Title: ROAD USER CHARGING: FROM POLICIES TO TECHNOLOGIES
Abstract:Up to 5 years ago, the mainstream technology for electronic toll collection was Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) and its near relation, Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI). Schemes based ...Up to 5 years ago, the mainstream technology for electronic toll collection was Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) and its near relation, Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI). Schemes based on these formed the backbone of national charging systems in Europe, North and South Americas and South East Asia. Standards were publicly available and these technologies were considered to be a safe solution for tolling. Europe and North America had already deployed regional interoperable schemes. However, the fiscal and economic policies that once supported tolls have also evolved: the decline in revenues from gas tax, increased vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and the unchecked rise in congestion in cities are forcing governments to rethink charges for road usage. Road User Charging (RUC) is now firmly on the public agenda. National governments and highway operators are now faced with the broadest possible choice of technology options including: Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, Electronic Vehicle Identification (EVI), the humble odometer and, the emergence of the electronic tachograph. Enforcement regimes now depend on image-based evidential capture rather than barriers. Toll plazas are also being replaced by Open Road Tolling (ORT) and Multi Lane Free Flow (MLFF) solutions. New, emerging policies are identified based on international precedence and suggests that the traditional approach to technology selection will need to adapt accordingly. An emerging policy shift towards distance-based charging with charges differentiated by road type and location is well-matched with the capability of GNSS. The continuing use of point charging schemes (i.e. charges to use 'conventional' toll roads) suggests that DSRC-type functionality will remain desirable. Operationally, the current preference towards separately developed, vertically-integrated schemes does not recognise the benefits of the economies of scale that could be realised through facility sharing, cooperative procurements based on a common set of rules and common legislation for enforcement. For the covering abstract see ITRD E140665.Read More
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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