Innovative road usage and congestion charging approaches using 2G and 3G cellular network capabilities and infrastructure
Christian Birle · 2004
The objective is to show the possibilities of 2G and 3G mobile communication networks to pave the way for electronic fee collection and value added services besides the well described GNSS/CN approaches based on proprietary on-board units. 2G and 3G networks are capable of offering location services, a high market penetration with handsets and mobile devices and various additional modules for an electronic fee collection (EFC) system. Communication networks provide different technologies to localize a customer on the condition that privacy issues are taken into consideration. Cell-ID information, enhanced location based services such as EOT-D and assisted GPS offer different accuracy of position and can be used for different EFC approaches. These localisation capabilities enable charging schemes like zone pricing, cordon charging in urban areas and distance based charging on motorways. The services could be distinguished by the fact that they are available on the handset or in the core network. This has an influence on the system architecture. The presentation gives an overview about the accuracy and availability of these technologies and how they can be used for example to offer access to a charging scheme for non-frequent users. The overview is enriched by results based on EFC research and development projects that are currently undertaken by Vodafone Group Research and Development.