Touch ‘n Go has showcased its Titan Flow MLFF (multi-lane fast flow) toll fare collection solution at the MyASEAN Roads and Traffic Expo (MyARTTE) in Kuala Lumpur, following the firm’s announcement last month of having demonstrated a proof of concept of the barrier-free toll fare collection system.
This proof of concept is located in Alam Impian along the Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway (LKSA), using hardware by Star Systems International (SSI) installed in a gantry above a four-lane section of the highway. Branded Titan Flow, the POC combines RFID, ANPR, LiDAR and artificial intelligence technologies, which enables MLFF toll fare collection without toll plazas with barriers.
The technology used in the MLFF proof of concept gantry on the LKSA, as displayed by Touch ‘n Go at the expo, features key equipment from Star Systems International (SSI), and is comprised of two RFID antennas, an RFID reader, and two ANPR cameras with LiDAR, per lane.
The RFID antenna is larger and more powerful than the equipment currently in use at fully operational toll plazas, and has been tested at speeds beyond the national limit, while the ANPR is capable of plate detection beyond 200 km/h, according to Touch ‘n Go.
These are complemented by LiDAR that feeds into the integrated AI, which identifies the types of vehicles passing through the gantry, such as private vehicles, taxis, buses, or lorries, as denoted according to vehicle classes on highways in order to determine the toll fare to be imposed for a given vehicle. The POC at the location has been trialled for the past 13 months, according to Touch ‘n Go.
Relying solely on ANPR cameras will be inadequate as these have an accuracy of 95%, the firm said, as the effectiveness of a visual-only, camera-based system is compromised by environmental factors such as heavy rain and intense sunlight. For this reason, Touch ‘n Go is running the system with multiple data capture devices as redundant backups in order to attain an accuracy of 99.98%.
Where the consumer is concerned, the proof of concept reads from the same RFID tag that has amassed more than four million registered users so far, alongside more than 24 million Touch ‘n Go eWallet users.
Plans are also afoot for the implementation of an open payment system for toll fare. While users currently are required to make toll fare payments from the eWallet, they will, in the future, be able to make payments from their credit or debit card, or from other electronic wallets.
Though the implementation of barrier-free MLFF toll fare collection was mooted nearly 20 years ago, a more definitive timeline now places its implementation in 2027. What remains to be seen is whether the Malaysian government will select one system to be used across all tolled highways in Malaysia, or if highway operators will be free to choose their own toll fare collection solution.
Before arriving at the full roll-out of MLFF, the interim measure is the single-lane fast flow (SLFF) setup, which is a stepping stone towards the fully gateless toll fare collection system that is MLFF. The SLFF system is evolved from the RFID system that is currently operational, with hardware that enables vehicle identification and toll fare collection to occur at higher speeds, at up to 50 km/h.
Touch ‘n Go does not have the MLFF sandbox to itself. In August, it was revealed that highway operator PLUS was set to commence trials of its own ANPR-based toll fare collection system, dubbed JustGo, with a pilot project to trial the system on the North-South Expressway (NSE) from October.
Earlier this month, The Edge Malaysia reported there are six bidders in play for the MLFF toll fare collection contract, citing sources which named JustGo Digital supported by PLUS Malaysia; Touch ‘n Go supported by Prolintas; a joint venture between Konsortium Jaringan Selangor and SEP Synergy, supported by IJM; and Taliworks Corp with Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat (ALR) partnering with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet).
A separate source cited by The Edge Malaysia named a further two parties, which are Setel Ventures, and a joint venture involving a Qatari consortium using South Korean technology. Prolintas subsequently refuted its reported involvement with Touch ‘n Go.
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