Description
This service package facilitates charging fees to roadway vehicle owners for using specific roadways with potentially differential payment rates based on time-of-day, which specific roadway is used, and class of vehicle (a local policy decision by each roadway owner). Vehicle owners need only register with a single payment entity of their choice (a participating state, municipal, or regional DOT, an authority, or a private entity), and payments are reconciled by the entity receiving payment (and travel history) with all roadway owners that participate in the VMT payment scheme, which may also include the Federal government. Vehicle owners would pay nothing for distances traveled where there are no payments required (e.g. in jurisdictions that have not implemented a distance based payment or for roadway operators that collect payment using traditional tolls), although a Federal payment rate might cover some or all roadway operations (a Federal policy decision). Basic operation depends on the vehicle tracking its own location, and periodically reporting its travel history to the registered entity receiving payment using C-V communications. Roadway VMT Payment can duplicate the functions of current toll road payment schemes based on F-V communications, parking payment functions, as well as augment and/or replace federal and state gasoline taxes (which are otherwise ineffective for vehicles that don't use gasoline).
The payments per distance traveled can be structured to provide some amount of demand management by motivating vehicle owner travel choices to minimize payments. The use of this service package for demand management is a local policy decision by each roadway owner.
Alternatively, for vehicle owners that prefer a strictly odometer ("high privacy") based payment approach (that does not need to record and report specific locations and times of travel), then the payment amount may assume a payment rate corresponding to the most expensive roads at the most expensive times. Specific payment rates for this option are a local policy decision.
Odometer readings (from vehicle registration and periodic safety inspection events stored at the state DOT where the vehicle is registered) can be used as a back-office audit to detect gross vehicle equipment failures and fraud (e.g. disabling or dismounting vehicle equipment). In addition, vehicle equipment can be read by fixed or mobile roadside equipment using F-V communications for a more immediate audit of in-vehicle equipment and enforcement (for vehicle owners that have not chosen the odometer-only method of payment).
Payment can be made periodically through a normal bill/payment cycle that is part of the registration process a vehicle owner chooses, or using a vehicle mounted or entered payment instrument/information with vehicle operator or owner initiated payment points. This facilitates payment by vehicle operators (instead of owners) for various commercial operations such as rental vehicles, taxi operators.
Service Package Graphic
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About this Graphic
Includes Equipment Packages and Subsystems:
Includes Architecture Flows:
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Related ITS Applications of ITS Taxonomy
| Classification |
Category |
ITS Application Area |
ITS Application(s) |
| Intelligent Infrastructure |
Electronic Payment & Pricing |
Toll Collection |
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User Services related to this Service Package:
Transaction Set Diagram
Note that this transaction set diagram (TSD) is only 1 of the 2 TSDs and so only a portion of the numbered items below refer to the TSD.
ATMS25 transaction set diagrams:
Part 1,
Part 2,
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The source graphic, a Windows Metafile (WMF), for the TSDs can be downloaded here:
TSD Part 1,
TSD Part 2,
The following discusses how the National ITS Architecture provides the transportation service described by this service package. Each numbered item describes the operation of that portion of the service package identified with the corresponding number on the transaction set diagram.
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The Payment Administrator for each instance of the Payment Administration Subsystem (PAS) can initialize the payment rates for the region covered by the PAS with payment administration requests and report the current status with payment information presentation. Once the rates are correctly set they can be shared with all external entity ISPs in VMT data for ISP and with all vehicles that are registered with the PAS in VMT cost data. The information distributed can be augmented with cost data from Other Payment Administration subsystems using VMT payment coordination (see transaction set 8 for this service package described below). Once the Vehicle has the full set of cost data, then the vehicle can give the Driver driver updates which can inform the driver of expected or past VMT costs based on anticipated or past driving routes.
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Vehicle owners can use either a PIAS or RTSS to setup an account with a selected PAS (user VMT account setup). During the account setup (or updates of the setup later), the owner can select the type of VMT payment scheme they will be charged under. Generally the schemes that give higher levels of privacy will also cost more (because they will assume travel on more costly roadways - since the actual roadway use will be unknown to the roadway owners). See the next transaction set paragraph for a discussion of the possible options.
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Vehicle owners can use either a PIAS or RTSS to review account activity with the PAS where they have an account (user VMT account reports). Depending on how the user has setup the account, the PAS may be able to provide a full audit trail of how costs were calculated (identifying every roadway used, at what time, and what the VMT cost was to use that roadway at the time), or only a total of miles traveled on a reporting period and an average VMT cost, or just the total cost with no traceability to number of miles traveled or where, or a flat rate (that assumes a fixed VMT rate - probably a high rate) that ensures the highest level of privacy. Distance traveled at the highest level of privacy might be simply a report of the odometer reading by either the vehicle owner (audited periodically based on vehicle safety inspection reports).
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The vehicle uses it's Location Data Source (position fix) to track the roadways used and the time they are used, calculating the VMT payment due and accumulating the travel history and cost in the Vehicle. Next, the Vehicle, at either periodic times (set by VMT cost data during initialization) or when queried by a Roadway Payment subsystem (RPS), the Vehicle issues a VMT data message to the registered PAS or to the nearby RPS. If the destination is an RPS, then the RPS relays the message to the appropriate PAS. RPS entities can be either fixed (at vehicle inspection stations or vehicle service stations or at roadside locations) or mobile. A mobile RPS (or a sequence of roadside RPSs) could read the same vehicle twice, after a short distance, and verify that the cost computed for the short (but known) distance is correct, verifying correct operation of the in vehicle equipment package (or conversely detecting faults in the equipment due to equipment failure or tampering).
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Vehicle owners have two ways to pay for their VMT costs. First, using a PIAS or RTSS entity owners can see the costs they are liable to pay (see transaction set 3) and respond to a payment request (traveler payment request) with payment information traveler payment information using either a financial instrument (bank/credit/debit account) or reference to a positive cash balance account maintained by the PAS.
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Second, drivers (may or may not be owners too) can pay their VMT costs from the vehicle using a payment instrument (or using account information entered here). In this scheme, the PAS send vehicle payment request to the VS either directly or via an RPS. This triggers a VS to Traveler Card request for payment and payment response, which sent to the PAS as vehicle payment information either directly or via the intermediary RPS. This payment mechanism is useful for vehicle operators that are responsible for VMT payments, but that don't own the vehicle such as vehicle renters or non-owner taxi drivers.
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If a financial institution payment instrument is used in the prior steps, it is reconciled by the PAS through a transaction with the appropriate financial institution payment request and transaction status.
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For VMT payments made for operations on the roadways of other PASs, a portion of the payment corresponding the VMT cost on the other PAS's roadways will be made via the VMT payment coordination message. This allows proper apportionment of payments based on actual usage of roadways outside the jurisdiction of the PAS with whom a vehicle owner has chosen to register.
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A crucial function of the VMT payment scheme is enforcement. The RPS subsystem can be either fixed or mobile in it's enforcement role. The RPS will read the vehicle characteristics of the vehicle under "test". This should include estimating the class of vehicle (e.g. size and number of axles) relevant for the VMT scheme, and reading the vehicle registration license tag (e.g. optical character recognition or reading an electronic tag on the vehicle). At the same time, the VMT equipment status is read from the vehicle, which should provide a quick estimate of the proper functioning of the equipment, including the current estimated VMT cost that the vehicle has accumulated at the time that the status is read. Taking a second reading a short distance down the road should give a good verification of the proper functioning of the onboard equipment.
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If a fault is detected on the VS equipment by the RPS, then the VMT equipment fault message is issued to the PAS identifying the vehicle, its license tag and the equipment status.
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The PAS will transact with the DMV to resolve the vehicle owner from the license tag data by sending license request to the DMV and receiving registration in return. This information can be used to contact the vehicle owner to ask them to have the VS serviced to correct the fault within a period of time. This may or may not involve an additional administrative fee (since it's possible that the VS is using the roadways in a "free" mode).
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In the event that a VS owner does not correct a detected fault when they have been notified by the PAS, or if they are a repeat offender, the PAS should follow a process that could result in a payment violation notification message being sent to the appropriate Enforcement Agency.
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