Electronic fee collection (EFC) is a generic term which covers electronic tolling of motorways and urban road pricing. TRL is involved on a number of fronts in this rapidly developing area. This article describes some EFC developments throughout the world, and in the UK more specifically, and uses examples from ongoing projects. On Board Units (OBU's), payment options and smart cards are considered, and European initiatives in interoperability. As the technology to automate fee collection is developed, it will increasingly be used to replace manual methods at toll plazas and will offer the possiblity of full speed multi-lane operation which can be introduced without implications for traffic flow. Thus the availability of technology would allow the development of new transport policies reliant on electronic fee collection.
Abstract