RFID Tolling-Impact and Challenges

Sandeep Channan

Manager – Business Development Road

Operations, Egis India

 

 

 

 

India currently has a quite a few of standalone ETC systems installed on various projects across India. I feel ETC is more useful in urban areas due to the ease of passage and time constraints with the road users. In semi-urban areas, mostly the daily users, both personal and commercial, give a mixed response. However it is also observed that people still have some reluctance in adapting to RFID-based ETC systems as most of the NHAI plazas don’t have dedicated lanes for ETC. The systems are not rugged and fault free because mostly low cost equipment is procured. Therefore if an ETC reader fails, usually the commuter has to spend more time than he/ she would have spent on a cash lane.

As a test run the first interoperable RIFD-based electronic toll system in India was done on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai National Highway. The test run was on IRB’s toll plazas at Charoti, Bhagwada, Boriach and Choriyasi, NHAI toll plaza at Narmada Bridge and L&T IDPL Plaza at Karjan, Vadodara. The systems used there, according to my information, are of good quality. One of the companies participating in this test run mentioned that in a interoperable condition the commercial vehicles commuting regularly on this stretch had shown a lot of acceptability.

Earlier, RFID was not considered a very reliable technology and in most of the countries, microwave technology was more prevalent. However, in the past few years there have been considerable improvements in the technology which has not only become more reliable but also offers big cost savings on the tag cost. NHAI has adapted EPC Gen 2, ISO 18000-6C technology for ETC on Indian highways.

RFID based tolling has many advantages: it is less sensitive to adverse conditions and reduces inventory control & provisioning costs because 6C tags are so much less expensive than tags based on proprietary systems and require no maintenance. It also reduces warranty claim processing costs and is battery free.

Among the challenges to implement uniform RFID systems throughout the country are issues such as how reliable is the technology, bringing all the concessionaires, users and government agencies together on a common financially viable model and acceptability by commuters to pay upfront a minimum amount for an untested utility.

Surendranath M

Head-MDV Trucks

Ashok Leyland

RFID tolling is good news for the Indian tolling industry. It will save fuel, time and avoid long queues at tolling plazas. It would be good if there are rebates / discounts for frequent toll users. Ashok Leyland has plans for introducing RFID tags on truck and bus chassis though there are no plans for RFID tags on vehicle window panes as of now.

Vineet Agarwal

Managing Director

Transport Corporation of India

 

 

 

 

 The majority of Indian toll plazas employ manual tolling systems. Being a part of the logistics and supply chain business for over many years now, we have been facing the disadvantages of the manual tolling which is expensive and not at all time effective. Manual toll collection is also a slow process, leading to congestion and long queues of vehicles at toll plazas.

The TCI IIMC 2012 Joint Study report found that the average waiting time on high volume routes before a vehicle can pay the toll and leave is almost 10 minutes. Key routes data also showed that toll delays and toll expenses as a percentage of total stoppage delays and total stoppage expenses, respectively, had increased in 2011-12 over 2008-09, indicating the requirement of a thorough analysis of the toll collection process and toll structure.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an essential technology which will not only saves time and cost, but also ensures the safety of vehicles. RFID ensures non-stop, hands-free revenue collection with automatic billing. It provides seamless interoperability with many local and regional RFID-tagged vehicles already in the field. It leads to increased fleet visibility, enhanced dispatch capabilities, reduced kerbside congestion and decreased carbon emissions. Entry and exit of vehicles at toll plazas are much quicker. Only authorized vehicles are allowed entry and exit and error prone manual data entry is avoided. Paper logs and computer keying for saving data are eliminated. It also ensures high security due to tamper resistant tags which prevent cloning and fast and accurate crash reporting. The only disadvantage will be when the technology stops working.

With the increasing traffic congestion, RFID is the future of the tolling in the country. The TCI IIMC Joint Study also proposes to expedite the toll collection process. India should gradually move towards ETC because it will also reduce operating costs for toll operators and plug revenue leakage.

However, there are some concerns such as cost implications for users and toll operators, inter-operability of different ETC systems which need to be addressed before ETC can be widely implemented. The Committee, set up by the Government and chaired by Mr. Nandan Nilekani, recommended the use of the passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which is not only fast becoming the popular global standard, but is also less expensive and less complex to implement. Implementation of ETC will not only reduce toll delays, but also reduce fuel consumption and environmental pollution. To address the issue of rationalizing the toll structure, an independent regulatory authority needs to be set up.