Multi-lane Free Flow Electronic Toll Collection System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing highway toll collection systems require vehicles to stop and pay manually, leading to high labor costs, wasted time, and increased air pollution, and fail to enable multi-lane free flow due to difficulties in toll collection and law enforcement.
Innovation Solution
A multi-lane free flow electronic toll collection system with an on-board unit (OBU) that provides pre-pay and post-pay services through specific communication ranges, using the IEEE 1609 communication protocol to facilitate intermittent and extended payment procedures, and captures vehicle identification information across multiple lanes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If vehicles stop at toll stations to pay manually, then toll collection can be performed, but labor cost increases and time is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated toll collection where vehicles pay tolls automatically through electronic communication between the OBU and roadside equipment without manual intervention. The vehicle simply passes through the toll station at normal speed while the system automatically identifies the vehicle, calculates the toll, and processes payment, eliminating the need for drivers to stop and interact with toll collectors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual payment process with an electronic communication system. Instead of physical cash transactions and manual barrier operations, the system uses radio frequency communication (DSRC or cellular) between the OBU in the vehicle and roadside equipment to transmit identification and payment information, automatically control barriers, and log transactions.
2Ease of operation
If automated ETC system is deployed, then manual labor cost decreases, but multi-lane free flow cannot be accomplished due to difficulty in toll collection and law enforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from lane-specific toll collection to a multi-dimensional approach where vehicles in multiple lanes can be simultaneously identified and billed. The roadside equipment captures images of vehicles across multiple lanes and uses recognition algorithms to identify vehicles regardless of which specific lane they occupy, enabling free flow across multiple lanes without requiring vehicles to stay in designated lanes.
Solution Approach 2:
The roadside equipment is designed with multi-functionality to handle both toll collection and law enforcement tasks. The same image capture and recognition system serves dual purposes: identifying vehicles for automated billing and providing law enforcement with vehicle identification data, thereby enabling the system to adapt to multiple functions without requiring separate specialized systems.
3Productivity
If vehicles do not stick to specific lanes, then free flow is achieved, but identification and payment processing becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs feedback mechanisms where the roadside equipment continuously captures images of vehicles and compares them against the database of registered vehicles. The system receives feedback from the image recognition process to confirm successful identification, and if identification fails or is ambiguous, the system can request additional verification or flag the vehicle for manual review, ensuring accurate identification even when vehicles change lanes.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic toll collection (ETC) system and an on board unit (OBU) thereof are provided. The ETC system includes a toll collection module and an identification module. The toll collection module provides a pre-pay service and a post-pay service such that the OBU on a vehicle can make a toll payment in response to one of the pre-pay service and the post-pay service. The identification module captures an image of the vehicle and provides an identification service to the OBU to obtain an identification information of the vehicle.