IBM beats Capita to congestion charge contract

Transport for London (TfL) today announced that IBM has beaten incumbent provider Capita to operate the Congestion Charge scheme from 2009.

IBM will take over responsibility for the operation of the Congestion Charging and Low Emission Zone schemes from Capita in November that year, including payments and all customer contact channels technology, in a five-deal that includes an option to extend for a further five years.

And IBM's consortium partner, NCP Services, will be responsible for the schemes' enforcement.

IBM beat incumbent Capita, which has run the scheme since its inception in 2002, and a third alliance bidder, made of electronic systems vendor Thales, with Accenture and Vertex Data Science in a 12-month competitive tendering procurement process.

Graeme Craig, interim director of Congestion Charging at TfL said in a statement that IBM was selected because it "best meets TfL's operational and technical requirements".

"It was also the most economically advantageous, which is important as net proceeds from Congestion Charging are invested in transport within London," he said.

He added that TfL expect to continue its "excellent" working relationship with Capita during the final two years of its contract.

The Low Emissions Zone scheme to improve London's air quality is due to be launched in February 2008 and will use similar automatic number plate recognition technology already used to operate the Congestion Charge to monitor emissions from commercial vehicles.

A TfL spokeswoman told IT PRO TfL are looking to take advantage of IBM's economically advantageous bid that would allow for the development of more flexible congestion charging technology with automated and account-based payments.

Paul Robb, IBM Public Sector executive added that, "IBM will bring its transformational capabilities and extensive experience of road charging and intelligent transportation systems" to bear in this deal.

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