Pakistan now joins the list of growing countries where RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based electronic toll collection is in use. For now it has been introduced on Peshawar – Islamabad M1 and Islamabad – Lahore M2 Motorways. This technology allows the vehicles to pass through toll booths without stopping and toll amount is automatically deducted from the money account on record.
Here is how the system works. An RFID tag (transponder) is now available free-of-cost to motorists using Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar toll plazas. This tag is attached to a car’s wind shield.
News appearing to this effect in Dawn of November 7, 2007 says:
“Those who want to secure the RFID tag will be required to submit full particulars about their person, details of bank account and some other information. The NHA (National Highway Authority) staff posted at the plazas for selling of the tag will register all such details in their system.â€
On toll plazas, RFID Readers with antennas have been installed. When a vehicle approaches a toll plaza, the RFID Reader Antenna communicates wirelessly with the RFID tag located in the vehicle wind shield. At highway speeds (in excess of 100 kmph), the system identifies the car and charges the correct amount of toll to the bank account on record. The system which is installed in Pakistan, a vehicle will still have to stop at a booth but no human transaction between the vehicle occupants and toll booth operator is needed. I believe it is definitely a step in positive direction. It will reduce waiting lines at toll booths and save fuel.
Following is another excerpt from the original news that appears in Dawn of November 7, 2007.
“A very interesting feature of the new system is that the required amount would be electronically deducted from the bank account of the motorist. The e-toll will also have a fast tracking system installed which will detect wrong information givers. As such, in case there is no amount in the account of the person concerned the NHA electronic system will recognize it and signal stop by flashing the red light and the bar would not be lifted.â€
It appears in the news that after initial deployment at Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar toll plazas, the system will be extended to all toll plazas located on the motorways M1, M2 and M3.
The electronic toll system in Pakistan has been introduced by NHA (National Highway Authority) in collaboration with NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority).
Update: July 7, 2008:
This news update appears on July 7, 2008 in Jang. It shows 10210 vehicles have so far registered for the RFID tagged E-toll system on Pakistan Motorway Network.
References:
1. HyPass of Pakistan
2. National Highway Authority
3. National Database and Registration Authority
4. Title photo is from Wikipedia.com
@Owais: The people we talked to were certainly Mexican, maybe they have a US supplier.
Another RFID implementation is the Driving License which has not yet been implemented because of Police incompetency and their insistence on using an archaic system of issuing Licenses. The PVC Magnetic strip cards they use don’t carry any data and ups the cost of driving license quite a bit. Market price for plain PVC is about RS 20 compared to RS 50 for ones with magnetic strips.
A cheaper alternative is one we developed in-house of merging two Teslin (material used in ID cards) sheets which proves to be much cheaper, inks don’t wear off unlike the Islamabad Licences, and allows no extra setup costs as we already have printing facilities. The unit cost for a PVC printer was about RS 850,000.
Tina, I hope you’re not taking your donkey up on a trek to Murree.
@Shaji
Never heard of Mexican suppliers of RFID equipment. The 20-cent pricing for passive tags sounds about right. I don’t think anybody’s making any money at that price. Best passive tags in US also run around the same price range.
To get a valid read, a speed of 20 kmph is too slow. Something must be very wrong. The Mexican suppliers should be contacted. Most likely it is the antenna beam which is not allowing long enough dwell time to vehicles. A linearly polarized reader antenna may help. Usually 13 MHz frequency is used for toll system RFIDs as it is proved to be the best in this application. I don’t know at what frequency the Mexican equipement is working?
For those who are opposing the project, I want to comment that RFID is the future. Pakistan is already a late arrival. It is not for rich people only. The tag price is as low as a commodity price. just few cents. Even in Pakistan, it is being given for FREE.
Motorways are the backbone of a country’s economy. If freight can move from Karachi to Peshawar in 18 hours then everyone benefits. rich and poor both. Faster communication infrastructure is the basis for economic development.
For the commentor who said the tag is too big; the photo in this article is from wikipedia and it is not the Pakistani system tag. The tag being used in Pak is passive and must be much smaller in size. it won’t block a driver’s view.
That is the good technology which is introduce in pk.
@Canadian:
The ones we tested were supplied by a Mexican company through their reps in Pakistan at about 20 cents (USD) per tag. Don’t know whether bureaucracy has kicked in in or not, but if they still went with these then the consumer cost would not be much.
@Nayab:
The price for the electronic age and interconnectivity is that no piece of information is isolated. Your ID info is linked to your phone records and to your bank accounts. The checks and balances in between allow one-way communication restricted and hardwired into the system, though they can still be breached.
Blaming a system won’t do much. Educating people on abuse of power might help.