PROJECT CLOSURE

Taking a Toll
SUBMITTED BY: GROUP 8
M.R. DINESH (13141)
KRISHNA KUMAR L. (13028)
VIVEK NARAYANAN (13061)
MOHIT BEHAL (13095)

SUBMITTED TO:
PROFESSOR SUDHIR SOSALE

1. Introduction
Germany is a hub for international commercial trucks as it is centrally located in Europe.
Increased truck traffic began straining the country's transportation infrastructure, and the
government decided to create a toll system based on distance for trucks that carry 12 tons or
more weight.
After a bidding session for the project, Toll Collect GmbH, a Berlin based company (which was
a joint-venture of Deutsche Telekom and DaimlerChrysler), was commissioned to build a
system that could calculate distance-based tolls without booths along the motorways.
Switzerland and Austria opted for relatively cheap, simple systems based on microwaves, but
the German system was technologically superior and relied on Global Positioning System
(GPS) and mobile telecommunications to track vehicles.
1.1 Chronology: (Gray F. Clifford, 2009)

Kickoff Date: September 2002

Proposed Deadline: 31 August 2003
Revised Deadline: 2 November 2003
Cancelled: February 2004

1.2 Objective of the project:

Create a new electronic truck toll-collection system to ensure accurate charges and
convenient fee collection across all German motorways for trucks 12 tons or more.
1.3 ROI:
The environmentally friendly system was meant to bring down road maintenance costs and
provide additional funding for improving the technology infrastructure.

2. Key issues:
1

Issue#1: Increased truck traffic began straining the country's transportation

infrastructure.

Issue #2: Make international trucks that carry cargo weight over 12 tons using German
road infrastructure assist in paying for the road maintenance and additional new
infrastructure.

Issue #3: Create a new electronic truck toll-collection system that ensures accurate
charges and easy fee collection across German, Swiss, and Austrian highways.

3. Solution:

Build a GPS based system capable of calculating distance-based tolls without booths
along the motorways.

4 Implementation challenges:

Scheduling: Their deadlines were unrealistic.

Software glitches: Their software application calculated incorrect distances, incorrect toll
charges & crashed unexpectedly. There was no pilot testing conducted for the
application. (Cleaver, 2004)
Communication issues: The different teams involved in the project were not
communicating in tandem. Rumors began circulating that the project was in trouble.
Suppliers and buyers struggled to communicate openly to finish the system
development.
Risk estimation issues: Risk was not properly estimated for a project of this scale and
ambition. There was no backup plan nor was there any forethought at the beginning of
the project regarding the failure.

5 Impact:

28000 units were recalled.

Technical glitches pushed back the project completion date twice.
The delay cost 156 million (US$194 million) per month in lost revenue. (launch-caseanalysis-taking-toll-4179, 2004)

Bibliography:
2

Cleaver, H. (2004, February 19). The Telegraph. Retrieved from telegraph.co.uk:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1454809/Germans-feelshame-as-computerised-road-toll-system-flops.html

Gray F. Clifford, L. W. (2009). Project Management 4E (Sie). Tata McGraw-Hill

Education.

launch-case-analysis-taking-toll-4179. (2004, - -). Retrieved from www.pmi.org:

http://www.pmi.org/learning/launch-case-analysis-taking-toll-4179