On-Board Vehicle Data Gathering

Our client had responsibility for road usage charging and wished to evaluate the feasibility of gathering location data from within a vehicle on-board unit (OBU) to enable distance based charging.

The project has been implemented in two phases:

• A certification phase to test that OBUs meet performance criteria
• A trial with real drivers using the OBUs while going about their daily business within the Congestion Charging Zone

Business Challenge

‘Our client faced issues of;’

• Testing the feasibility of gathering customer travel location data using GSM, GPRS and Wifi technologies
• Storing the data and providing it for billing and enforcement purposes
• Understanding existing driver movement behaviour within the Charging Zone

Our Approach

Our consultants acted as technical specialists and project managers in both phases.

Phase 1
We designed and managed a set of trials using a mix of vendor OBUs and supporting control data (vehicle logs and position reference data). The trial involved a selection of vendor equipment, including 14 vendor systems. A data-logging system was designed to store the output from the OBUs and provide the basis of subsequent analysis. We specified the travel routes over which the tests were conducted and the resulting performance of the OBUs was analysed, allowing a selection of vendors to be used in Phase 2.

Phase 2
The shortlisted vendors nominated existing customers for the test, who were already using their units when driving in and around the charging zone. Their vehicles were registered to enable automated payment of the Congestion Charge and the position data was gathered via the vendors’ back office systems.

Business Outcome

There were approximately 500 vehicles involved in the trial and the output provided data on how drivers moved within the central zone.

The project enabled:

• A short-listing of 5 OBU vendors
• The creation of a data logging system
• An ongoing collection of position data from all vehicles and storage for later analysis

The trial was completed in December 2007

Services Provided

• Test design
• Technical specifications
• Procurement process
• Supplier management
• Project management

Skills Deployed

• Road pricing
• GSM, GPS, Wifi
• SIM configuration for GPRS
• Procurement management
• Project management
• Vehicle device installation

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