In place of the current gantry/RFID based technology the new system will use satellite positioning and users will insert a pre-paid card into the onboard unit. From the GPS connection the unit will know time and the location of the vehicle and will deduct credit from the card accordingly – which means private data is not sent to a central system and ensures privacy.
Car parking can also be paid for through the system but one of the practical hurdles to be overcome is that the new system will work on the 5.9GHz waveband and therefore existing infrastructure installations will need a new antenna.
The unit on display is only a mock-up of the prototype unit currently being tested but the elegance of the solution is evident from the schematic illustration on the stand.
