NZ transport agency looking for mobile phone payments for all-electronic tolling

New Zealand's roads authority is asking for expressions of interest in developing mobile phone  based toll payments. New Zealand tollroads are being developed as all-electronic based on license plate read cameras. They don't use transponders.

Kapsch designed and supplied the toll system.

Present toll payment methods in use on the Northern Gateway Toll Road include:

- prepayment of an account online or by calling an 800 customer number

- payment of one trip, round trip or multiple trips before a trip is made or within five days after the trip via the website, at an 800 number or at self-service kiosks in a parking lot off the tollroad where cash or bank card is accepted

In all cases the motorist must provide their license plate number. If a payment is not received within five days the license plate number is used to extract the name and address of the owner of the vehicle and a late fee is assessed. If that and the toll are not paid the date stamped copy of the image of the vehicle and license plate is used to pursue the violator for toll evasion.

Request for SIA

NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) which is in charge of tollroads has formally asked for Statements of Interest and Ability from firms which could help it develop a mobile phone (text) based payment method.

The agency doesn't want motorists distracted while driving, but they think mobile telephone companies may be able to provide ways of using text messaging automatically to pay tolls - the setup being done by a passenger or by the driver before or after driving.

Most of the work on using mobile phones as payment devices has centered on using them with a near field communication (NFC) chip that allows them to mimic a proximity card of the kind used in transit turnstiles or at doors and gates.

But a number of companies T-Mobile with the Blackberry and AT&T with the Apple iPhone have done work to use text messaging for payments - which sometimes goes under the term m-Commerce.

A spokesman for NZTA Andrew Knackstedt told us in a telephone call to Wellington that the agency does not know if there is a feasible mobile phone payment solution available and therefore is not committed to it.

The request for expressions of interest and ability are exploratory.

However if there is a feasible solution it would add to the payment options available to their customers.

The NZTA request is reproduced at right, above.

October 21 is the deadline for filing.

Documents on the request are available from chris.brooks@nzta.govt.nz

New NZ pikes

The first modern pike in New Zealand, a Northern Gateway Toll Road opened earlier this year and has been a major success in acceptance. The mere 7km (4 mile) road provides an upgrade to a circuitous segment of State Highway 1 north of Auckland, the country's major metro area.

Knackstedt says traffic on the new tollroad is higher than forecast.

93% of motorists are paying on-time.

Northern Gateway Toll Road:

see http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/tollroad/

Another pike in procurement is:

- Tauranga Eastern Link is an upgrade of SH2 

see http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/easternlink/index.html

CORRECTION: We initiallyreported there was a tollroad deployment for the Kapiti project. That apparently was incorrect. 2009-09-18

http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/tollroad/

TOLLROADSnews 2009-09-13