Europe Develops RFID License Plate Tracking
www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2620.asp
European Union spends $10 million to develop advanced system to track
motorists and issue tickets for minor infractions.
The European Union is spending 8.1 million Euros (US $10.3 million) on
wireless tracking systems designed to allow authorities to issue
automated tickets for increasingly minor traffic infractions. Pilot
projects underway in Finland, France and Germany use systems designed by
the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland as part of a project called
ASSET-Road. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a key component in
achieving the goal described as "traffic violations detected in a
flash." Many of the ideas have already made their way to the United
States.
"The intention is to elaborate for public authorities new innovative
solutions and technology to gather traffic data and utilize it in
traffic enforcement and surveillance," VTT explained in a statement.
Prototype units of the Finnish technology issue automated tickets
commercial vehicles for violations, no matter how small, of height or
weight restrictions. Last month, Arizona-based camera vendor American
Traffic Solutions (ATS) announced it would begin selling a similar
system to jurisdictions interested in ticketing truckers. The European
system adds the capability of issuing automated tickets for vehicles
that appear to have faulty brakes.
Another system under development targets passenger vehicles by
constantly tracking the distance between automobiles. Any car within
sensor range that strays too close to another vehicle would be mailed a
ticket for tailgating. In documents provided to the Arizona Department
of Public Safety, ATS also explained it has developed automated
tailgating tickets as a feature that can soon be added to existing speed
camera programs.
Camera-based systems, however, are prone to error when the machinery
fails to read a license plate accurately. European officials hope to
increase the ease and accuracy of total vehicle surveillance by
switching to RFID.
"VTT is also investigating the utilization of RFID technology as an
electronic number plate where the tags imitate electronic license
plates," the company stated. "When these tags are mounted on a vehicle,
an RFID reader can then identify each vehicle according its identity
code."
Readers for RFID systems, like the ones used to monitor E-ZPass,
FasTrak, SunPass and TxTag toll road transponders, can also be more
easily hidden than a camera. In 2005, a Texas lawmaker proposed a bill
that would have forced all state residents to use RFID chips in their
license plates (read bill). The bill failed to gain support, but the
universal surveillance program envisioned by such programs is slowly
advancing. The cities of Hanover Park, Oak Forest and Streamwood,
Illinois last month announced they would deploy red light cameras with
an "amber alert" feature provided by the Dutch company, Gatso. This
feature allows every passing vehicle to be photographed, identified and
tracked. Complete travel histories for all motorists could be stored in
a database so that allows police and other officials could keep track of
any individuals of interest.
In Edmonton, Canada, for example, the police used information stored in
a less sophisticated database in 2004 to track journalist Kerry Diotte
after he had written a column critical of the city's photo radar
program.
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