RFID At Toll Gates To Go Live In 2Q17, Says Works Minister P...

RFID At Toll Gates To Go Live In 2Q17, Says Works Minister


P Prem KumarFriday, November 4, 2016


The radio-frequency identification (RFID) toll collection technology will make its official debut in the second-quarter of 2017 (2Q17), as more expressways are moving towards full cashless operations.
Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) that several highway concessionaires have agreed to implement the RFID technology in open toll system highways by 2Q17.
For close toll systems, the RFID technology is expected to be implemented towards the end of 2017, as some highways like the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) and Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE) have started testing the technology since last year.
Nonetheless, Fadillah said the implementation is still pending on the outcome of the next testing stage, or “proof of concept”, which will be done by end of this year.
“We (the ministry) are in the middle of finalising the business rules and system development, comprising both back-end and front-end systems before the next testing stage, which shall be done at the end of 2016,” he said.
After a series of discussions with the highway concessionaires, Fadillah said all parties have reached a consensus for the companies to procure the necessary system upgrading to enable the RFID implementation.
The RFID, said Fadillah, is a long-term strategy by the government as more concessionaires migrate to cashless operations since last year.
“Going cashless, or full electronic toll collection (ETC) is a way forward in managing the change management towards the RFID implementation,” said Fadillah.
He, however, did not divulge details of vendors, cost and concessionaires involved in the migration to RFID.
Last year, TMR reported that the Works Ministry would remove the SmartTAG lanes and replace it all with the RFID system.
The plan then was to link a vehicle user’s Touch ‘n Go card with the RFID sticker, which means value reloads can be made at top-up kiosks similar to the current system, sources said.
A local company, RTS Technology Sdn Bhd, was said to have been identified to implement the technology. RTS has an established track record in comprehensive toll collection solutions, according to the company’s website.
To date, RTS has been testing the tol collection technology in AKLEH and DUKE. RTS currently has two niche products — ecClass and ecTol.
ecClass is an AVC (Automatic Vehicle Classification) system that uses contact-less optical sensor to automatically and correctly provide the classification of a vehicle, operating in both pre and post classification mode.
ecTol is a fully integrated toll management system, which caters for the operation of a single or multiple toll plazas in an open or closed toll environment.
It manages the toll operations in an integrated manner and provides a comprehensive suite of scalable and customisable modules that can be implemented individually or as a complete solution.
The Malaysian Highway Authority has recently confirmed plans to implement the cashless ETC system at all 31 highways and 177 toll plazas in the country by 2017.
Effective Nov 9, both the Damansara-Puchong Highway and Senai-Desaru Highway in Johor will go cashless, while all toll plazas in the Klang Valley will implement the ETC system by the end of the year.
There are only three highways, out of 31, that have yet to go cashless — the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 (LPT1), LPT2 and the ELITE Highway. These expressways are slated to move to the ETC system in 2017.