ACCELERATING THE FLOW

Most toll-road systems operating today are basically single-lane, where vehicles are concentrated into single traffic streams during the payment procedure. A small but increasing number of toll roads are using multilane systems, where tolls are collected from vehicles at highway speed without a conventional toll plaza. For single-lane tolling, various vehicle classification schemes have evolved, which are very different for legal as well as technological reasons. Such systems have at least nine different types of problem. The multilane sensor, developed by MBB SensTech, uses a unique, patented pulse laser pattern recognition system, which allows the use of standard electronic parts. Its use of intelligent technology instead of expensive electronics enables it to have a market-oriented price. It is an active system that is independent of external light and heat sources, and it uses laser light of very low intensity. Its Traffic Observation Module - Enhanced version (TON-E) has classification ability, and uses six individual laser beams arranged in two rows. The laser's pulse rate is typically 10kHz, providing 10,000 details of height information per beam per second. A more flexible long-beam version, with beams in the direction of travel, will be provided in the future. For the covering abstract, see IRRD E101232.