2/13/2008 10:35:00 AM Will electronic tags lead to congestion fees? Gov’t. says the priority is to recoup money from licence fee dodgers. The technology, though, is flexible
The prospect of motorists being charged to drive at the busiest times may have taken a step closer.
Electronic tags being added to the island's vehicles could easily be adapted for a congestion charge, the company behind the technology has said. By June this year, every car, bike and truck will be required by law to carry a computer chip on its windshield.
The Government has said the markers will only be read in order to crack down on unlicensed an unregistered vehicles and that the scheme will recover around $11 million dollars over the next five years.
However, Transcore, the company which is selling its Electronic Vehicle Registration (EVR) technology to the Government, issued a statement in which it inadvertently dropped hints that the tags may find wider usage.
Referring to "later stages of the programme adoption," the company stressed the "flexibility" of the system, saying that it could be used for almost all forms of vehicle control.
Transcore said that the "the system operates via technology that is similar to electronic tolling, popular in high volume traffic centres around the world."
In the long term, some technology experts believe it is inevitable Bermuda will adopt a congestion charge like the one used in central London, where motorists are charged $20 a day to travel at certain times.
In the shorter term, it seems likely the tags will be used to keep trucks and vans off the road on Sundays and at peak periods. In its heaviest hint, the Transcore statement read: "In later stages of the programme adoption, EVR will enable compliance monitoring of commercial vehicles operating in restricted areas during rush hours without a permit and issue corresponding citations for non-compliant vehicles."
Yesterday, Transcore said it could not expand on plans for the technology in Bermuda. Randy Rochester, director of the island's Transport Control Department, reiterated that the current plan is only to use the tags to catch unlicensed vehicles.
Technology enthusiast and social commentator Dennis Pitcher, 26, said: "Whatever the initial idea behind the [electronic tags], once the technology is paid for and in place, people will start to look at what else it can be used for.
"The Government is talking about free public transport. It would make perfect sense to pay for that by introducing a congestion charge for travelling into Hamilton. Something has to be done about the number of cars on the road, and I would personally like to see a trial of the system."
Transcore's RFID computer chips are being added to all vehicles as they pass their annual registration date. The chips can be read at a range of around 30ft by receivers placed on posts, buildings or in radar guns. The removal of tags is an offence punishable with a heavy fine.
