On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:52:37 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 18:31:57 on Fri, 20 Jan
2012, John Levine remarked:
I'm not sure why any agency would go the smart card route for tolls.

Instead of cash, for non-regular users. There's a toll bridge/tunnel at
the Thames Estuary, for example, and while they have a transponder
scheme my usage of the crossing when I lived nearby was only perhaps
once a year. A contactless credit card seems a better bet than adding
interoperability to any particular transport smart card though.

We already have interoperable toll transponders with E-ZPass.

Off-hand I can only think of three toll routes in the UK, plus the
London Congestion Zone (which I think doesn't have a transponder).

Lots of cameras at the boundary points providing images for ANPR
(Automatic Number Plate Recognition) processing. The system does not
require advance payment but works by determining if a vehicle is
exempt from charging or if the charge has been paid; failing that test
generates a (normal price) charge which the driver/keeper has until
midnight to pay after which there is a further 24hrs to pay an
increased (12 UKP instead of 10 UKP) charge. After that it becomes a
60 UKP Penalty Charge which increases to 120 UKP after T+14. At T+28 a
Charge Certificate is issued which increases the charge to 187 UKP. At
T+49 a Warrant of Execution can be applied for and "the boys"
(bailffs) get sent round to execute recovery of payment or goods not
just for the amount due but for their own fees on top.

I realise toll routes are much more common in the USA.