Transportation Monitoring and Control

U.S. Department of Transportation Solicits Proposals for RFID License Plates

October 8, 2009

RFID Journal - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has posted online its solicitation for the fiscal year. The document includes a project for the development of a radio frequency-enabled license-plate system that would assist government agencies in the enforcement of traffic laws (see page 26 of the solicitation).

As it turns out, police across the United States have a problem with sport-bike riders who flip up their license plates and then taunt law-enforcement officers to initiate a chase by speeding and/or stunting. Because the officers are unable to read the license plate when a rider does this, they are unable to identify the vehicle, or its owner or rider.

Law-enforcement agencies are rarely able to do anything to stop this behavior, because a police cruiser or fixed-wing aircraft simply can not keep up with a sport bike traveling at a speed of 150 miles per hour. And because they're unable to identify the motorcycle or its owner or operator, they can't pursue any follow-up action, such as obtaining a search warrant in order to seize the vehicle.

This is an opportunity to get a grant that could lead to significant business, since any system developed could have other applications, such as identifying stolen vehicles. I would encourage companies with relevant technology and expertise to submit a proposal—but to keep in mind that because the solicitation is being provided under the SBIR Program, only small businesses (less than 500 employees) can qualify.

One thing that any proposal needs to address is privacy. Even if a tag carries a random serial number, people other than police officers could track bikers. I pointed this out to the program analyst spearheading this effort, and he responded:

"Should the technology prove to be feasible for what we're trying to do here, we would work with law-enforcement agencies, jurisdictional driver-licensing agencies, prosecutors and defense attorneys and judges, to ensure that any information contained on the RFID chip would be 1) secure to protect sensitive information, 2) tamper-proof, 3) feasible for enforcement action and 4) admissible for prosecution in the court system, should the use of this technology in traffic enforcement be challenged."

Those things are all critical, but it's also important to ensure that people aren't tracked without their knowledge for nefarious reasons. A female rider, for instance, could be tracked with the technology by a stalker. This is one concern with the PASS Card program, in fact—the tags can be read from 20 or 30 feet away without anyone's knowledge, and if you can associate a random serial number with, say, Mark Roberti, then you could use RFID to track Mark Roberti.

I'm pretty confident that smart RFID engineers can devise a viable solution. Tags that can be read only by law-enforcement readers aren't a good solution, because they open up the possibility of police embedding tags on individuals or their cars, and a vehicle's owner would have no way to detect such a device.

I do hope RFID companies will respond to this solicitation, as it would be nice to see the technology solve this problem for the police.

UHF RFID METAL TAG APPLYING TO LICENSE PLATE USING METAL SHIELDING AND WATERTIGHT METHODS

Flashback: RFID-enabled License Plates to Identify UK Vehicles

June 10, 2004

RFID News - The UK-based vehicle licence plate manufacturer, Hills Numberplates Ltd, has chosen long-range RFID tags and readers from Identec Solutions to be embedded in licence plates that will automatically and reliably identify vehicles in the UK.

The new e-Plates project uses active (battery powered) RFID tags embedded in the plates to identify vehicles in real time. The result is the ability to reliably identify any vehicle, anywhere, whether stationary or mobile, and - most importantly - in all weather conditions. (Previous visually-based licence plate identification techniques have been hampered by factors such as heavy rain, mist, fog, and even mud or dirt on the plates.)
The e-Plates project has been under development for the past three years at a cost of more than £1 million, and is currently under consideration by a number of administrations. It is hoped that e-Plate will be one of the systems trialled by the UK Government in its forthcoming study of micro-chipped licence plates.

Chipped plates
 
The plates are the same shape and size as conventional plates, and are permanently fitted to the vehicle in the same way. But each e-Plate contains an embedded tag with a unique, encrypted identification number that is transmitted by the tag for detection by RFID readers. Multiple tags can be read simultaneously by a single reader at speeds of up to 320km per hour (200mph), up to 100 metres (300 feet) away.

The reader network, which includes fixed location readers (for use on the roadside) and portable readers (for use in surveillance vehicles and handheld devices), sends the unique identifier in real time to a central system where it is matched with the corresponding vehicle data such as registration number, owner details, make, model, colour, and tax/insurance renewal dates.

Identities secured
 
A key benefit of the e-Plate is that the tag provides an encrypted and secure ID code which is registered in the UK Ministry of Transport’s vehicle database. This code prevents tampering, cloning, or other forms of fraud that can currently happen with camera-based systems. Additionally, the e-Plate is designed to shatter if anyone tries to remove or otherwise tamper with it, and the tag can be programmed to transmit a warning if any attempt is made to dislodge the plate.

Surveillance applications
 
The system is expected to be used to identify vehicles for applications such as security, access control, electronic payment, tracking and processing, traffic management, and customer service. Commercial applications could include car dealerships, rental companies, insurance companies, fleet operators, and parking garages. In the public sector, the main applications would include enforcement (compliance with road tax, insurance, and mechanical checks), access control to restricted areas, combating vehicle theft and associated crime, and traffic flow counting and modelling.

According to Richard Taffinder, operations director for Hills Numberplates, the e-Plates were developed to provide companies and public authorities with a more reliable way to positively identify and capture information on a vehicle.

For additional information:

• Visit Hills Numberplates at http://www.e-plate.com
• Visit Identec Solutions at http://www.identecsolutions.com

Source: Identec Solutions Inc.
Reprinted with permission from Using RFID (http://www.usingrfid.com/news)

Flashback: Europe Develops RFID License Plate Tracking; U.S. Next?

December 7, 2008

The Newspaper - The European Union is spending 8.1m Euros (US $10.3m) on wireless tracking systems designed to allow authorities to issue automated tickets. 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.” “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. 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.