Benefits of RFID technology for continuous payment capture

From August 1st, all highways in Vietnam will be switched to Electronic Continuous Toll Service (ETC). Currently, the two most widely used continuous toll collection technologies in the world are RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication). In particular, DSRC technology is widely used in Europe and Singapore, and RFID is mainly used in the rest of the countries.

Both technologies have advantages and disadvantages, but the Ministry of Transport rated RFID technology as suitable for Vietnam’s culture and transport environment based on three advantages: accurate identification level, high, low cost, and ease of installation and deployment.

The system consists of an RFID reader located at the long gate of the toll station and an RFID identification card attached to the vehicle’s headlights or mirror. If the vehicle passes the station, the scanner recognizes it based on the ID and calculates the corresponding amount. This technology allows you to receive devices in any weather, smoke and dust with up to 98% accuracy. The service installation fee charged to Vietnam Digital Traffic Co., Ltd. customers. (VDTC) is currently only VND 120,000.

Installation and maintenance are also very easy, just stick the card on the mirror or car lights, no need to wait for the source of devices like DSRC. Cost benefits and ease of installation make it easy to deploy and expand the service nationwide.

The implementation of toll collection, which has not yet stopped, has also achieved some results. Within 6 months (July-December 2020), VDTC will work with BOT investors to successfully implement the ETC project of automatic toll collection at 35 toll stations across the country and manage 21 stations directly. Service penetration has increased from 26% to 75%, placing Vietnam among the top 10 countries with the highest number of automatic toll collection vehicles in the region.

After the system was implemented, the number of employees working at the VDC receiving stations was significantly reduced – from 30-40 people to just 15 people per station. The pass rate (terminal card recognition rate) of vehicles passing through the station reached 98.3 percent, exceeding the target of 98 percent. Purpose. This class also implements transaction verification and validation tools that apply machine learning models and artificial intelligence. This automatically verifies 90% of transactions later, helping to reduce time, staff and operational costs.

Currently, the worldwide collection systems for continuous payments can be divided into 4 levels. Where Vietnam is in the first phase, which is the collection of taxes with obstacles and prepayment. At higher levels, barriers and prepayment rules are gradually removed. Phase 4 will expand the service to multiple lanes, eliminating tollbooths and islands entirely and only installing long racks to accommodate passing vehicles.

A VDC spokesman said the technology installed in this unit is now ready to be upgraded to Level 4. In addition, RFID can solve more dynamic tolling problems, such as B. daily, hourly, repeated vehicle movements across the site. In the intelligent transport ecosystem, when the technology is developed to the fourth level, toll collection can be used to control the traffic situation and reduce congestion in big cities.

However, in order to implement automatic payment collection in Section 4 of certain map coverage conditions (more than 80% marked vehicles), a management system is required to collect and penalize bad debt cases. Interest related to the risk factor for bad debt or freight pickup.

“In addition to reducing capital, operational and labor costs, adopting Level 4 payments has significant benefits in terms of reducing site disruption, customer churn and reflections,” said VTTC.

According to the operator, the seamless road toll system also had some problems in the initial phase of implementation, such as card errors and technical errors in the BOT investors’ terminal system. In some cases, the error can be significant, such as B. on wet roads, where many points create a reflection phenomenon.

Vehicle owners need to check their balance sheet, check the declared distance and also check the condition of the vehicle while passing through the ETC tollbooth so users don’t have any trouble to claim the service. Location. If the card is damaged or damaged by a physical impact, it is important that you contact the service provider for instructions on how to re-attach the card.

Hey Fung