Evasive vehicles are those that do not complete toll payments. Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of evasive vehicles. Despite it being a serious violation in any traffic code, many drivers continue committing this type of fraudulent activity, putting other drivers and workers at risk and generating a substantial financial loss for the concessionaires.
Tecsidel has a wide experience in projects carried out in 4 continents and toll evasion is one of the primary concerns that concessionaires face. Brazil, with more than 20.000 km of highways concessions is one of the most interesting case studies. Tecsidel has been working for more than 15 years for 25 Brazilian concessions implementing its Stop&Go toll solutions (manual, automatic and mixed lanes).
In 2014, almost 2 million toll evasion offenses were registered on Brazilian roads, representing a big economical damage for concessionaires and resulting in a negative effect on work investments and user security. In 2015, the DENATRAN (National Traffic Department) started to invest in automatic equipment in the hopes of controlling and monitoring vehicles committing frauds.
Tecsidel team, analyzing the matter and collaborating with the relevant authority, wanted to extend its knowledge to help tackle the issue. The solution studied consists of an advanced registration system that integrated with Tecsidel toll system, allows the appropriate authority to carry out the necessary assessments for monitoring toll evasion violations, and gives the key to persecute toll violators.
In the case that the toll transition is considered toll violation (vehicle not stopping at the gate with no TAG, black listed or negative balance TAG), the system automatically generates the relevant report and sends its corresponding details to the appropriate authority informing them accordingly.
This high-technology detection system is comprised of an OCR front camera to register the plate, an optional back camera, a panoramic camera to show context (including the state of the stoplight), and a local processing unit. The camera can also record a video. All hardware and software features are integrated in a Tecsidel software application.
The software application is capable of analyzing the infraction in the different stages (lane, plaza, CCA, & staff) and may issue automatically fines to those involved. The information that the system provides has extremely high performances, being 100% reliable and includes the following indicators:
- Daily records
- Timestamps of the toll evasion incidents
- Identification of the most frequent offenders
- Current state of TAGs by the toll plaza
- Electronic Payment company
In 2018, Tecsidel implemented this cutting-edge evasion solution for the first time in 20 lanes in the Planalto Sul highway (Brazil), which is managed by Arteris. The concessionaire Viapaulista will also implement the system in 66 lanes along the state highway in Ribeirão Preto/São Paulo, Brasil.
Moreover, to further increase the security, speed, and convenience for the users in the toll collections in Brazil, Tecsidel is launching a state-of-the-art solution called GToll, which allows users to make toll payments through the mobile application, card, or sensible bracelet that makes use of a validation technology by means of Near Field Communication (NFC). This technology works on wireless communication and through the exchange of data between two devices that are located at a distance of less than 20cm from each other.
The entire process, from the toll payment to the validation at the plaza, is very practical and intuitive. By means of their smartphones, users can download and install the GToll application, which may be used to make payments, as well as validations in the toll booth with semi-automatic systems.
Nowadays, it is undeniable that smartphones and unlimited access to internet connection have shaped users´ consumer behavior and habits along with many other things, and toll systems are no exception.