Car-tracking RFID tags may enforce Congestion Charge

Transport for London (TfL) is set to spend up to £34m on new digital enforcement technologies for the Congestion Charging Scheme (CCS), which could include radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

A new number plate recognition system will be used in the proposed western extension zone once it gets the go ahead and will then be rolled out to the existing congestion charging zone.

It is anticipated this will be completed by 2008, at which point a TfL contract notice says a further technology refresh may be needed to take into account "the potential use of radio tags to aid detection of vehicles".

Although the main congestion charging contract is held by Capita, the current analogue camera and telecoms contracts are held by Initial Electronic Security Systems, BT and Colt, who send images to a central site. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology at this central site is used to capture images of vehicles entering the zone and identify their registration plates.

For the proposed western extension zone, TfL initially wants the ANPR function to be carried out digitally at the roadside, with the full evidential record then being transmitted over low-cost cabled networks using digital technology. TfL claims this will allow the CCS to take advantage of advances in technology and cut communications costs.

It is the Initial/BT/Colt contract that is now up for grabs but the main Capita contract ends in 2008 and a TfL spokesman told silicon.com that it will then be looking to combine them into a single contract.

A Tfl spokesman said it was not viable to use this technology when the congestion charge began in 2003.

TfL is structuring the project in three "lots", with the first one to get the system live, the second to maintain it for the duration of the contract, and the third to refresh the technology for the existing congestion charging zone.

The contract is expected to be awarded towards the end of next year with a "go live" date of late 2006. Beyond that there are several "break points" for TfL to make a final decision on proceeding with further technology refreshes and combining it into a single overall contract. But if those break points are not exercised and the contract is not terminated for any other reason, the project will complete in early 2016.

TfL has also said it may pay a contribution to bidders' costs in order to encourage competition for the contract.