Germany is the major crossroad for Europe’s international commercial trucks. The German government..

Germany is the major crossroad for Europe’s international
commercial trucks. The German government felt the need to have international
trucks (over 12 tons) using their road infrastructure assist in paying for the
road maintenance and additional new infrastructure. The project objectives were
clear—a new electronic truck toll-collection system that ensures accurate
charges and easy fee collection across German, Swiss, and Austrian highways by
August 31, 2003. The technology relied on global positioning systems (GPS),
telecommunications, and software to record miles and charges, without
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Germany is the major crossroad for Europe’s international
commercial trucks. The German government felt the need to have international
trucks (over 12 tons) using their road infrastructure assist in paying for the
road maintenance and additional new infrastructure. The project objectives were
clear—a new electronic truck toll-collection system that ensures accurate
charges and easy fee collection across German, Swiss, and Austrian highways by
August 31, 2003. The technology relied on global positioning systems (GPS),
telecommunications, and software to record miles and charges, without using
toll booths along the highways.

Several problems sabotaged the project. Time-to-market
deadlines were impossible to meet. Delayed launch dates were caused by
technical problems with truck tracking units and software that failed to
function as expected. Interface communication with public and private
stakeholders failed. As a result,  the August 2003 deadline was never met. The
revised November 2003 deadline was not met. Finally, in March 2004 the German
government pulled the plug and canceled the project.

The cancellation of the project had serious impacts on other
governmental programs. The shortfall of not receiving the revenue from the new
toll system is estimated at $1.6 billion. Some of those revenues were destined
for a high-speed maglev train in Munich and other infrastructure projects.

Lessons learned reveal that lack of project management
knowledge was evident. More importantly, failure to identify and assess the
impact of schedule and complex technology risks resulted in the death of the
project. Perhaps a simpler, cheaper microwave system recommended by the Swiss
and Austrians to be operational by 2005 would have sufficed. See
http://www.tollcollect.de/frontend/HomepageVP.do: Jsessionid-F840E12142D. *
“Case Analysis: Taking a Toll,” PM Network, Vol. 18, No. 3, March, 2004, p. 1.

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