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 toll. The system dispenses with collection of road tolls using road-side cash or payment card methods, and may be used in conjunction with "all electronic"

open road 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 ...

, to permit drivers without an

RFID 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 ...

device (often referred to as a "Tag") to use the toll road.

Technology

In a video tolling system the license plate number can be extracted from an image either by using

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 ...

(ANPR) technology or manual data-entry clerks. Video tolling is sometimes used in conjunction with "all electronic" open road tolling, to allow drivers without an

device (often referred to as a "Tag") to use the toll road. An all electronic system is a toll collection point that does not permit cash payment, and vehicle identification / toll collection is done using RFID or other electronic means. When video tolling is used in conjunction with all electronic systems, a fee is frequently added to the toll to offset the higher cost of processing video tolls. There are two forms of video billing: "registered" and "unregistered" accounts. In registered video billing, the motorist firsts register the vehicle's plates with the tolling agency prior to using the toll road. The toll system will then associate the plate images with the account and debit the amount of the toll from the account. Unregistered systems look up the vehicle registration information from a government motor vehicle registration database and send a bill to the address in the database. There may be an extra charge for the additional processing.

North America

The first video tolling system in North America was the

Highway 407 The following highways are numbered 407: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 407 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 407 * Ontario Highway 407 Costa Rica * National Route 407 Iceland * Route 407 (Iceland) Italy * State road 407 Japan * Japa ...

in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

. The 407 ETR system has struggled somewhat with accuracy and customer service issues, and recently settled a lawsuit related to potential incorrect charges on the system. Video Tolling systems are also being evaluated in the US, and TxDOT may have quietly deployed the first "Video Only" system on SH 121 in Dallas, but not without some controversy.

California

Video tolling is used as a secondary enforcement measure for vehicles not equipped with a

FasTrak FasTrak is the electronic toll collection (ETC) system used in the state of California in the United States. The system is used statewide on all of the toll roads, toll bridges, and high-occupancy toll lanes along the California Freeway and E ...

RFID transponder on the

toll roads 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 implemente ...

toll bridges A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

, and

high-occupancy toll lanes A high-occupancy toll lane (or HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a variable fee that is adjusted in response t ...

throughout California. When a vehicle does not have a transponder, or if a transponder is not detected at enforcement points, a violation enforcement system triggers a camera system that captures photos of the vehicle and its license plate for processing.

Europe

Austria

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

works system called ''ASFINAG'' (''Autobahnen-und-Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft''), the Austrian financing provider for and operator of motorways (''Autobahnen'') and expressways (''Schnellstraßen'') uses a video tolling system called Videomaut (''Video Toll''). It covers parts of three motorways which are subject to special tolls (''Sondermaut'') in addition to the regular tolls paid through a road-tax disc (''Vignette'') for vehicles with a total weight of no more than 3.5 metric tonnes.

Availability

Videomaut is available on the following routes: * A9 Pyhrn Motorway (''Pyhrnautobahn''), between Spital/Pyhrn and Ardning and between St. Michael and Übelbach, toll plaza of Bosruck * A10

Tauern The word ''Tauern'' () is German and originally meant 'high mountain pass' in the Austrian Central Alps, referring to the many bridleways and passes of the parallel side valleys of the River Salzach that cut into the mountain ranges. From the Midd ...

Motorway (''Tauernautobahn''), between Flachau and Rennweg, toll plaza of St. Michael i.L. * A13 Brenner Motorway (''Brennerautobahn''), between

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...

and Schönberg, toll plaza of Schönberg

Use and limitations

To use Videomaut, the user must buy a Videomaut ticket, either online or in person at an ASFINAG customer service centre or authorised point of sale. The route, number of travels, and the number plate of the car to be used must be specified. A Videomaut ticket is valid for one year from the date it is issued. When approaching a toll plaza, the user must enter the lane marked Videomaut and travel no faster than 15 km/h. The car's number plate is read and identified automatically, and the vehicle is allowed to pass. If the number plate cannot be read, or no valid Videomaut ticket is associated with the number plate, the user is directed into a regular toll lane and must show a copy of the receipt for the Videomaut ticket as proof of purchase to the toll cashier. The toll cashier verifies the validity of the ticket and allows the vehicle to continue or directs the driver to pay the special toll incurred if the ticket is invalid or has expired. Videomaut is available only to cars without a trailer which do not exceed a width of 2.3 metres and a total weight of 3.5 metric tonnes.

Fees and discounts

Videomaut tickets can be bought for a single or multiple passages or an unlimited number of passages for one year from the date the ticket is issued. Discounts are available to: * drivers holding road-tax discs that are valid for one year, * commuters, * military and alternative civilian service members, and * drivers with disabilities.

Poland

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

system called A4Go and AmberGo is available on two parts of highways: A4 on the section between Krakow and

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

and on A1 on the section between Rusocin and Nowa Wieś. Payment is a possible via few mobile applications for

IOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android: ''Autopay'', ''Skycash, AmberGo, A4Go''.

Australia

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 ...

, video tolling is a part of the

e-TAG e-TAG is a free-flow tolling electronic toll collection system used on all tollways throughout Australia. It was originally developed by Transurban for use on their CityLink tollway in the late 1990s, with the system since adopted by all tol ...

system, and is country-wide. The system was originally developed in the early 1990s, with the system since adopted by all electronic tolled roads, bridges and tunnels in Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Video Tolling Electronic toll collection Radio-frequency identification Articles containing video clips