The Rain Alliance has formed a working group to support the use of its radio-frequency identification (RFID) road charging technology on European roads.
The non-profit organisation is seeking to accelerate the adoption of ultra high frequency (UHF) and RFID technology in business and consumer applications.
Members of the European Road Charging Workgroup (EURCWG), including Star Systems International and NXP Semiconductors, will focus on furthering EU legislation to include Rain RFID as a road charging technology.
Rain Alliance president Steve Halliday says: “The EURCWG will encourage and support the EU in advancing the use of RAIN RFID for road charging solutions by engaging with policy makers and stakeholders as well as advocating for a set of best practices for its use.”
The RFID technology provides the identification, location and authentication of the physical item attached to an RFID tag.
The Rain Alliance says its RFID costs a fraction of other road charging technologies and is an environmentally friendly solution since no battery is required for the transponder.
EURCWG chair Christian Schnebinger says: “Along with road charging, Rain RFID technology offers a wide range of other applications in the transport and mobility sectors, such as electronic vehicle identification (EVI), parking, logistics, access control into low emission zones and payment. Some EU countries are considering implementing Rain RFID technology.”
“A Rain RFID feasibility study will be published this summer to address a variety of uses of the technology in Europe,” Schnebinger adds.