For operators, such an attitude, paired with lax toll payment evasion laws, often results in major revenue leakage in the form of ignored bills, unpaid invoices, and uncollected fares.<\/p>\n
The traditional response of authorities and road concessionaires is hiring more staff for stricter monitoring or adding barriers for restricting road access. Yet more often than not, such measures drive only marginal improvements while further antagonizing drivers.<\/p>\n
Is there a way to make road tolling more effective and customer-oriented? New intelligent tolling solutions attempt to do so.<\/p>\n
How intelligent tolling systems can solve pressing industry problems<\/h2>\n
Fare collection, road condition monitoring, incident detection, and rule enforcement are among the most common challenges of toll operators.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how emerging technologies help create leaner operating models for road operators and better experiences for road users.<\/p>\n
Minimized revenue leakage<\/h3>\n
Subpar toll collection processes, low workforce efficiency, and aging technologies stand behind pervasive revenue leakage among toll operators.<\/p>\n
What is driving leakage?<\/b><\/p>\n
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Source: Traffic Technology Today \u2013 KPMG study shows toll operators losing revenue to inefficiencies and leakage<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In particular, operators lose money due to:<\/p>\n In other words, legacy toll systems paired with suboptimal operating models stand in the way of yield maximization.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a cautionary tale from the Pennsylvania road authority, who switched to All-Electronic Tolling in 2020 while laying off most of its human staff. The same year, its volume of uncollected tolls surged by 50%<\/a>, reaching $155 million. Turnpike cameras couldn\u2019t effectively detect obscured or faded license plates, resulting in failures to collect payment.<\/p>\n Overall, across the top 40 toll authorities<\/a> by revenue in the US, over $20 billion in revenue remains owed each year, of which $2.24 billion is never collected due to paper-based invoicing and ineffective account conversion processes.<\/p>\n A new generation of intelligent tolling solutions relies on advanced vehicle recognition technologies powered by computer vision. Apart from scanning license plates, such systems can evaluate other vehicle features to identify the model and driver. Modern systems also support multiple contactless payment methods, ranging from card taps to in-car wallet payments powered by NFC connectivity.<\/p>\n With such a setup, toll road operators can collect payments on the fly to avoid both queues and the costly process of chasing non-payers.<\/p>\n Most drivers see toll payments as a necessary evil. But is there a way to increase drivers\u2019 tolerance for tolls?<\/p>\n A study<\/a> conducted in Spain found that the acceptability of road pricing schemes is determined by three groups of factors:<\/p>\n In other words: Drivers are most reluctant to pay when they see little value. And that\u2019s the type of perception you can work with by applying various principles of behavioral economics such as framing<\/a> and optimism biases<\/a>.<\/p>\n For example, intelligent toll systems can be used to implement a price guarantee option. Drivers are more willing to pay when a toll road is less congested and offers a shorter travel time relative to alternative routes.<\/p>\n Toll operators can supply drivers with real-time congestion data prior to entry and offer refunds or discounts when the traffic density proves higher in reality. Such pricing models can entice more drivers to use express toll lanes, as they can be reassured by the guaranteed travel time.<\/p>\n An analysis by the Southeastern Transportation Research<\/a>, Innovation, Development and Education Center of price guarantee strategies found that such an option can help operators secure higher revenue while maintaining desired service levels and enhancing the experience of travelers.<\/p>\n On the technology side, dynamic toll road pricing can be implemented with real-time traffic data processing by machine learning (ML) models.<\/p>\n Other dynamic pricing models made possible by intelligent tolling systems include time-of-day pricing, distance-based fees, and pricing based on a vehicle\u2019s greenhouse gas emission levels. Speaking of which\u2026<\/p>\n A well-optimized toll road network, especially in urban areas, can help contain pollution levels at desired targets.<\/p>\n New tolling solutions can help with:<\/p>\n New tolling systems come equipped with sensing technology for collecting environmental data such as noise, emission, and vibration levels. For instance, Darmstadt University recently partnered with Virtonic<\/a> for a project in which researchers installed a network of fixed and mobile measuring units to capture environmental and traffic flow data. With the obtained data, the team works on creating a vision for resource-optimized transport infrastructure and sustainable mobility operations.<\/p>\n Fleet electrification<\/a> has also increased the need for new billing solutions for en route EV charging infrastructure<\/a>, such as emerging electric highways. Establishing effective payment collection for en-route charging will help road operators fund new construction projects and further promote EV adoption.<\/p>\n So what makes a tolling system intelligent<\/em>?<\/p>\n It’s a combination of six new technologies:<\/p>\n Sensor technology went from prohibitively expensive to largely affordable over the last decade. Road operators now have a wide range of options to choose from:<\/p>\n All of these allow for recording ample road data, ranging from traffic direction and cruising speed to road vibrations. Being internet-connected, such devices can process some of this data on the edge to make instant decisions (such as to detect speed violations) and dispatch extra intel to connected business systems (such as an intelligent transportation system<\/a>).<\/p>\n For example, 2D Lidar sensors are low-cost, high-performance, and durable solutions for tolling gantries. Overhead sensing solutions can scan passing vehicles with high precision, automatically determining their size and weight and adjusting pricing accordingly. Such systems can also detect lane straddlers and lane changers with high accuracy, meaning you can easily impose fines on the go.<\/p>\n For example, Lidar hardware manufacturer Cepton and Red Fox ID co-developed a new multi-lane, free-flow tolling system called Quantum. The system can detect, track, and classify vehicles on highways under any weather conditions with 99.96% accuracy. With Quantum<\/a>, road operators can bill customers in real time with free-flow, barrier-free tolling.<\/p>\n Legacy tolling systems rely on two communication standards:<\/p>\n But these aren\u2019t ideal options. The first problem is that systems based on DSRC and GNSS technology run on special-purpose infrastructure with significant capital investments and fixed costs. The second is that these standards don\u2019t always provide accurate vehicle position data and don\u2019t provide any controls for ensuring toll compliance.<\/p>\n 5G connectivity standards such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low latency communication (uRLLC) are coming as alternative solutions.<\/p>\n eMBB can enable throughput speeds of up to 20 Gbps, which will enable new data-driven experiences. uRLLC promises as little latency as one millisecond and high network reliability. With better connectivity, intelligent tolling solutions will be able to process more complex data to enable new road applications \u2014 from real-time toll monitoring to vehicle tracking<\/a>.<\/p>\n 5G-enabled connected vehicles<\/a> also produce extra data that operators can leverage. For example, you can implement pricing based on actual emissions data, vehicle weight, or traffic conditions.<\/p>\n 5G can also make roads safer by enabling real-time communication among vehicles and smart road infrastructure. For example, server can send automatic updates to nearby vehicles when the car suddenly brakes or alert passing vehicles when another car stops on the road. It can also share this information with a transport management system so that road operators can orchestrate a fast response, such as by updating information on driving conditions or alerting authorities about an accident.<\/p>\n DEKRA and Telef\u00f3nica are testing how such systems can be implemented with a secure 5G connection. The two companies ran a successful pilot<\/a> in Malaga, Spain, and managed to achieve a latency of milliseconds. Extra security is achieved by using a public key infrastructure (PKI) integrated into the cyber-security node of the European Commission.<\/p>\n Vehicle-to-everything (V2X)<\/a> communication is the ultimate destination for most 5G mobility projects.<\/p>\n Advanced connectivity could enable faster and more secure data exchanges between connected cars and connected road infrastructure \u2014 tolling gantries, smart traffic lights<\/a>, parking machines, CCTV cameras, weather monitoring systems, and digital signage, among other assets.<\/p>\n\n
Better user experience<\/h3>\n
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Better environmental outcomes<\/h3>\n
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6 tech components of intelligent toll systems<\/h2>\n
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IoT and sensing technology<\/h3>\n
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5G wireless connectivity<\/h3>\n
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V2X connectivity<\/h3>\n
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