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SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

The RCI project will develop an open and integrated framework enabling road charging interoperability at a technical level, based on the key existing and planned road charging deployments in Europe (AUTOPASS, ASFINAG, LSVA, TELEPASS, TIS, TOLL COLLECT, VIA-T and VIA VERDE).


It will implement and test this framework in field trials at six sites, namely Austria (ASFINAG), France (TIS), Germany (TOLL COLLECT), Italy (TELEPASS), Spain (VIA-T) and Switzerland (LSVA).

ROAD CHARGING

Road charging is an effective instrument for many successful European companies to build, exploit and maintain a sustainable road network of high quality. At the same time, road charging is a special telematics application that is expected to be one of the key instruments for policy makers and operators to help improve the efficiency, safety and sustainability of transport.

WHAT INTEROPERABILITY COULD ADD

In Europe, different road charging systems are being operated by professional companies making use of state-of-the-art technologies. Current road charging is successful but a public standard that is needed for interoperable road charging solutions that work seamlessly anywhere in Europe is missing.

European efforts towards such interoperability could improve several of the prerequisite conditions for a market development towards more functionality, lower risks and lower costs of road charging solutions:

  • The stability and flexibility of a European standard on interoperability will allow operators and Member states to predict and control costs for maintenance and functional updates and reduce the involved risks for deployment of sophisticated new systems; 
  • The inclusion of standardised interfaces will allow re-usability of standard components for future road pricing schemes and potentially even for other applications; 
  • A widely accepted standard would increase the market size that can be addressed by specific solutions as such creating an incentive for costly investments in mass production, cost optimisations and lower prices per piece; 
  • The international car- or truck driver will not longer be obliged to install and use several different boxes (onboard equipment, OBE) in his vehicle. 

POLITICAL DRIVE BEHIND THE RCI PROJECT

nteroperability of road charging solutions is a long-term objective of the EC. In April 2004, the directive 2004/52/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community was adopted (corrigendum). The Directive places constraints on the technologies that may be used in future new road charging systems:

  • Satellite positioning
  • Mobile communications using the GSM-GPRS standard
  • 5,8 GHz microwave technology

The new road charging service that is interoperable throughout Europe on the basis of one or more of the mentioned technologies is called the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS). In a summary this directive describes the following:

  • Operators and Member States are obliged to accept interoperable On Board Equipment (EOBE)  that are compliant with the EETS; 
  • Operators are obliged to provide this service and EOBE to end users; 
  • The end user can make use of this service and onboard equipment on a voluntary basis. 

The EC envisages a final definition of the EETS service by 2007 (one year delay with respect to the original directive) and deployment of the service for heavy good vehicles (HGV) by 2009 and for private vehicles by 2011.

RCI is a demonstration project that will validate major cornerstones of the European definition of the EETS that the EC will have endorsed. Although originally planned, the specifications for the EETS in 2006 include important elements but do not constitute a complete technical definition of the EETS. As a result, the RCI partners agreed to extend the project’s scope by including consultation to converge on an appropriate architecture and interface specifications what could further contribute to the definition of the EETS.

RCI PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The RCI project will first consolidate the EETS specifications with those of existing solutions and specify the framework for interoperability across 6 major European tolling sites:

  • Systems based on 5.8 GHz CEN norm:
     
    • According to the CESARE/CARDME specifications;
    • Non-compliant but upgradeable to CESARE/CARDME specifications;
    • Non-compliant and non-upgradeable to the CESARE/CARDME specifications; 
  • Italian system 5.8 GHz DSRC Telepass; 
  • German system, based on three technologies (GPS/GNSS, GSM/GPRS, infrared communication used for vehicle positioning, mobile and stationary enforcement and communication between the OBE and RSE and including but not using 5.8 GHz CEN DSRC as fourth technology.

Secondly the project will implement and test 2 different types of prototypes, both interoperable across all test sites and based on specifications that:

  • Define interfaces that can "open existing systems" by allowing different suppliers to manufacture equipment that can be certified against these specifications and that can operate in different contexts (CEN DSRC/CARDME, Autostrade DSRC, ‘Multi technologies’ as in Germany and in Switzerland); 
  • Contribute to the convergence of future tolling systems and the evolution of existing tolling systems as such allowing for a greater re-usability of standard components across different systems; 
  • Be open, public and available on a non-discriminatory basis to any stakeholder including all system suppliers. 

 

 
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