e-TAG is a

free-flow tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The m ...

electronic toll collection system used on all

tollway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

s throughout

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It was originally developed by

Transurban Transurban is a road operator company that manages and develops urban toll road networks in Australia, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Transurban is the full owner of CityLink in Melbour ...

for use on their

CityLink CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Australia, linking the Tullamarine, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two exi ...

tollway in the late 1990s, with the system since adopted by all toll roads, bridges and tunnels in Australia. The technology had different names depending on the issuer, such as Breeze ( Eastlink Melbourne),

Linkt Linkt is Transurban's e-TAG tolling brand in Australia. Linkt first replaced the Roam Express brand in Sydney in 2017, followed by the go via brand in Queensland in May 2018, and then the Citylink brand (tolling system only) in Melbourne in ...

(Transurban, includes former names E-way and go via), and E-toll (

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

). However, these are all interchangeable across Australia and no surcharges apply for use on other operators' toll roads. Toll roads in Australia use

, with no toll booths along the entire length of the system to impede traffic flow. Australia was one of the first countries in the world to have complete, surcharge-free interoperability between rival tolling providers across different state roadway systems. In July 2007, both e-TAG and e-pass video tolling arrangements were introduced in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel,

Westlink M7 The Westlink M7 or M7 Motorway, formerly Western Sydney Orbital, is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney and is a part of the Sydney Orbital Network. Owned by the NorthWestern Roads (NWR) Group, it connects three motorways: M5 South-West Motorwa ...

Cross City Tunnel The Cross City Tunnel is a twin-road tunnel tollway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The tunnel links Darling Harbour on the western fringe of the central business district to Rushcutters Bay in the Eastern Suburbs. Each o ...

and the

Lane Cove Tunnel The Lane Cove Tunnel is an A$1.1 billion, 3.6 km twin-tunnel tollway in Sydney, Australia, which connects the M2 Motorway at North Ryde with the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon. It is owned by toll road operator Transurban and forms part ...

. This measure substantially eased traffic jams heading towards electronic gantries, providing increased convenience and time savings. In early 2009, the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

became toll-booth free, requiring e-TAGs to be used. There are over 850,000 e-TAG account customers, and over 1 million e-TAGs have been issued.

Technology

The e-TAG electronic tolling is based on

radio-frequency identification Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

(RFID)

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend word, blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a T ...

s using the

DSRC Dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) are one-way or two-way short-range to medium-range wireless communication channels specifically designed for automotive use and a corresponding set of protocols and standards. History In October 1999, ...

protocol. The system uses electronic transponders provided by

Kapsch The Kapsch Group, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, is an international corporation specializing in telematics, information technology and telecommunication. History and operations In September 1892, Johann Kapsch (1845–1921) founded a precisio ...

(called e-TAGs) mounted on the inside of the vehicles' windscreen. Gantries constructed over each carriageway record registration plates and detect the e-TAGs. As the vehicle continues along the toll road, additional gantries monitor the distance travelled. Associated software then determines the toll amount payable, which is automatically deducted from the prepaid account associated with the tag. Where a tag is not detected, the vehicle's registration is recorded using

video tolling Video tolling (sometimes referred to as video billing, toll by plate, pay by mail, or pay by plate) is a form of electronic toll collection, which uses video or still images of a vehicle's license plate to identify a vehicle liable to pay a road ...

technology which incorporates an

automatic number plate recognition Automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR; see also #Other names, other names below) is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. It can use existing close ...

system and checked against a government motor registration database. For infrequent use of the system a user can buy a Daypass – by phone, online, at any

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

outlet or at participating service stations. A Daypass can be bought in advance or afterwards (until midnight three days later). If payment has not been made after three days, the vehicle's registered owner will be sent a late toll invoice in the mail, and if the late toll invoice is then not paid a fine will be issued. In Victoria fines are issued by

Civic Compliance Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

. The life of the battery in an e-TAG transponder is approximately 5 years. Customers are advised when a device is about to expire and to contact the issuer should their e-TAG not beep as they pass a tolling gantry, to receive a replacement device.

References

{{Reflist

Official site

Roam Tolling Pty LtdTransurban Group
(Parent Company) Toll roads in Australia Electronic toll collection Driving in Australia

Technology

See also

References

Official site