Granted, the archipelago is just a little more than 20.5 square miles. But it does claim to have the world’s highest density per square kilometer of motor traffic.
The project, which has just begun, will use RFID sticker tags from TransCore, which will be affixed to vehicle windshields. Bermuda’s Transport Control Department hopes the so-called EVR system, or electronic vehicle registration, will automate compliance and enforcement via ticketing of non-law-abiding motorists.
The upshot, it hopes, will be faster processing and more efficient recovery lost fees from unlicensed vehicles on the islands. The government said it expects to recoup about $11m worth of lost fees during the next five years and reduce the number of non-compliant vehicles to fewer than 1%.
TransCore’s eGo tags will be slapped on the windshields of all vehicles in the country during a government inspection and registration process. A unique ID code would be stored in the tag and linked to a record in the country’s centralized vehicle-database. A violation processing system from TransCore would automatically generate citations. At some future point, the company expects to enable validation of commercial vehicle registration and issue violations for those operating in restricted areas during rush hours without a permit.
A network of fixed reader points throughout the islands, transportable tripod-mounted readers and handheld readers would read the tags to ensure compliance. It would operate similar to electronic tolling, said TransCore.
TransCore said the tags had been designed so that if they are tampered with they would become inoperable and would visually indicate tampering. No personal data of citizens will be stored on the tags and the system would not track or store individual vehicle traffic patterns or history, TransCore said. Rather, it would identify only vehicles and not drivers and retain only photo images of non-compliant vehicles.
