Brussel

Intelligent tolling and accounting to different road operators

Satellic has set up a live application on Brussels roads, simulating the automatic toll collection process and clearly demonstrating the suitability of satellite-based technology for meeting Belgian requirements. The introduction of an intelligent toll system in Belgium is part of a political decision making process. The key drivers are the financing of infrastructure, mobility (congestion) and environmental aspects.    

The network used for the real live application in Belgium covers approx. 600 kilometer. It includes different types of roads: urban roads, national roads and freeways.

For the purposes of the live application, a small number of vehicles were equipped with an OBU and are driving along different types of roads which are subject to a virtual toll. The OBU calculates the chargeable toll, based on distance traveled, time of day, emissions class and number of axles. The roads used were managed by three different operators.

The demo vehicles of Satellic Traffic Management in front of the city palace in Brussels

Our Solution
The project in Belgium demonstrated a simple principle of electronic toll collection: the OBU uses satellite signals to pinpoint its current position and calculate the toll fees on the route segments traveled. The data is transmitted via mobile radio signals from the OBU to a computer centre, where invoices are generated and sent to users at regular intervals.

Results & Recommendations
The field trial by Satellic shows that a satellite-based toll system can be quickly and flexibly installed with full interoperability. Toll collection is based on two tried-and-tested technologies: satellite positioning and mobile communications. This innovative toll system can be deployed in any country. A road toll system is thus an intelligent traffic management tool for channeling the rapidly growing traffic volume in socially-responsible ways. Thanks to system flexibility, additional road segments can be easily integrated into the toll system as required.