Introduction to toll collection and management technologies such as Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), MLFF, RFID, ANR, and ANRT

1. Dilum Bandara, PhD
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa
Dilum.Bandara@uom.lk
Some slides adopted from Dr. Chathura De Silva
TRF 2018, Aug 3, 2018

2. 2
Source: PAG Electronics
Source: http://www.ft.lk
Source: http://www.etc.vn

3. Today 2025
MTC
Stop-and-go
ETC
Single-lane
limited flow
MLFF
E01, OCH, CKE Only on CKE at present
May on E01, OCH when connected
Toll gates on entry/exit ramps
Front office staff
Facilitates vehicle entry control
Limited throughput
On-expressway gantries
Back-office monitoring
Violation detection instead of entry
control
High-throughput
A complete
transformation in
toll administration
3
Source: Dr. Chathura De Silva

4.  Public or private road for which a fee (or toll) is charged for passage
 Toll based on
 Distance traveled
 Time of day
 Vehicle type or no of axels
 Congestion level
 Types
 Closed systems – entry & exist gates
 Open systems
 Electronic Toll Collection (ETC)
 Enhanced convenience for drivers by enabling cashless toll collection
 Relatively fast
4

5. 5
Vehicle
Detection
Fare
Calculation
Payment
Automation through ETC

6. Manned Tollbooth
Systems
Self-Service
Automated Tollbooth
Systems
Unmanned
Wireless
Automated
Tollbooth Systems
Open Toll Roads
• Manual Toll
Collection (MTC)
• Stop & Go
• Easy to setup
• Cash based
• Slow
• Costly to operate
• Self service by driver
• Stop & Go
• Cash or card based
• More difficult to
setup
• Language &
technology barriers
• Slow
• Costly to operate
• Use preinstalled wireless transponders
• Or Automatic Number Plate Recognition
(ANR)
• Card based payments
• Costly to setup
• Single Lane
• Limited flow
(physical
constrains)
• Multi-lane
• Free flow
6

7. 7Source: http://daridawg.blogspot.com
Source: www.abelard.org

8. 8
Pros Cons
• Works better with single entry & single
exist
• No need of pre-registration
• Better privacy for drivers
• Language & technology barriers
• Slow & arbitrary delays
• Need exact amount or card-based
payment
• Sock management of pass cards or
tokens
• Pass card or token doesn’t have
information to bill in case of system
failure
• Human support is still need to address
issues & violators

9.  Based on RFID (Radio Frequency
ID)
 User identified through unique ID
 Can read & write data
 Difficult to counterfeit
 Modest cost
9
Source: root labs
Source: Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) System by Rohan S. Kale

10.  Omnidirectional antenna
 Use active RFID tags
 Battery could last for months
 Interaction time with 10m range
 @ 100 kmph – 720 ms
 @ 15 kmph – 4.8s
 Multi-tag reading with collision detection
 CKE (E03) recommends 20m inter-vehicle gap 10

11. 11

12. • World largest multi-lane free flow &
distance-based system
• Operational efficiencies
• Toll collection rate 99.8%
• System availability 99.992%
• Environmental benefits
• Petrol Saving > 120 million liters
• CO2 reduction > 290,000 tons
• Time Saving > 375,000 hrs/ Day
12
Source: FETC, Taiwan

13. 13Source: FETC, Taiwan

14. 14
Source: FETC, Taiwan

15. 15

16. 16
Pros Cons
• Supports limited or free flow
• Supports Multi-Lane Free Flow
(MLFW)
• Use on multiple vehicles
• Discounts for using ETC
• Electronic payment settlement
• Full activity logging
• Less chance of corruption
• Can use to estimate vehicle flow rate
• Manual is still need to support
vehicles without transponders
• Cost of transponder to driver
• Need pre-registration
• Borrowed & rented vehicles
• Vehicles on carriers
• Battery issues
• Same transponder should be useable
across all toll roads
• Privacy issues due to tracking
• Transponder could be hacked

17. 17
Source: wikipedia.org
Source: Plate.Vision
Source: roadtraffic-technology.com

18. 18
 Triggered by a laser that
detect vehicle
 Capture front & rear
number plates
 Number detected based on
optical character
recognition (OCR)
 Typically coupled with
number plat database
 Validation
 Vehicle type detection
Source: sensorlink.com.my

19.  Single & 2-lane detection
 25 - 35m detection range
 Detection up to 250 kmph
 Day & night time operation
 98%+ recognition rate
 Confidence level of ANR
 Speed, travel direction, vehicle class/brand detection
 Traffic flow estimation
 Images as evidence
 Video streaming
 Waterproof IP68
19
Source: siemens.com/mobility

20. 20
Pros Cons
• Supports Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFW)
• Works with any vehicle
• Number attached to vehicle not owner
• No prior registration needed
• No physical installation
• Electronic payment settlement
• Less chance of corruption
• Full activity logging
• Speed detection
• Can use to estimate vehicle flow rate
• Vehicles on carriers skipped
• Manual is still need to support
undetectable number plates
• Non-standard number plates
• Vehicles with trailers
• Not having a check digit for number
validation
• Privacy issues due to tracking
• Transponder could be hacked

21.  Wireless transponders are more wide-spread
 Recent developments of ANR technologies make them toll road ready
 Typically wireless transponder & ANR used together
 Number plate with RFID tag
 Taiwan RFID-based ETC
 GNSS: Truck Toll Germany
 Sri Lanka needs entry control due to three-wheelers & motor cycles
 Better public acceptance when more transparent & non-invasive
 Some manual intervention is still needed
 Faculty RFID tags
 Need to handle unregistered vehicles
 Undetectable number plates
 Be ready to work incase of system failure
 Interoperability across vehicles & road segments
 Use of existing networking (e.g., CCTV) & IT infrastructure
21

22. 22
Vehicle
Detection
Fare
Calculation
Payment
Automation through ETC

23.  Toll based on
 Distance traveled
 Time of day
 Vehicle type or axels
 Congestion level
23
Source: Electronic Toll Collection - Approaches, technologies,
experiences by Fritz Busch & Andreas Rau

24. 24

25. 25
Vehicle
Detection
Fare
Calculation
Payment
Automation through ETC

26. 26
Source: FETC, Taiwan

27. 27

28. 28
Source: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com

29.  Integrated system enables real-time
revenue data & statistics
 Prepaid
 CKK connects BoC accounts
 Cards
 Attach credit cards
 Should support contemporary potions
such as
 Online pre-paid
 Mobile Apps
 Mobile cash
 NFC-base touch cards
29
Source: http://www.midlink.ie

30. Key Design Considerations
 Suitability in short-term deployment
(MTC/ETC as in E01, OCH, & CKE) while
having scalability towards MLFF
 Compatibility among 4-sections in E01
extension & existing network
 Facilitate migration of existing systems,
compatible with present setup
 Facilitating vehicle entry control
 Objective vehicle identification &
classification through centralized
management
30
Vehicle Detection,
Classification, & Identification
Toll Accounting, Collection, &
Violation Detection
Toll Administration & Revenue
Monitoring
Manua
l
Passiv
e RFID
LR
RFID
ANR
Infrastructure compatibility with MLFF
SystemscalabilitytowardsMLFF
Scalable toll system: A layered approach
FrontendcomponentsCentralizedback-officefunctions
Source: Dr. Chathura De Silva

31. Camera recognize
vehicle no at entry
Registration number
is sent to central
server and
classification is
obtained
For ETC registered
vehicles, account
balance is displayed
Barrier opens & the
leaves
Classification is
obtained from RMV
database
Vehicle can be also
checked for other
parameters like
PR/Watch list,
payment of license
fees, insurance, etc.
Camera
recognize
vehicle no at
exit
Based on registration
no and entry record
toll is computed
ETC vehicles: Toll is
deducted & balance
is displayed
MTC vehicles: Toll is
collected by operator
Barrier opens if the
vehicle is permitted
to enter
Central monitoring
room provides
integrated dashboard
for all aspects
1
2
4
3
5
6
7
9
8
Entry Exit
Source: Dr. Chathura De Silva
5
31

32.  ETC & ANR technologies are quite mature
 ANR still needed & essential with MLFF
 However, solution should match particular countries context
 Non-standard vehicles
 Three-wheelers & motor cycles
 Should be compatible with existing & proposed infrastructure
 Support phased migration
 Public acceptance though transparency, non-invasive, &
flexibility
 Manual operation to classify unclassified or undented vehicles
32