Intelligent Mechatronic Systems (IMS) a leading connected car services and analytics provider to governments, insurers and enterprises, was awarded Washington state’s first road usage charge project. Through the project, participants will get access to IMS’ award-winning DriveSync connected car services with billing provided through A-to-Be’s MoveBeyond back office platform.
Governments are embracing road usage charge technology as a result of dwindling fuel taxes currently used to fund road maintenance. This continual shift is the result of consumer demand for fuel efficient vehicles, including hybrid and electric sources. With road usage charging, participants pay for actual mileage driven – a more sustainable and fairer approach to collecting revenue. Washington’s road usage project will provide learnings to assist state policy and future road infrastructure planning. Data collected from participants and analyzed by IMS will provide Washington with rich driving insights used to improve the quality and safety of their roads. Participants who sign up with IMS’ DriveSync offering will also access premium connected car services including intelligent roadside assistance, smart vehicle repair estimates, smart parking finder, incident assistance, Top Driver leaderboard challenges and more.
“We are delighted that the state of Washington has awarded IMS the opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in another important road usage charge project. This new project builds upon our strong road usage charging successes, including deployments in Oregon and California,” said Dr. Ben Miners, Vice President of Innovation at IMS. “This opportunity also enables IMS and A-to-Be to showcase our unique capability to work across neighboring countries and adjacent states.”
“This project is leveraging A-to-Be’s experience in providing leading road authorities with financially sustainable solutions covering more than 2,000 miles on over 20 different highways worldwide,” said Tim McGuckin, CEO of A-to-Be. “The combined expertise that IMS and A-to-Be bring to road usage charge programs will deliver a seamless experience to Washington state participants.”
Washington state’s project will go live January 2018 and is currently recruiting participants. Governments interested in leveraging IMS’ DriveSync connected car platform.