• Can you identify a preferred course of action to increase the likelihood of payment?

If you are struggling to answer these questions, it is time to step up your tolling authorities’ enforcement efforts.

Miguel Ainsa is the Operation Director at Emovis. Part of Abertis Mobility Services, Emovis is a world leader in
toll-based mobility solutions. Learn more at https://www.emovis.com. If you wish to discuss deploying the Smart
Enforcement program, contact sales@emovis.com.

There are misperceptions and lack of knowledge around Road Usage Charging. It is incumbent upon tolling industry players to address these gaps by rolling out meaningful educational. First, we must mobilize the public at large as their buy-in will impact other key stakeholders: legislators, policymakers, industry organizations, interest groups, transportation associations, public safety groups, environmental organizations and the media. We only move the needle when all these different stakeholders are championing the cause. 

 

The following are five key points related to such an educational campaign.

 

#1 – Share the Message of Fairness in Electric Vehicle Adoption and Road Usage Charging

The more electric vehicles on the road, the better it is for society. However, there is an important part of the equation that is being missed as it relates to electric vehicles, the environment and equity. Currently, most estimates put the average price of a new EV over $60,000, while a car of any kind is in the upper 40,000s. Those who can afford electric vehicles are usually people who are in the upper middle class or wealthy, and then don’t have to pay the gas tax. Those who continue to drive gas vehicles, who usually have less disposable income, continue to pay their tax. Road Usage Charging levels the playing field by ensuring that all drivers are paying their fair share of tax.  

 

The concept of fairness resonates with both the public, transportation stakeholders and policymakers. Central to this conception of fairness is paying for what you use. It is much less effective when conversations about fairness pit groups against each other (drivers of fuel-efficient vs. less fuel-efficient vehicles, rural vs. urban residents, those who drive more vs. those who drive less). These conversations are also often based on mistaken or exaggerated assumptions about who stands to benefit. Bring the conversation back to a unifying principle: it is fair that everyone pays for the roads they use.

 

#2 – Provide the Facts on Gas Taxes

How much does the average person spend per year in gas taxes? Ask the average person this question and they would have no idea how to answer this and are probably more likely to overestimate. In reality, it is just a few hundred dollars. With a RUC solution in place, it is important for motorists to have transparency so they can be aware exactly how much they are paying for the mileage and how much that would be if they were paying a gas tax. We are doing this as part of our collaboration with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and its Pay-Per-Mile pilot program. See the example in this image above. We are early on with this program, but initial feedback to from all stakeholders to this has been positive. 

 

#3 – Help People See the Link Between the Gas Tax and Economic Growth

Think about what happens when an interstate is completely closed in an area. Traffic needs to be diverted to alternative routes. Suddenly, a 15-minute commute to a destination can balloon into over one hour. This costs time and money to the thousands of impacted drivers. 

 

As a society, we take functioning roads for granted. We expect to get into our vehicles and for a trip to take a certain amount of time. In actuality, we see a strong possibility that a deteriorating transportation system can have a very damaging economic impact. We know the money from the gas tax is declining and that the necessary work on the road and bridges isn’t being addressed. However, according to public opinion surveys, most residents believe that roads are in good condition and that funding is either increasing or staying the same. Many are unaware that the fuel tax is a primary source of transportation funding. In reality, many locations are facing the potential shift from sporadic traffic inconveniences to persistent disruptions. 

 

What happens when a jurisdiction isn’t able to fund an emergency road project? If the project isn’t ignored, usually what happens is that funding is taken from a different governmental budget – often a social program. This obviously can have a very negative adverse effect on a community. Most of the public is unaware of this. There are some similarities to the climate crisis – not addressing the warning signals will come at a very hefty cost to society. The more motorists are educated about these economic realities related to transportation and raise their voices in response, the more this impacts legislators, interest groups, transportation associations, public safety groups, environmental organizations, and the media. 

 

#4 – Focus on the Benefits

Transportation stakeholders and policymakers possess a high level of awareness about the challenges facing the state’s transportation infrastructure, especially the ability to fund it adequately. Communications about funding can become highly technical. The public is more interested in the values that a well-functioning transportation system helps support: quality of life, safety, and a healthy economy. Leading with values and emphasizing the tangible benefits of well-maintained roads and bridges is likely to make the public more receptive to proposals about transportation funding alternatives. Even for individuals working directly in transportation, clear communications is important to crystalize the stakes.

 

#5 – Communicate the Realities of Telematics and Privacy

Telematics data is collected by the vehicle manufacturer directly from the vehicle (location, odometer reading) and then shared with Emovis.  A third-party private company then builds a daily trip total from that data that defines the total miles driven and in what geofenced location (state, city, locality, etc.). Governments should mandate that this information from telematics should be made available as telematics provides ease of user adoption at the lowest cost to the client. 

 

There may be concerns that such information violates privacy concerns. With RUC, the government doesn’t have access to this information. Private industry has the data and cannot sell it to another entity under any circumstances. The information is aggregated and anonymized data – just the total mileage – and doesn’t track specifics about exact whereabouts. No matter where we go, countless security cameras are filming drivers’ movements. The majority of people share data with other private companies through phones (which is often sold to third parties, hence the targeted ads that you might receive at a particular time).  

 

When asked about privacy and tracking, we are much more likely to engage when we understand the positive benefits. It is therefore important to communicate the positive outcomes of sharing information: road safety and a reduction in vehicle repair costs. A negative perception of an activity can quickly be reversed when it directly impacts our wallets!

 

Final Point

At Emovis, we have seen many customers who changed their apprehension about RUC programs. The key was education. This came across in a number of pilot program surveys. These individuals who were once reluctant realized that the hurdle wasn’t as significant and bought into the benefits. They shared a much more positive perspective, which then trickled down to positively impact additional transportation industry stakeholders and led to greater acceptance overall. 

 

At Emovis, we are enthusiastic about how education has the potential to reshape public perception and foster increasing enthusiasm for RUC programs within our broader society.

 

Scott Jacobs is RUC Product Manager for Emovis. Part of Abertis Mobility Services, Emovis is a world leader in toll-based mobility solutions. Learn more at https://www.emovis.com.