Satellite technology may be used to monitor road usage in the Dublin area to bring an end to traffic congestion at toll-booths, it emerged today.
A new feasibility study, which is being funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), is being carried out by Mapflow and the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) to establish whether the hi-tech equipment could be used in the Dublin area.
John Henry, chief executive of the DTO, said the study was potentially a first step towards radically overhauling the way road tolls are collected in Ireland.
"The use of satellite technology to track road usage makes it possible for us to greatly improve the way that the road tolling system currently operates," Mr Henry said.
"The satellite system is perhaps the most innovative way of collecting tolls without impeding motorists. I'm sure that the benefits of not having to filter through toll plazas and of being able to automatically pay roads tolls would be widely recognised by motorists were the available technology to be used to that end."
Electronic tolling based on satellite technology eliminates the need to stop at tollbooths reducing the requirement for the road facilities and cutting down on tailbacks.
The study will be carried out under the Active Road Management Assisted by Satellite (ARMAS) project to develop a virtual road toll system. In-vehicle black boxes and global satellite positioning data is used to help determine the exact route a driver has travelled so a precise toll can be calculated after each journey.
The system calculates the car's position and sends data about location and journey length to a control centre allowing drivers to be charged for the section of roadway they travelled on.
The technology gives traffic managers increased flexibility to manage road congestion with variable toll charges based on time of day, levels of traffic or roadworks.
The feasibility study, which will test 10 satellite devices, is being carried out over the two months from August to September 2005.
PA