In April of 1997, all Australian State and Federal government transport ministers voted to adopt a common standard for all future Electronic Tolling Collection (ETC) systems in Australia. The standard adopted was the ENV versions of the CEN DSRC short range communication standards which had recently been approved in Europe. The decision was binding on all government controlled tollways, but for the private sector tollways, the decision has also provided a much needed sense of direction for the future application of ETC technology. A recognised objective for a standardised ETC system specification is that it should be OPEN, meaning non-proprietary and be readily compatible with products from as large a market as possible. These objectives are seen as crucial to ensure economical costs of equipment for the Australian market which would not be seen as a large market relative to other parts of the world. This paper sets out the ways and means which has given effect to the achievement of Interoperability within Australia, not only for the ETC applications but other DSRC applications as well. The meaning of interoperability in this paper implies that all ETC tags within Australia will be able to transact with all CEN compliant ETC readers and that all the higher order services exist to complete the transactions.
Samenvatting