Global outsourcing, technology and management consultancy, Accenture, has been awarded a major contract to support Portuguese toll road operator, Ascendi, in a deal of unspecified value. The contract specifically relates to the implementation of Ascendi's back office system and a SAP Electronic Toll Collection for two key roads in Portugal which were not previously chargeable - Grande Porto and Costa da Prata, a total of 149 km. These roads are now part of a Multi Lane Free Flow tolling system (MLFF), and have 46 toll gates between them. In addition Accenture was tasked with the integration of two other roads, of 270 km distance, both of which operated electronic and cash toll collection systems. It is estimated that these systems, combined, will be taking payments from around 400,000 vehicles a day.

Now this work is complete, Accenture is contracted to maintain the back office SAP solution for at least five years. This will entail monitoring the payment processing system, RF transponder readings and registration plate recognition systems, and working with commercial and public sector/government organisations associated with the transportation network of Portugal.

Ascendi is a key player in the Portuguese road and rail transport infrastructure market, but also offers its services across three continents, with 3,000 km of road contracts in Brazil, Mexico, Mozambique and Spain in addition to 1,600 km of roads and railtracks in Portugal. The Portuguese toll infrastructure upgrade was given ‘top ten technology project' status by the Portuguese arm of analysis company IDC, in an award ceremony in April of this year.

President of the Board at Ascendi, Fontes de Carvalho, explained: "The Multi-Lane Free-Flow was a complex multi-disciplinary program. We knew that due to the social impacts and high visibility of this toll collection operation, there was no margin for mistakes. Accenture's commercial back-office implementation was built upon a deep understanding of electronic toll collection processes and best-in-class IT expertise, systems integration and project management."

Products senior executive, Bernardo Macedo, of Accenture Portugal, commented: "We are very pleased to be awarded this important contract. The back-office solution was implemented in one of the largest and most complex multi-lane free-flow tolling schemes in the world. The challenge required a high level of industry knowledge, combined with implementation experience delivering large scale projects in the tolling industry. The implemented solution is very innovative, and can be leveraged to other models of road user charging, responding to the mobility and sustainability challenges that the world is facing today."

Author: Lee Marriott, Analyst