Autopass

This article is about the electronic toll collection system in Norway. For the stored-value smart card in Singapore, see Autopass Card.
Old autoPASS logo
Road sign 792.30 indicates an automatic toll station. According to the latest template on road signage in automatic toll stations, this sign shall be posted on the toll station, and the only sign posted before passing the station itself is a "Kr" symbol added to the direction signs on roads leading to the toll station.[1]
The "Kr" symbol, road sign 765, is added on the direction signs on roads leading to toll stations. This is the only sign posted before the station itself except in city areas where a new 560-zone sign is posted on city limits.[2]

Autopass (stylized as autoPASS) is a Norwegian electronic toll collection system. It allows collecting road tolls automatically from cars. It uses electronic radio transmitters and receivers operating at 5.8 GHz (MD5885) originally supplied by the Norwegian companies Q-Free and Fenrits. Since 2013, Kapsch and Norbit supplied the transponders.[3] In 2016, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration revealed that they had chosen Norbit and Q-Free as suppliers of Autopass-transponders for the next four years.[4]

Contracts with vehicle owners are made with private competing companies beginning in 2022. Autopass, as a national company, only handles the technology. A contract, in general, gives a 20% discount for lightweight vehicles. Contracts and tags are compulsory for heavy vehicles. Foreign registered vehicles without a contract are handled by the EPASS24 company, which will track the owner and bill them. Owners are advised to register their vehicle with EPASS24 and pay to avoid extra costs. This includes foreign borrowed or rented vehicles. Customers with Norwegian rental vehicles can't make their contract with any AutoPASS provider but have to wait for the rental company to get the toll bill and charge the customer afterwards. Tolls are normally VAT-free because legally only the owner is responsible for tolls. The exception is rental cars, as charging the rental customer is legally seen as an extra rental fee.[citation needed]

Toll rings have generally used the "hour rule" since 2022, meaning that only one passage per hour is charged if the owner has a contract. Especially in Oslo and Tromsø, which have multiple ring roads, driving without a contract can be multiple times the cost compared to having a contract. Electric vehicles have a large discount, usually half price, in addition to the general 20% discount contract, but only if having a contract.[citation needed]

In 2022, AutoPASS left the EasyGo partnership, which means the AutoPASS tag is no longer valid in Denmark and Sweden unless the contract provider has such a validity.[5]

In 2019, more and more ferry crossings have also been using Autopass as a payment option through the "Autopass for Ferry" concept.[6] A few crossings are automatic, but most are still manual. Autopass tag holders may only pay for the vehicle at fully automatic crossings with a 10% discount. Those with a prepaid Autopass ferry account get a 50% (40% corporate) discount for vehicles and 17% for passengers at manual payment crossings. See https://www.autopassferje.no for more information.

  1. ^ "Ny mal for skilting i automatiske bomstasjoner (AB)". Vegdirektoratet. 2019.
  2. ^ "Ny mal for skilting i automatiske bomstasjoner (AB)". Vegdirektoratet. 2019.
  3. ^ "Her er den nye bompengebrikken". Tu.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  4. ^ Lynum, Sissel (2016-10-21). "Millionkontrakt til trøndersk elektronikkbedrift". adressa.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  5. ^ "The EasyGO collaboration ends 31.3.2022". AutoPASS. Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  6. ^ "Ferjer - AutoPASS". www.autopass.no. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.