A Game of Tags

Sometimes the ability of technology to solve a problem brings on a new set of problems. It’s not that the technology itself lacks anything. Indeed, its introduction provides more options, more choices, and it takes the rest of the world a while to deal with that.

Need an example? Look no further than the transponder — better make that transponders, plural — on your windshield. Whether they’re used for toll collection, for preclearance at vehicle inspection stations, or to facilitate speedy border crossings, transponders make the business of identifying a vehicle more efficient than ever before. They’re inexpensive, reliable, and flexible.

However, after more than two decades of development and nearly a decade of systems operation, no more than 5 per cent of trucks in the interstate and interprovincial transport sector are signed up for the kind of preclearance supported by transponders.

The barriers lie not in technology but in the business and regulatory models that surround it. That’s true even when there’s technology available that allows interoperability between various transponder systems.

The electronic systems that enable transponder-equipped trucks to move quickly through points of entry and weigh stations in Canada and the United States without stopping come from three different companies. Those three systems — PrePass, NorPass, and Greenlight — aren’t compatible with each other.

The result is that truckers need to carry more than one transponder. The obvious solution to this less-than-perfect situation would be to have one transponder that works with all available systems. With such a transponder, a single unit could handle toll collection and weigh scale and customs pre-clearance.

The beginning of a solution was created in 2002, when a single standard for dedicated short-range radio communications (which is what transponder technology is based on) was introduced. The idea was to bring compatibility to electronic weigh-station bypass and toll-collection services.

One of the most useful applications of this standard will be for cross-border traffic. Transponders are an integral part of the FAST (Free and Secure Trade) program (www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/menu-e.html), designed to speed up the flow of goods trucked across the U.S.-Canada border. Under FAST, shipments, trucking companies, and drivers that are seen as “low risk” will be able to use a dedicated lane to cross the border without a lengthy inspection.

The good news is, the technology exists to allow a single transponder to be used with all systems in these border crossings, as well as other toll collection and weigh station points. The bad news is that getting that technology accepted by the commercial and regulatory bodies involved has yet to happen.

A Mississauga, Ont.-based company, Mark IV IVHS (www.ivhs.com), has developed a transponder that uses the new interoperability standard. Mark IV’s T3 SuperTag combines three Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) protocols in one transponder, offering commercial vehicles the potential for interoperability on electronic toll collection systems all across North America. It allows a single transponder to be used on E-ZPass systems, toll facilities that have adopted IAG technology (such as the Illinois Tollway and Smart Tag in Virginia), Highway 407 in Ontario, border crossings using Mark IV Fusion V6 or Title 21 protocols, and, most toll roads and bridges in California. Under review is technical compatibility with toll systems in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. The T3 Supertag allows interoperability with PrePass, NorPass, Avion, and Oregon’s Greenlight initiative.

The fly in the ointment, according to Paul Manuel, Mark IV’s vice-president of sales and marketing, is acceptance by those who set up and run the systems where transponders are used.

“I can provide the technical compatibility that’s needed,” he says, “but customers have to agree to make use of it. We bend over backwards to make products that work across most systems. Most customers can be technically compatible, if they want to be.”

The real issues that have yet to be resolved, according to Manuel, lie in business rules and regulatory issues. It’s not the technology that’s the barrier to interoperability, but the willingness of those who run the systems and who manage users’ accounts.

“I’m giving technical interoperability,” asserts Manuel. “But, at the end of the day, it’s business rules that make the real difference.”