An RFID based Vehicle Identification System for Public Transport Priority

Public Transport (PT) priority at traffic signals is important ITS measure implemented in modern adaptive traffic control systems with a goal to improve PT system performance. PT priority implementation demands that PT vehicle has to be identified at given location, therefore the essential part of traffic control system is an automatic vehicle identification. There are various technology approaches for vehicle identification and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Recognized weaknesses of vehicle identification systems, which depend of respective system, are: inaccurate positioning, challenging installation, high price, traffic flow influence and weather influence. In collaboration with ZET (Zagrebacki Elektricni Tramvaj) and MARETON d.o.o., RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based identification system in combination with mobile communication was designed to partly overcome denominated weaknesses. Unlike various RFID based vehicle identification systems, which could be found in literature, tag in our design is buried in pavement, transponder and communication equipment are mounted on the tram vehicle. Numerous tags were tested, and the one with the best performance regarding robustness and reading accuracy was chosen to be installed in real conditions. Experimental results show that this identification system is robust in regard to installed tag and detection for given position. Furthermore the price of components is relatively low, so this vehicle identification design after developing interfaces with control system has the potential to serve for PT priority.