Automated Electronic Tolling
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) is a technology that allows for electronic payment of highway tolls. ETC systems use vehicle-to-roadside communication technologies to perform an electronic monetary transaction between a vehicle passing through a toll station and the toll agency. ETC equipment can take the place of a human toll collector who manually collects tolls at tollbooths. In addition, it allows such transactions to be performed while vehicles travel at highway cruising speed.
To see a short animation of a proposed ETC facility in Florida, click here. (Real Player MPEG)
BENEFITS
- Increase in toll lane capacity
- Reduction in motorist waiting time
- Convenience for toll payers
- Fuel savings and a decrease in mobile emissions by reducing or eliminating waiting times
- Reduction in toll collection costs and enhancement of audit control by centralizing user accounts
TECHNOLOGIES USED
- Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) - The AVI component of an ETC system refers to the technologies that determine the ownership of the vehicle so that the toll will be charged to the corresponding customer. AVI technologies include: Electronic Tags, Roadside Antennas, Roadside Readers and Communications. Most current systems including Virginia’s Smart Tag and E-ZPass tags rely on radio-frequency identification (RFID), where an antenna at the toll gate communicates with a transponder on the vehicle via Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC).
- Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) – A v ehicle’s class can be determined by the physical attributes of the vehicle, the number of occupants in the vehicle, the vehicle’s emissions, and the purpose for which the vehicle is being used at the time of classification. The AVC component of an ETC system consists of in-lane sensor devices that record the physical characteristics of vehicles.
- Video Enforcement Systems (VES) - When used for ETC, the video enforcement system (VES) captures images of the license plates of vehicles that pass through an ETC tollbooth without a valid ETC tag.
- Video Positioning Systems (VPS) - A new generation of ETC systems is based upon Vehicle Positioning Systems (VPS) technology. A vehicle positioning system on-board unit uses an autonomous positioning system such as a global positioning (GPS) system to locate itself within a charge area or network. This new system has been tested in Australia, Denmark, the UK, Germany and Hong Kong.
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