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Asia-Pacific Road User Charging Alliance Launched at Smart Mobility Summit 2025

In a major milestone for international collaboration in transport innovation, the ITS India Forum, in partnership with ITS Taiwan, ITS Thailand, and ITS New Zealand, officially launched…

In a major milestone for international collaboration in transport innovation, the ITS India Forum, in partnership with ITS Taiwan, ITS Thailand, and ITS New Zealand, officially launched the Asia-Pacific Road User Charging Alliance (APRuCA) during the Smart Mobility Summit 2025. The formation of this alliance reflects a growing consensus among Asia-Pacific nations to jointly address the evolving challenges of sustainable infrastructure financing, road usage equity, and digital tolling transformation.

The alliance aims to provide a multilateral platform for structured knowledge exchange, cross-border research, pilot collaboration, and harmonized policy frameworks related to Road User Charging (RUC) and next-generation mobility pricing strategies. APRuCA will serve as a central knowledge-sharing network that brings together transport authorities, research institutions, industry leaders, and policy think tanks across the region.

Objectives of APRuCA:

• Facilitate regional cooperation on the development and deployment of RUC systems using advanced digital technologies such as GPS-based tolling, blockchain for secure payment processing, and AI-driven traffic volume forecasting.
• Promote interoperable and scalable RUC models tailored to the socioeconomic realities of developing and developed countries alike.
• Support governments in formulating national policies and legislation for equitable, efficient, and transparent road user payment systems.
• Organize joint workshops, policy roundtables, and innovation challenges to advance shared understanding and best practices among member countries.
• Enable pilot testing of transnational use-cases such as cross-border freight tolling and smart corridor pricing mechanisms.

The alliance launch was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), NITI Aayog, international ITS associations, and private sector technology partners. The ITS India Forum has been a key driving force behind APRuCA, advocating for intelligent pricing models that balance sustainability, user accountability, and infrastructure lifecycle management.

Speaking at the summit, Mr. Akhilesh Srivastava, President of ITS India Forum, emphasized the significance of collaborative pricing systems in a rapidly motorizing region:
“The launch of APRuCA is a visionary step toward enabling fair and smart mobility pricing across the Asia-Pacific. As countries invest heavily in infrastructure, we must also ensure that usage models are data-driven, equitable, and adaptable to future transport ecosystems.”

The alliance is expected to play a vital role in guiding the development of India’s national Road User Charging framework, particularly for urban tolling, congestion pricing, electric vehicle road usage schemes, and green corridor monetization.

The ITS India Forum will act as the regional anchor organization for APRuCA initiatives in South Asia and will host the inaugural APRuCA Policy & Innovation Forum later this year, where member nations will present their national RUC roadmaps and pilot experiences.