Charging, Tolling & RUC

Wi-Fi solutions specialist Arada Systems has launched a comprehensive telematics 802.11p DSRC/WAVE system. The solution includes On-Board Units (OBUs), Road-Side Units (RSUs), battery-operated DSRC tolling tags, high-power 600mW embedded cards, as well as, the company states, the world's first SD-based DSRC card operating at 5.9GHz.

IRDSA (IRD South Asia), the wholly-owned subsidiary of International Road Dynamics (IRD) has signed three tolling contracts in India with a total value of over US$1.5 million.

TagMaster, the specialist producer of advanced RFID solutions for automatic vehicle identification (AVI) has announced that Siemens Mobility will use its long-range RFID readers and ID-tags as part of a solution for traffic management and Selective Vehicle Detection (SVD).

ASECAP's Kallistratos Dionelis asks whether, despite the best intentions at the policy level, the European Electronic Tolling System can ever hope to serve the customer in the way it is intended to. Reality doesn't just happen. In many ways, reality is created. We first create or produce a reality and then we consume it; this takes time and has a cost that needs to be covered.

Kapsch's Kjell Arnesson talks about the first multi-lane free-flow tolling project in South Africa. In South Africa, installation is ongoing as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) of the country's first Multi-Lane Free-Flow (MLFF) tolling system.

Electronic tolling systems have been in use for decades now. Worldwide, steadily more and more tolling systems are being set into operation, providing efficient means for traffic regulation and financing of infrastructure. But despite this maturity enforcement is still not being given the consideration it deserves. Q-Free's Steinar Furan writes

Q-Free has received its second multi-million dollar tag order from ETC, a joint venture led by Kapsch TrafficCom in South Africa, for use on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

The move to all-electronic fee collection should be encouraging tolling authorities to look again at whether their vehicle classification criteria and technologies remain at all appropriate. Bob Lees of Idris Technology writes

Philippe Hamet discusses the progress of the European Union's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System Project

Gothenburg, which is line to become Sweden's second major city to implement congestion charging, will not enjoy the pre-deployment trials and referendum which Stockholm did. But, says the STA's Eva Söderberg, this is less of an issue than might be imagined