Infra red toll technology big winner for Efkon in Malaysia - pass 1m IR transponders and heading for 4m
Posted Fri, 2008-01-18 07:37
Europe's two major electronic toll manufacturers Kapsch and Efkon are both headquartered in Austria, and they are vigorous competitors. Though they both do European
standard radio frequency (RF) transponder systems and Kapsch is ahead in most markets, Efkon has triumphed in Malaysia with its specialty infra red (IR) transponder systems.
They have just received orders taking their sales of new highway speed IR transponders to more than a million in Malaysia. A decision by the Malaysian government has now made IR electronic tolling a national standard, along with a move toward interoperability. Malaysia has some 2,000km (1200 miles) of tollroads operated by about twenty concessionaires.
Some 4m electronic toll transponders are in use - presently a mix of IR and RF, but the days of RF in Malaysia are numbered.
Metallic tinting of windshields which blocks RF - a minor nuisance in Europe and the US - is so commonplace in tropical Malaysia that regular RF transponder systems just don't work well there. In mid-2004 the Malaysian Public Works Minister Samy Vellu issued a regulation requiring the phaseout of RF transponder systems, and standardization around active bidirectional IR using an ISO CALM standard. Malaysian toll operators had earlier used a simpler unidirectional IR tag system as well as European RF
standard CEN278 5.8GHz systems from Q-Free and Kapsch.
Efkon with its IR that is not troubled by metallic windshield tinting is now the exclusive technology supplier for the Malaysian SmartTag tolling system that provides for multilane or open road highway speed electronic tolling. Besides tolling ISO CALM IR enables other ITS applications including in-car navigation, and even possibly safety systems based on car-to-car communication like those planned in the US OmniAir 5.9GHz RF.
The Malaysian IR systems like the RF systems in Singapore and Japan have a capability to work with a contactless or proximity Smartcard (Touch n Go Card)- an electronic purse, which can also be used for paying transit, taxis, fuel and parking.
TOLLROADSnews 2008-01-18
standard radio frequency (RF) transponder systems and Kapsch is ahead in most markets, Efkon has triumphed in Malaysia with its specialty infra red (IR) transponder systems.They have just received orders taking their sales of new highway speed IR transponders to more than a million in Malaysia. A decision by the Malaysian government has now made IR electronic tolling a national standard, along with a move toward interoperability. Malaysia has some 2,000km (1200 miles) of tollroads operated by about twenty concessionaires.Some 4m electronic toll transponders are in use - presently a mix of IR and RF, but the days of RF in Malaysia are numbered.
Metallic tinting of windshields which blocks RF - a minor nuisance in Europe and the US - is so commonplace in tropical Malaysia that regular RF transponder systems just don't work well there. In mid-2004 the Malaysian Public Works Minister Samy Vellu issued a regulation requiring the phaseout of RF transponder systems, and standardization around active bidirectional IR using an ISO CALM standard. Malaysian toll operators had earlier used a simpler unidirectional IR tag system as well as European RF
standard CEN278 5.8GHz systems from Q-Free and Kapsch. Efkon with its IR that is not troubled by metallic windshield tinting is now the exclusive technology supplier for the Malaysian SmartTag tolling system that provides for multilane or open road highway speed electronic tolling. Besides tolling ISO CALM IR enables other ITS applications including in-car navigation, and even possibly safety systems based on car-to-car communication like those planned in the US OmniAir 5.9GHz RF.
The Malaysian IR systems like the RF systems in Singapore and Japan have a capability to work with a contactless or proximity Smartcard (Touch n Go Card)- an electronic purse, which can also be used for paying transit, taxis, fuel and parking.
TOLLROADSnews 2008-01-18