Technical Paper

1. Abstract

SMARTER PLANET- ETC OPTIMIZATION AND BENEFITS

ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) has proven to be an efficient solution world over to manage toll collections across the entire breadth and length of a nations road network. Implementation of ETC has brought down the operational cost in terms of manpower, transaction handling and significant reduction in collection/audit errors significantly. However inspite of its huge success as a viable model, there is still plenty left for optimization & benefits to be gained out of it. 2. ETC Optimization and Benefits. Some of the optimizations that could be considered in the field of ETC are as follows. Introduction of NFC (Near Field Communication) & RF-Id technology to enable the end user to use mobile & RF smart tag as the validation device to pass through toll gates seamlessly. Enabling end-user to select optimal route and pay the toll charge for a specific route before commencing travel (Prepaid options via Internet, Mobile payment or Toll specific VAS services) or recharge RF-ID tag. Also usage of License plate Image extraction technology, RF-ID readers and NFC readers will make automated Toll operations much easier. Implementation of a central cloud based clearing house data operations and operational layers leading to a reduced CAPEX/OPEX costs to support nationwide highway toll operations. The day to day transaction data generated out of such an ETC based system is enormous and with implementation of BI Analytics and predictive modeling tools could convert the raw transaction data into a set of meaningful data for National Highways development.

3. Integrated ETC Solution Over The Cloud and Its Smart Benefits Following diagram provides a cloud-based ETC and clearing house solution overview.

Figure 1: Low Cost & Optimized ETC Model- A Cloud based approach The advantages of using such an integrated approach over the cloud is manifold considering the huge source of transaction data and external data sources that are required to operationalize this model. The usage of data from distributed data sources such as NHA database, Toll operator database, clearing house

Sabareesan Sankaran | IBM

Technical Paper

SMARTER PLANET- ETC OPTIMIZATION AND BENEFITS

database along with the transaction data provides a wealth of information. Some of the key benefits that could be realized from such data treasure are as follows. To improve the efficiency and regulate the operations of Toll centers. Identify traffic density in specific Highway segments, classified on the basis of different vehicle categories. Identify most busy segments/highway stretches so that enough funds could be allocated to enhance the stretches on need basis and incorporate improvised road safety features leading to efficient usage of Road development budgets and realistic highway development targets. Derive user preference of routes especially vehicles falling under LMV, HMV categories which could lead to analysis of Public Transport effectiveness in those routes/Highway Segments. Point to Point Traffic density data in a Highway stretch would enable NHA to decide lance increase or widening in stretches/specific highway segments.

Figure 2: Smarter derivations out of ETC Data 4. Conclusion Operation models which are more distributed but collaborative in nature contribute to a wealth of valuable data ranging from transactional data, referenced data and static data. The low cost integrated & optimized ETC model based on cloud architecture would prove to be a reduced CAPEX /OPEX model but also userfriendly. It also acts as a source data to serve the public with intelligent Highway infrastructure development solution. Some of the innovations listed below would revolutionize this space. Strong and Wide usage of NFC applications. Road traveler profile development leading to planned introduction of amenities in highways/motorways. Implementation of emission data extraction mechanism across highways with sufficient Govt support in introducing compulsory smart wireless emission sensors in Vehicles and emission readers in toll booths.

With all such innovations, its high time that system Integrators and Cloud service providers to tap into possible opportunities and make this world a much better place to live. 5. Acronyms NFC- Near Field Communication, ETC Electronic toll Collection, NHA- National Highway Authority, RF-ID- Radio Frequency Identification, BI-Business Intelligence. 6. Acknowledgments Report by Apex Committee for ETC Implementation by Nandan Nilekani -Govt of India

Sabareesan Sankaran | IBM