The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is testing hybrid RFID technology that enables commuters to make bridge or high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane payments via their mobile phone. The technology, provided by Florida startup GeoToll, consists of a passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) and high-frequency (HF) RFID tag that receives a 13.56 MHz HF transmission, compliant with the Near Field Communication (NFC) standards, to send an 815 MHz UHF signal, compliant with the ISO 18000-6C (EPC Gen 2) standard, to a reader posted in the area. The technology is currently installed at two Seattle area bridges, as well as at multiple locations on a highway HOT lane, says Tyler Patterson, a toll operations engineer at the Washington State Department of Transportation. WSDOT interns, meanwhile, are driving through those read points with tagged mobile phones mounted on their dashboards, in order to test how well that data is collected and deducted from a preset account.
If the solution proves effective, Patterson says, the agency envisions being able to provide the technology as an alternative to the existing electronic payment system in which a passive UHF “Good To Go!” RFID transponder, compliant with the ISO 18000-6C standard, is attached to a windshield, front license plate or motorcycle headlamp. HOT lane users also submit payments via the RFID tag; if carpooling, however, they must cover the tag with a shield to prevent being charged.
Late last month, WSDOT launched the GeoToll solution using the agency’s existing reader infrastructure at its State Road 520 floating bridge and the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge, with four readers installed at each location, one at each lane. Altogether, the tags are being interrogated at 10 locations along State Route 167’s HOT lanes, where commuters can make payments if they use the lanes when carrying only a single occupant.
ISO 18000-6C is one of several standards in use by tolling agencies throughout the United States. Timothy McGuckin, GeoToll’s CEO, joined the company after working for the OmniAir Consortium, a not-for-profit group he founded that focuses on supporting the use of ISO 18000-6C as a single RFID-based standard for toll-collection systems within the United States (see Efforts to Aid Adoption of ISO 18000-6C RFID for Toll Collection Move Forward). If U.S. toll operators utilized a single standard, tags could interoperate in different states across the country.
GeoToll’s goal was to create a solution that would allow the transmission of an ID number linked to a specific driver’s information—including the account from which the toll funds could be deducted—without requiring that the driver purchase or acquire an RFID sticker or large plastic tag and attach it to the vehicle. Such tags are expensive for the agencies, McGuckin says, in terms of costs related to materials, distribution, battery replacement (for toll systems employing active RFID tags) and disposal. Using a driver’s mobile phone, he explains, reduces the hardware required for that driver to merely a small adhesive sticker, attached to the back of the handset.
For the prototype being tested by the WSDOT, however, the company built-an RFID tag into a rubber phone case. The tag includes electronic circuitry enabling it to receive and process an NFC transmission from the phone. It also comes with a passive UHF RFID chip compliant with the ISO 18000-6C standard, as well as an omnidirectional antenna.
Throughout the trial, several interns at WSDOT are driving through tollgates with Samsung Galaxy S3 phones equipped with the RFID-enabled phone cover, mounted to the dashboard at a variety of angles and positions. However, they next intend to test the technology with the phones located in other areas of the car.
GeoToll developed a phone application that users can download from GeoToll’s server to allow their phone to use its built-in NFC reader to transmit power and toll-related data to the GeoToll RFID tag—which, in turn, will convert that transmission into a UHF signal compliant with the ISO 18000-6C standard and OmniAir Certification Services “6C-for-Tolling” specifications. The user can then utilize the app to set up an account with GeoToll, from which toll payments will be deducted.
A reader installed over the roadway captures the tag’s RFID number and forwards that data to the GeoToll server, where the tag’s ID number is matched with account information regarding that phone’s user, and deducts the necessary funds. The software can send a text message or e-mail to the user’s phone, indicating the amount deducted, and the driver can later review the message when not driving.
At the HOT lanes, drivers are not expected to stop their vehicles, so the mobile phone tags must be readable while vehicles are moving at full speed along the highway. To date, Patterson says, the technology is working well at high speeds. Currently, drivers lacking Good to Go! transponders must make a phone call prior to driving, and report that they plan to travel in the HOT lane and should be billed accordingly. Otherwise, photographs of their license plates will be used to determine HOT lane payments (drivers with one or more passengers use the HOT lanes for free, while solo drivers pay a toll, based on traffic congestion). With GeoToll, he notes, that would be unnecessary.
By using mobile phones, McGuckin explains, the GeoToll technology provides a variety of functions. In the future, for example, a user will be able to take his or her phone to another location also employing the GeoToll solution—or use it while operating another vehicle, such as a rental car—and be automatically billed at each toll-collection point passed. What’s more, individuals can set up a carpool and use the GeoToll app to input the IDs of all members, which the software can then read at tolling gates and thereby deduct portions of the total charge from each carpool member’s account.
The GeoToll application can be set so that the tag will beacon its signal only upon coming within range of a reader. This, McGuckin says, is enabled by the phone’s GPS technology; the GeoToll app determines when the phone is within approximately a quarter-mile of the tollgate (distance varies according to the environment), based on GPS data, and triggers the tag to begin beaconing. As it passes the tollgate, the tag ceases to beacon.
Because the tag is powered by signals transmitted by the mobile phone’s built-in RFID reader, it does not require a battery, but it also will not operate if the phone is deactivated. During the pilot, Patterson says, he has determined that the tag will transmit properly until the instant that a phone’s battery dies.
Patterson says he also envisions the technology identifying when a HOT lane member might, in fact, qualify as a high-occupancy vehicle, based on the number of RFID transmissions being detected from that individual’s car. If there is more than one transmission, the software could determine that the vehicle contains multiple occupants, and the system would thus not charge the driver.
The next phase of the pilot, Patterson says, will include a greater number of WSDOT employees using the phones fitted with GeoToll tag. Moreover, the phones will be moved to various locations within the car.
For permanent deployments, McGuckin says, GeoToll can manage all RFID and financial data on its own server, or simply transmit the collected read data to the user’s own software, which can then determine the financial details of each RFID read.
According to McGuckin, GeoToll is still in fundraising mode, seeking sponsors before it commercially releases its products (a launch date has yet to be determined). He declines to specify the vendor providing the RFID tags being used by GeoToll.