In the middle of the year 2003, Germany will start the operation of a new automatic toll collection system for heavy trucks on all highways. The applied architecture will be based on satellite positioning and GSM communication (GNSS/CN). Germany will begin a vehicle autonomous toll collection system where no roadside infrastructure is needed other than spot enforcement. This means that Germany will run the most advanced and unique ETC system in the center of Europe with a variety of other ETC solutions around in the adjacent countries. For the European truck drivers there will be another system and another need to decide which of the possible installations in their trucks is appropriate. It seems that the variety of ETC systems in Europe is increasing and the view of one interoperable solution for pan-European use is out of focus. But on the other hand, the new powerful On-Board-Units are able to handle more than just one application. They are able to run different payment protocols, for different ETC architectures as well as the upcoming road telematic services. The gap between the different European ETC systems is closing.
Samenvatting