Charging for road use through tolling is a long established feature of some European countries (e.g. Italy, France) and other countries are considering the introduction of tolling. European member states have expressed the wish to reach agreement on the operation of their respective systems to ensure that users may be provided with inter-operable services in situations where there is significant cross-border traffic. This paper deals with vehicle classification, which is part of the tariff calculation to be applied to each vehicle. Classification is the responsibility of each member state and common classification systems are not a requirement for inter-operability. However, many new systems being considered are expected to use "claimed" characteristics, which are stored within the equipment fitted to the vehicle (OBE). Operators wishing to use such characteristics for the classification of vehicles will need to reach agreement on the parameters which are to be stored within the OBE. The CARDME work group on Classification aims to reach agreement between member states on the characteristics to be used for vehicle classification.
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