TransCore offer IAG transponder, 5.9 gig compatibility in Encompass 6 reader

TransCore have their eye on the huge E-ZPass Inter Agency Group (IAG) recompete - or its collapse - with bold announcements today that they have added a straight existing-IAG standard transponder to their current product line, plus added 5.9GHz add-on capability to the Encompass 6, their main reader offering. Mark IV the exclusive supplier of E-ZPass IAG equipment since the mid-1990s have claimed patents which they have said in the past preclude the sale of a competing IAG standard transponder.

But patents from that era are expiring and TransCore clearly think they are legally free to offer a competing product. Mark IV so far are declining comment on the grounds that IAG procurement rules preclude it.

TransCore have advertised the ability to read IAG standard tags for several years and indeed the Encompass 6 is used to read them on non-IAG toll facilities already. Mark IV announced a legal move against the reading of their tags by a TransCore reader in South Carolina, but that case does not appear to be very active.

However the announcement by TransCore that they are offering an IAG-standard transponder of their own construction is quite new, and is a sensational development for the toll industry.

TransCore call their competitive transponder an "IAG Standard Onboard Unit".

The announcement reads:

"Designed to meet the Interagency Group performance requirements to support its 25 member agencies throughout the Northeast the IAG Standard OBU is a high-speed, high-performance RFID tag suitable for electronic toll collection and traffic management applications.  This new OBU is fully interoperable with all existing IAG equipment, meaning that the extensive array of IAG deployed readers will read these new OBUs without any modifications. The transponder is a read/write unit that supports adding and editing data to its onboard memory at high speeds in real-time.

"IAG Standard OBUs support factory programming of fixed data fields that are locked at the factory and cannot be reprogrammed. Agency read-only data fields are programmed by the agency using password protected programming equipment. IAG Standard OBU cases are constructed of highly durable, impact resistant, molded plastic and are available in white, blue, orange, green, yellow, and gray colors. Other IAG-compliant single protocol OBUs include waterproof, feedback, and exterior models."

5.9GHz compatible technology for Encompass 6

On the Encompass 6 reader TransCore say it has a new "switch-ready" capability for "an effortless 5.9GHz technology upgrade" if the higher frequency is adopted in the future. USDOT has for years been promoting development of the new higher frequency transponder which has higher capabilities (and costs) and which many think is only justified by safety and driver assistance applications.

Tolling itself doesn't need the higher frequency and greater capabilities of 5.9Ghz but could make use of it if other applications launched it.

TransCore say of the 5.9GHz upgrade on their reader: "This allows toll authorities to move forward with technology deployments today while protecting their lane controller and other software investments by being adaptable to 5.9 GHz platform as it takes shape over the next decade and the current USDOT five-year test plan is completed."

eZGo Anywhere even makes it in California

The announcement also refers to extra features on the multimode eZGo Anywhere transponders first unveiled by TransCore in December 2008. They say it is programmable with all the major protocols in use in North America including IAG (E-ZPass), Title 21 (California), eGo (ISO180006B), SeGo (ISO180006B subset) and ATA (Texas) so it can operate across a variety of toll system in the US.

TransCore have not previously claimed eZGo Anywhere covers Title 21 protocols in California or Colorado.

Extra features

Extra features now offered on the eZGo Anywhere tag include a unit with LED feedback lights and buzzer. Feedback is typically used assure the motorist the toll is paid (a green) or to indicate a problem such as a low balance or an invalid tag.

Switch for HOV/HOT

Another variant now being offered is a HOV/HOT eZGo Anywhere with a switch. That switch is to enable drivers in HOT lanes to declare themselves a carpool and eligible for free travel or a tollpayer, depending how many occupants are in the vehicle (or how honest they feel today).

"LEDs and an audible buzzer alert the driver of the OBU operating mode, for example shifting from 'single occupancy vehicle' to 'double occupancy vehicle', 'bus,' etc. The OBU is capable of storing up to 15 nomination modes, and the number of required modes can be customized."

No reference to IAG procurement but only a blind man couldn't read between lines

TransCore's announcements today make no reference to the E-ZPass IAG 'recompete' procurement or to the TransCore offering in that procurement. Procurement rules apparently forbid any bidder from revealing the nature of the bid and from commenting directly on it.

However it does not take much reading between lines to work out what TransCore is  proposing in that bid.

TransCore sometimes refer to their lead reader, the Encompass 6, as "TransCore's IAG Encompass 6 reader system."

That would allow the IAG to transition to a dual mode network in which the existing IAG standard transponders can be read alongside a choice from seven different protocols of one other transponder, perhaps either a low cost ISO180006B sticker tag, or ATA tags used in the south, or later 5.9GHz.

On the transponder side TransCore are clearly offering their multiprotocol eZGo Anywhere transponders and the justannounced plain vanilla Mark IV style transponders.

The feedback features respond to the RFP.

The switchable version is for tollers with HOT lanes.

They are offering it all!

In their corporate tradition of full service

Whereas Mark IV has concentrated on supply of the RFID equipment - basically transponders and readers - TransCore has always been a full service toll systems and services company that designs, manufactures, installs and operates the whole spectrum of equipment and personnel needed for all kinds of toll collection.

TransCore today announcement in full:

TOLLROADSnews 2009-09-14 16:15