Typical ETC systems can improve the traffic flow
through the toll area. Manual toll collection
lanes handle about 350 vehicles per hour and
automatic coin machine lanes handle about 500
vehicles in the same time period.
An ETC lane
can process 1,200 vehicles per hour when the
lane is located in a traditional plaza
configuration with island structures on each side
of the lane and up to 1,800 vehicles per hour in
all-electronic tolling (AET) configurations.An
AET lane offers over five times the flow rate of a
manual lane and nearly four times the flow of an
automatic coin machine lane.
The AVI
systems properly identify each vehicle to charge
the toll to a particular customer. This ETC
method is typically done with various AVI
technologies such as a bar coded label affixed to
the vehicle, proximity card, radio or infrared
transponder, and automatic license plate
recognition.
A majority of the AVI systems used
involve radio frequency identity (RFID) and
plate recognition technologies. The RFID system
uses an antenna to communicate with a
transponder in each registered vehicle, while
video tolling identifies the license plate and
charges a customer or sends a bill to unregistered drivers with help from the
Department of Motor Vehicle’s address database.