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IoT & Cloud Based Vehicle Toll Collection
System
Neha Kapadia
Assistant Professor, IT Dept.,
Thakur College of Engineering & Technology,
Mumbai, India
Abstract-There was a popular approach to collect the toll
was, driver driving a vehicle has to stop and pay the toll
amount to toll collector who is sitting in a tollbooth.
However, it is now viewed as toll collection process is
unfeasible principally due to its adverse impact on traffic
flow and its high collection costs, not to mention its effects
on the environment. Different problems associated with
traditional toll collection methods urged sophistication in
the approach. After progressive developments resulting
mostly from flawed strategies, “Electronic” Toll Collection
(ETC) systems proved to suitably deal with the
shortcomings. Though many different ETC schemes are in
operation across the globe, the fundamental is to be able to
automate vehicle identification and assess tolls requiring
no action by the driver. This research was, therefore,
focused on studying the varied approaches to electronic
tolling while working towards a feasible solution. The
approach adopted for implementing the prototype
employed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The
basic idea was to work with RFID chips affixed at a corner
of the vehicle’s windshield. As the vehicle would pass
through the toll junction, the chip would be scanned by
RFID readers calibrated to the same frequency as the
chips, mounted on either end, and an ID, unique to each
chip, would be sent to the server via an on board WiFi
module. This ID would be used as an index to look up the
database, fetch the associated user’s details and assess the
toll accordingly. The user would also be notified of the
transaction via SMS and/or email. This would allow
speedy passage of vehicles eliminating the heavy
congestion. As an added benefit, this would also eliminate
the need for traditional book keeping by permitting
authorized personnel to access daily logs anywhere,
anytime. This would mean centralized control, improved
audit, vehicle tracking and more. An online portal was
also provisioned, allowing users to register themselves,
check their billing history, choose appropriate payment
methods, recharge their accounts or pay their dues.
Keywords-Internet of things (IoT), Automatic vehicle
identification, Amazon web servic ,GPS, RFID tag, RFID
reader, Theft detection
I. INTRODUCTION
Tolled highways are some of the busiest roads in the country,
not only because of high volume of traffic but also due to the
fact that they employ a tedious and an inefficient practice of
manual toll collection. Electronic toll collection system is
used as a technology for fast and efficient collection of toll at
the toll plazas. This is possible as the vehicles passing through
the toll plaza do not stop to pay toll and the payment
automatically takes place from the account of the driver [8].
The existing system works on the principle of dividing the toll
way into a number of lanes, each serviced by a toll booth.
Each toll booth houses two operators, one to collect toll
payments as vehicles enter the toll plaza and the other to print
and hand in acknowledgement receipts as vehicles move out.
Towards the end of each lane, where vehicles exit the junction
and join the free flowing traffic, stands another operator who
drives the barricade mechanism to obstruct the passage of
vehicles until the toll is paid.
II.Literature Review
Literature review part is being discussed here
in which the different toll systems which are
implemented in different countries are
discussed with advantages & disadvantages.
Express Toll Route
Canada was using Electronic toll collection system is known
as the Canada 407 Express toll route (ETR). It is one of the
most complex and problematical toll roads in the world [3]
[4]. The Canada 407 .ETR is a closed-access toll road, which
means that there is a framework placed at the entrance and
exit points of each toll. In this system, Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) is set up with the cameras. The snapshots
of license plate numbers of different vehicles are taken
through OCR cameras which do not have transponders. The
toll bill will then be sent directly to the registered address of
the vehicle owners. Also two laser beam scanners are placed
above the roadway to detect the types of vehicles passing
through the entry & exit point. But, this toll road bears a very
high infrastructure cost, and the users are the ones who help
recover the cost by increasing the amount in their toll bills [3].
Also there is no facility to store the data so that it will be
accessible from anywhere.
National Automatic Toll Collection System
The Electronic toll system used in Poland has been suggested
by the Motor Transport Institute along with the University of
Technology in Warsaw and Dublin. This system is called the
National Automatic Toll Collection System (NATCS), and
consists of the National Automatic Toll Collection Center
(NATCC), control gates, and on-board units (OBU). The
NATCS uses the grouping of mobile telecommunication
technology (GSM) with satellite-based Global Positioning
System (GPS). The OBUs calculate the kilometers driven by
driver using GPS technology and calculate the toll fees and
rates, and information will be transmitted to the NATCS
computer center. Each vehicle will be charged from the
highway entrance up until the end of the highway. In order to
identify the plate numbers of trucks, the system has control
gates equipped with digital short range communication
(DSRC) detection equipment and high resolution cameras [3]
[5]. Because of too complicated technical specifications,
system incurs a high cost rate for motorists.
South Luzon Expressway
In the Philippines the ETC system has been implemented at
the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) since August 2000. The
ETC is referred to as the E-PASS system, which uses
Transcode technology. Each vehicle is having electronic
transponders which are fit to their vehicle’s rearview mirror.
Whenever a vehicle enters the toll booth, the tag is read by the
reader, which will automatically identify the account and the
toll amount will be deducted from the registered account. As
the amount has been deducted, the control gate will lift and
the vehicle will be passed through [3] [6].
The M6 Toll
It has been Opened in December 2003, the M6 Toll is a 27
mile long three lane motorway that runs to the north of
Birmingham, broadly following the alignment of the existing
A38/A5 through Staffordshire, in the UK. The M6 Toll
operates a closed tolling system with mixed tolling. Users pay
for using the road on exit at one of the four junctions with toll
stations, or at one of two mainline toll plaza stations. Sensors
located along the toll lanes at these payment points undertake
automatic vehicle classification in order to determine how
many axles the vehicle has and height of vehicle from point of
first axle. The toll levied depends on vehicle classification.
Users must pay a 50 pence monthly lease fee for the tag, and,
for an additional £2 monthly administration fee, tag users can
receive a monthly statement of tag use by post and have
access to their statement on the dedicated website. A
minimum £30 balance on the tag is necessary for the account
to be initiated [2].
US Patent
US patent has been file by Tang et al. [7] in 2007 on their
proposed ETC system. Their proposed system provides two
lanes: one on the side and the other where overhead-based
antennas are installed per lane. Both antennas are used for
conducting toll transactions. One of the two, the side antenna
will act as a stand by device if the overhead antenna fails to
detect the signal which is released from the vehicles. If failure
occurs, the overhead antenna will be deactivated, and the side
antenna will be activated. If the side antenna also fails, then
an error signal will be raised.
All these different electronic toll system here simply present a
general idea of how ETC schemes have been implemented in
different parts of the world.
III.PROPOSED SYSTEM
It is evident that toll plazas are usually bottlenecks for traffic
flow and the situation is bound to be worsen. They usually
find alternative to deal with this is to build additional lanes.
However, this option requires a huge investment and it does
not even attempt to tackle the major issue – limited
throughput of manual transactions. Under such circumstances,
automating the entire process, independent of human
intervention, seems a much more viable alternative. Toll road
operators can create conditions that are conducive to
improving the flow of traffic along the road and reducing
journey times for the customer by eliminating the need for toll
road users to stop and pay at a tollbooth altogether. Such
schemes are in operation across the world, with the majority
operating in Europe and the United States. Building up on
these, the study intends to propose a feasible scheme that can
be put into effect resulting in hassle-free operation.
One aspect that demands attention here is whether to employ a
hybrid or a fully automated approach. The term ‘fully
automated’ is a catchall to describe a system that doesn’t
involve manual payment, although not all users would be
expected to opt into the system and provisions would have to
be made for infrequent/occasional users. For such systems, the
success rate would depend large extent on how vehicles that
are not equipped and enrolled for electronic tolling are dealt
with together with the onus of deploying mechanisms that
accurately identify violations [1].
The current toll collection system requires each vehicle to
stop at the toll junction and pay taxes, which results in long
queues and heavy congestion all throughout the day. To avoid
this,we need to automate the process so as to eliminate the
delays involved. RFID tags for the expressway are available at
the toll plaza through a prepaid account at private bank.[10]
The idea is to use an RFID tag, say embedded in the license
plates or affixed on a corner of the windshield, and as the
vehicle passes through the toll junction, the tag is scanned by
RFID readers mounted on either end and an ID, unique to
each tag, is then sent to the server via an on board WiFi
module. Appropriate amount as per the class of the vehicle
will be deducted from the user’s account [10].
This ID is used as a primary key to look up a database, also
hosted on the server, to fetch the associated user’s account
details and open a secure transaction in order to deduct the toll
amount. All this happens in “real-time”, as the vehicle passes
through the toll junction. This, therefore, allows speedy
passage of vehicles eliminating the heavy congestion. Thus,
this project proposes the replacement of the currently
employed tedious system with a low-cost, as well as a low-
power consuming system, which not only speeds up the entire
process but also aims to eliminate traditional book keeping
and provision daily traffic analysis.
Architecture of IoT based toll collection system
41
Fig. 1: Block diagram
IV.OBJECTIVES & SCOPE
The purpose of this research is to:
1. Identify and assess available technologies and
methodologies which are in practice in and
around the country for toll collection
2. Develop recommendations for the best way to
automate the process.
3. Implement a prototype demonstrating the findings.
4. Identification of vehicle theft detection.
The study does not address any regulations concerning
the technologies or methodologies proposed and those
governing the implementation of tolls in the country. The
scope is bound to the implementation of a prototype that aims
to redress the impediments in the existing toll collection
system.
IV.METHODOLOGY
Automated toll collection system is an adaptation which
works in a manner similar to the traditional ETC except that it
employs RFID for vehicle identification [9]. The in-vehicle
transponder consists of a passive RFID unit that operates in
the 125 KHz radio frequency (RF) band using dedicated
short-range communication (DSRC) protocols. Stored in this
RFID transponder is a unique identification number, which is
used as an index to a database containing the user’s details.
The RCU emits radio frequencies in the same RF band as the
transponder to communicate with it and use its identification
number to assess the toll. The RCU emits radio frequencies in
the 125 KHz RF band. As the transponder (vehicle) comes in
the RCU’s proximity, it draws power from the signals emitted
and reflects it identification code back to the RCU. The RCU
decodes this information and stores it in the buffer. The
identification code is then fetched from the buffer and used as
an index to look up a central database.
The associated user’s details are retrieved and the toll is
assessed accordingly. The user is immediately notified of the
transaction via SMS and/or email. The system also determines
whether the vehicles passing are enrolled in the program, and
gathers information for further collection or enforcement.
Suppose the transaction is successful, the barricade
mechanism senses the presence of the vehicle and allows it to
cross the junction. However, if the transaction fails due to
insufficient balance or unregistered vehicle, the vehicle is
directed towards a separate lane for manual collection of toll
with a service penalty.
All the data is hosted on an Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Relational Database Service (RDS) instance running MySQL.
This database instance is linked to the web portal as well as
ATCS (Automated toll collection system) thereby maintaining
consistency and at the same time allowing concurrent access.
Users to register themselves for the ATCS program via the
web portal. Once registered, the user’s details are verified, the
user is assigned a unique identifier and an in-vehicle RFID
unit is shipped to the user’s address. Hereupon, the user
simply has to maintain sufficient balance in their accounts and
zip through the toll plazas without having to stop to pay the
toll. The web portal also provisions the users to easily
recharge their accounts, check their billing histories and add
new vehicles. For the toll operators, the portal provisions
centralized control, improved audits, daily logs and vehicle
tracking.
The system also makes use of two other services from AWS:
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) and Amazon
Simple Email Service (SES). Rather than integrating a GSM
module into the system and programming it separately or
dealing with the mechanics of SMTP, Amazon SNS and SES
were resorted to as simple yet effective means of notifying
users of their transactions.
A Raspberry Pi will serve as the heart of the system, handling
all communications with the cloud server. A web portal will
also be designed allowing users to view a summary of their
monthly toll deductions, a facility to recharge their RFID
prepaid cards, and, for the users who have opted for the
‘postpaid’ billing method, a provision to pay their toll bills via
credit/debit cards, net banking, and a variety of different
means.
This portal would also allow administrators to view daily logs
and interactive analysis reports, and address user grievances.
The users would also be notified immediately, via SMS and/or
E-mail, of the toll amount deducted as they cross the junction.
V.RESULTS & SIMULATIONS
The following section presents snapshots of the online
portal and together with simulations of the working
prototype:
Fig. 2 Web Portal Login
Following snapshot gives the details of vehicle theft detection.
Vehicle location details will be given by entering vehicle
number.
Fig. 3Theft Detection
Fig. 4 Vehicle location details
For the payment of toll online recharge can be done by
entering the vehicle number & user Id. The following
snapshot gives details of online recharge of the account.
Figure 5: Recharge RFID tag
Fig. 6 Payment details
Fig. 7 ATCS Prototype
43
Following snapshot gives the details of the transaction which
is done from the user’s account automatically when vehicle
passes through the toll. The toll amount is deducted from the
user’s account and it shows the remaining balance amount.
Figure 8: ATCS Transaction Alerts
VI. FUTURE SCOPE
1. GPS tracking of vehicles for theft detection
2. Traffic pattern analysis for intelligent re-routing
3. License plate readers employing OCR
VII. CONCLUSION
Electronic toll collection provides substantial advantages
over manual toll collection, including reductions in
transaction times, waiting times, fuel consumption, traffic
congestion, air pollution and operational costs. The greatest
benefits from ETC are achieved with open-road tolling, which
minimizes traffic impact as well as the footprint of the toll
plazas. This also allows leveraging the existing facilities while
implementing ETC.
Another point of concern is the vulnerability of the
system to skimming and eavesdropping if the communication
channel between the RFID tag and the reader is not
sufficiently encrypted. A major decision point, however, is
determining how to deal with vehicles that are not equipped or
enrolled for ETC. Either prohibit such vehicles from using
this facility or set up the hybrid system for cash payments.
REFERENCES
[1]. Joseph C., Candice W., Natasha M., “Technology Scan for
Electronic Toll Collection”,Kentucky Transport Center,
Research Report KTC-08-15/SPRF359-08-IF, 2008
[2]. Athanassiou, Bagchi, Bates, “The Role of Tolling
Strategies in the Success ofElectronic Toll Collection
Systems”, Association for European Transport and
Contributors,2005
[3]. Khadijah Kamarulazizi, Dr.Widad Ismail, “Electronic
Tollll Collection System using Passive RFID
Technology”, Journal of Theoretical and Applied
Information Technology 2005 JATIT & LLS
[4]. P. Khali, C.W.Michael, H.Shahriyar “Toll Collection
Technology and Best Practices”, Project 0-
5217: Vehicle/License Plate Identification
for Toll Collection Application, January 2007
[5]. N. Gabriel, I. Mitraszewska, K. Tomasz, “The Polish Pilot
Project of Automatic Toll Collection System”,
Proceedings of the 6th International Scientific Conference
TRANSBALTICA, 2009.
[6]. D.D.E. Crispin, U.M. Aileen, G.S. Ricardo, J.M Jim, S.P.
Hilario, “Allocation of Electronic Toll Collection Lanes at
Toll Plazas Considering Social Optimization of Service
Times and Delays”, Proceedings of the Eastern Asia
Society for Transportation Studies, vol. 5, pp. 1496–1509,
2005.
[7]. W.C Tang, T.V. Ho, “Electronic Toll Collection System”,
US Patent, US 7233260 B2, June 2007.
[8]. Al-Deek, H. M., A. A. Mohamed, et al. " Operational
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[9]. AungMyint Win, Chaw MyatNwe, KyawZinLatt, “RFID
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[10]. “Expressway e-toll collection has just 68 takers” Manish
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essway-e-toll-collection-has-just-68-
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