NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Automatic number plate recognition

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR; see also other names below) is a mass surveillance method that uses optical character recognition on images to read the licence plates on vehicles. As of 2006, systems can scan number plates at around one per second on cars travelling up to 100 mph (160 km/h). They can use existing closed-circuit television or road-rule enforcement cameras, or ones specifically designed for the task. They are used by various police forces and as a method of electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads, and monitoring traffic activity such as red light adherence in an intersection. French registration plate, 2004-04-25,Copyright © Kaihsu Tai File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... French registration plate, 2004-04-25,Copyright © Kaihsu Tai File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... // Introduction A license plate, number plate or registration plate (often referred to simply as a plate, or colloquially tag) is a small metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle for official identification purposes. ... Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire population, or a substantial fraction thereof. ... Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is a type of computer software designed to translate images of handwritten or typewritten text (usually captured by a scanner) into machine-editable text, or to translate pictures of characters into a standard encoding scheme representing them (e. ... // Introduction A license plate, number plate or registration plate (often referred to simply as a plate, or colloquially tag) is a small metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle for official identification purposes. ... The usage of surveillance cameras is increasing rapidly. ... A red-light camera in use in Beaverton, Oregon, USA A road rule enforcement camera is a system including a camera and a vehicle-monitoring device used to detect and identify vehicles disobeying a speed limit or other road rule. ... Many ETC systems use transponders like this one to electronically debit the accounts of registered cars without their stopping Transponder used in some Chilean freeways Electronic toll collection (ETC), an adaptation of military identification friend or foe technology, aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads. ... Road pricing is term that refers to the charging for the use of streets and roads. ...

ANPR can be used to store the images captured by the cameras as well as the text from the licence plate, with some configurable to store a photograph of the driver. Systems commonly use infrared lighting to allow the camera to take the picture at any time of day. A powerful flash is included in at least one version of the intersection-monitoring cameras, serving to both illuminate the picture and make the offender aware of his or her mistake. ANPR technology tends to be region specific, owing to plate variation from place to place. Image of two girls in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false-color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ...

The software aspect of the system runs on standard PC hardware and can be linked to other applications or databases. It first uses a series of image manipulation techniques to detect, normalise and enhance the image of the number plate, and finally optical character recognition (OCR) to extract the alphanumerics of the licence plate. ANPR/ALPR systems are generally deployed in one of two basic approaches; one allows for the entire process to be performed at the lane location in real-time, the other transmits all the images from many lanes to a remote computer location and performs the OCR process there at some later point in time. When done at the lane site, the information captured of the plate alphanumeric, date-time, lane identification, and any other information that is required is completed in somewhere around 250 milliseconds. This information, now small data packets, can easily be transmitted to some remote computer for further processing if necessary, or stored at the lane for later retrieval. In the other arrangement there are typically large numbers of PCs used in a server farm to handle high workloads, such as those found in the London congestion charge project. Often in such systems there is a requirement to forward images to the remote server and this can require larger bandwidth transmission media. Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... In computing , a database can be defined as a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer so that a program can consult it to answer queries. ... Generally speaking, the term alphanumeric refers to anything that consists of only letters and numbers. ... A typical server farm. ... The white-on-red C marks all entrances to the congestion charge zone although in some areas the charge zone is poorly signed, and accidental journeys into the zone can occur The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists entering the Central London area. ...

Concerns about these systems have centered on privacy fears of government tracking citizens' movements and media reports of misidentification and high error rates. However, as they have developed, the systems have become much more accurate and reliable.

Other names

Development history

The ANPR was invented in 1976 at the Police Scientific Development Branch in the UK. Prototype systems were working by 1979 and contracts were let to produce industrial systems, first at EMI Electronics then at Computer Recognition Systems (CRS) in Wokingham, UK. Early trial systems were deployed on the A1 road and at the Dartford Tunnel. The first arrest due to a detected stolen car was made in 1981.

Technology

ANPR uses optical character recognition (OCR) on images taken by cameras. When Dutch vehicle registration plates switched to a different style in 2002 one of the changes made was to the font, introducing small gaps in some letters (such as P and R) to make them more distinct and therefore more legible to such systems. Some licence plate arrangements use variations in font sizes and positioning – ANPR systems must be able to cope with such differences in order to be truly effective. More complicated systems can cope with international variants, though many programs are individually tailored to each country. Two letters from a Dutch license plate This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... For the origin and evolution of fonts, see History of western typography. ... Dutch vehicle registrations are done by the Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer, short RDW. The accompanying license plates are assigned to the cars identity papers. ... Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is a type of computer software designed to translate images of handwritten or typewritten text (usually captured by a scanner) into machine-editable text, or to translate pictures of characters into a standard encoding scheme representing them (e. ... Dutch vehicle registrations are done by the Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer, short RDW. The accompanying license plates are assigned to the cars identity papers. ... For the origin and evolution of fonts, see History of western typography. ...

The cameras used can include existing road-rule enforcement or closed-circuit television cameras as well as mobile units which are usually attached to vehicles. Some systems use infrared cameras to take a clearer image of the plates.

Algorithms

There are six primary algorithms that the software requires for identifying a licence plate: Created as a PNG file using Fireworks. ... Created as a PNG file using Fireworks. ... In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related disciplines, an algorithm is a finite set of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task which, given an initial state, will terminate in a defined end-state. ...

The complexity of each of these subsections of the program determines the accuracy of the system. During the third phase (normalisation) some systems use edge detection techniques to increase the picture difference between the letters and the plate backing. A median filter may also be used to reduce the visual "noise" on the image. In telecommunication, the term skew has the following meanings: 1. ... The goal of edge detection is to mark the points in a digital image at which the luminous intensity changes sharply. ... In image processing it is usually necessary to perform high degree of noise reduction in an image before performing higher-level processing steps, such as edge detection. ... Noise reduction is the process of removing noise from a signal. ...

Difficulties

There are a number of possible difficulties that the software must be able to cope with. These include:

While some of these problems can be corrected within the software it is primarily left to the hardware side of the system to work out solutions to these difficulties. Increasing the height of the camera may avoid problems with objects (such as other vehicles) obscuring the plate, but introduces and increases other problems such as the adjusting for the increased skew of the plate. Image resolution describes the detail an image holds. ... Look up focus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This amusement ride moved during the exposure. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Electromagnetic radiation. ... A photograph with an exposure time of 25 seconds A photograph of a night-time sky with an exposure time of 8 seconds. ... The reflection of a bridge in Indianapolis, Indianas Central Canal. ... A vanity plate (US), prestige plate, private number plate, personalised registration (UK) or personalised plate (Australia) is a special type of Vehicle registration plate on an automobile or other vehicle. ... Image File history File links Number. ... Image File history File links Number. ... Computer hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. ...

Many countries now use licence plates that are retroreflective [1]. This returns the light back to the source and thus improves the contrast of the image. In some countries, the characters on the plate are not reflective, giving a high level of contrast with the reflective background in any lighting conditions. A camera that makes use of infrared imaging (with a normal colour filter over the lens and an infrared light-source next to it) benefits greatly from this as the infrared waves are reflected back from the plate. This is only possible on dedicated ANPR cameras, however, and so cameras used for other purposes must rely more heavily on the software capabilities. Further, when a full-colour image is required as well as use of the ANPR-retrieved details it is necessary to have one infrared-enabled camera and one normal (colour) camera working together. Retroreflectors are clearly visible in a pair of bicycle shoes. ...

To avoid blurring it is ideal to have the shutter speed of a dedicated camera set to 1/1000th of a second. Because the car is moving, slower speeds could result in an image which is too blurred to read using the OCR software, especially if the camera is much higher up than the vehicle. In slow-moving traffic, or when the camera is at a lower level and the vehicle is at an angle approaching the camera, the shutter speed does not need to be so fast. Shutter speeds of 1/500th of a second can cope with traffic moving up to 40 mph (64 km/h) and 1/250th of a second up to 5 mph (8 km/h). [2] Created as a PNG file using Fireworks. ... Created as a PNG file using Fireworks. ... Look up focus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The shutter speed dial of a Fujica STX-1. ... This amusement ride moved during the exposure. ... The shutter speed dial of a Fujica STX-1. ...

On some cars, towbars may obscure one or two characters of the licence plate. Bikes on bike racks can also obscure the number plate, though in some countries and jurisdictions, such as New South Wales, "bike plates" are supposed to be fitted. Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 50 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $305,437 (1st) - Product per capita $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006) - Population 6,817,100 (1st) - Density 8. ...

Some small-scale systems allow for some errors in the licence plate. When used for giving specific vehicles access to a barriered area the decision may be made to have an acceptable error rate of one character. This is because the likelihood of an unauthorised car having such a similar licence plate is seen as quite small. However, this level of inaccuracy would not be acceptable in most applications of an ANPR system.

Circumvention techniques

Vehicle owners have used a variety of techniques in an attempt to evade ANPR systems and road-rule enforcement cameras in general. One method increases the reflective properties of the lettering and makes it more likely that the system will be unable to locate the plate or produce a high enough level of contrast to be able to read it. This is typically done by using a plate cover or a spray, though claims regarding the effectiveness of the latter are disputed. In most jurisdictions, the covers are illegal and covered under existing laws, while in most countries there is no law to disallow the use of the sprays. [3]

For the 407 toll route in Ontario, Canada, police have caught several advanced techniques that some motorists have attempted. One driver had a setup that allowed him to lift a wire from the driver's seat that would show a different plate as he was cruising through the camera zones. Other users have attempted to smear their licence plate with dirt or utilise covers to mask the plate. Highway 407, officially called the 407 Express Toll Route (ETR), is a tollway located in southern Ontario Canadas Greater Toronto Area. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area Ranked 4th...

Novelty frames around Texas licence plates were made illegal on 1 September 2003 by Senate Bill 439 because they caused problems with ANPR devices. That law made it a Class C misdemeanour (punishable by a fine of up to US$200), or Class B (punishable by a fine of up to US$2,000 and 180 days in jail) if it can be proven that the owner did it to deliberately obscure their plates. [4] Official language(s) No Official Language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area Ranked 2nd - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 kmÂ²) - Width 773 miles (1,244 km) - Length 790 miles (1,270 km) - % water 2. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

There are some custom car rear panels with an inset for the licence plate at an angle, which changes the alignment of characters relative to the reading grid. Since most U.S. states no longer require new plates each year, perhaps the easiest way to disable recognition is simply to allow the reflective paint on the plates to become degraded by age and therefore unreadable.

If an ANPR system cannot read the plate it can flag the image for attention, with the human operators looking to see if they are able to identify the alphanumerics. It is then possible to do lookups on a database using wildcard characters for any part of the plate obscured, and use car details (make and model, for example) to refine the search. The term wildcard character has the following meanings: // In telecommunications, a wildcard character is a character that may be substituted for any of a defined subset of all possible characters. ...

In order to avoid surveillance or penalty charges, there has been an upsurge in car cloning, particularly in London. This is usually achieved by copying registration plates from another car of a similar model and age. This can be difficult to detect, especially as cloners may change the registration plates and travel behaviour to hinder investigations. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Police enforcement

After the licence plate has been identified it can then be cross-referenced against a police database. The primary objectives of this are to identify vehicles that have been stolen, used in a crime or are in violation of some other law. Some systems are also linked to insurance databases to monitor if the vehicle is currently insured. Two fixed-view security cameras, and lights, at an industrial park at Almondsbury, Bristol, England. ... Two fixed-view security cameras, and lights, at an industrial park at Almondsbury, Bristol, England. ... The usage of surveillance cameras is increasing rapidly. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

On 18 November 2005 British police constable Sharon Beshenivsky was shot and killed during a robbery in Bradford. The CCTV network was linked in to an ANPR system and was able to identify the getaway car and track its movements, leading to the arrest of six suspects. At its launch in May, Ch Supt Geoff Dodd of West Yorkshire Police, called the ANPR system a "revolutionary tool in detecting crime". [5] November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Police Constable of West Yorkshire Police on patrol The United Kingdom (UK) does not have one single police service serving the general public; with the exception of various special police forces and of Northern Ireland (which has one unified force, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)), police forces... A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. ... Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky (14 January 1966â€“18 November 2005) was a West Yorkshire Police constable shot dead during a robbery in Bradford, England. ... The larger City of Bradford Metropolitan District includes other settlements in the surrounding area. ...

Glutton System in Northern Ireland

In 1997 a system of one hundred ANPR cameras, codenamed GLUTTON, was installed to feed into the automated British Military Intelligence Systems in Northern Ireland. Further cameras were also installed on the British mainland, including unspecified ports on the east and west coasts. 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... British Military Intelligence Systems in Northern Ireland is a term used to describe various HUMINT, ELINT, and SIGINT systems used by the RUC and British Army Intelligence in Northern Ireland during the latest round of the conflict there. ...

Project Laser in the United Kingdom

In March 2005, plans were announced to set up a nationwide system of over 2,000 automatic number plate recognition cameras in the United Kingdom. Starting in 2006 Britain will become the first country in which every journey of every vehicle is monitored and recorded. [6]

This followed the successful rollout of Project Spectrum in which all 43 Police Forces in England and Wales were supplied by the Home Office with an ANPR capable mobile unit, and a 'Back Office'. A subsequent series of trials were then commenced in 2002 when the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was given funding by the Home Office to work with the Police Standards Unit and develop "Project Laser" using the equipment supplied under Project Spectrum. With the aim of running the ANPR system nationwide, it was initially trialled by nine police forces and ran between 30 September 2002 and March 2003. Those police forces were: VOSA was created from the merger of the Vehicle Inspectorate (VI) and the Traffic Area Network (TAN) division of the Department for Transport (DfT). ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

The second phase of the project ran between 1 June 2003 and 21 June 2004 and involved 23 police forces in total. The DVLA is also involved with Project Laser, using the system to gather details on unregistered and unlicensed vehicles and those without a valid MOT certificate or insurance cover. Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England and has a population of 2. ... Approximate extent of North Wales North Wales (known in some archaic texts as Northgalis) is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales. ... Avon & Somerset Constabulary is a police force in England covering the county of Somerset and the districts of South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset; these districts were the now defunct county of Avon hence the forces name. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ... The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the Home Office police force responsible for Greater London, with the exception of the square mile of the City of London. ... This article is about the county in England. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... The West Midlands county The West Midlands Police is the police force covering the West Midlands county in England. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... MOT test, or just MOT (pronounced by spelling out the letters) is a mandatory annual test of safety and roadworthiness aspects of vehicles over a certain age in the United Kingdom. ...

The project was seen as a success despite a Home Office report showing that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) trial had an error rate of up to 40%, with claims that the system was contributing The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (the DVLA) is an agency of the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom. ...

Further findings went on to show that the error rate dropped to 5% when infrared systems and updated software were used.

During the second phase of the project around 28 million number plates were spotted in total, with 1.1 million (3.9%) of these matching an entry in one of the databases. 180,543 vehicles were stopped (101,775 directly because of the ANPR system), leading to 13,499 arrests (7.5% of the total) and the issue of 50,910 fines (28.2%). 1,152 stolen vehicles (worth £7.5 million in total), £380,000 worth of drugs and £640,000 worth of stolen goods were also recovered. The primary goal of the second phase was, however, to see how well the costs of the ANPR system could be covered. The final conclusion was that less than 10% of the expenditure incurred was recouped, with the Home Office claiming that the failure of drivers to pay fines contributed to this low figure, and continued to recommend the system be deployed throughout the UK. Report (PDF) These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the US Drug Enforcement Administration In jurisdictions where legislation restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it is common for an illegal drugs trade to develop. ...

Funding is now in place for the construction of the National ANPR Data Centre capable of holding 50 million ANPR reads per day. This should be complete by March 2006 and will form the basis of a vehicle movement database. [7].

There are now suggestions that the use of the network could be extended to catch drivers using mobile phones illegally, and those failing to wear seat belts [8]. This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

SPECS cameras

Another use for ANPR in the UK is for speed cameras which work by tracking vehicles' travel time between two fixed points, and therefore calculate the average speed. Currently the only such system which is accepted as reliable by the courts is the SPECS brand. These cameras are claimed to have an advantage over traditional speed cameras in maintaining steady legal speeds over extended distances, rather than encouraging heavy braking on approach to specific camera locations and subsequent acceleration back to illegal speeds. There is no evidence that SPECS cameras actually reduce accident rates long term, with many motorists arguing that average speed check systems encourage bunching. In addition with the revelation that speeding tickets can be avoided by changing lanes, an additional safety hazard has been created by drivers swapping lanes between gantries just in case they have been speeding. A red-light camera in use in Beaverton, Oregon A road-rule enforcement camera is a system including a camera and a vehicle-monitoring device used to detect and identify vehicles disobeying a road rule or road rules. ... SPECS cameras over motorway SPECS is a speed camera system manufactured by the British company Speed Check Services Limited. ...

The longest stretch of SPECS cameras in the UK is found on the A77 road in Scotland, with 30 miles being monitored between Glasgow and Ayr. The A77 road is a major road in Scotland. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP - First Minister Jack McConnell... Glaswegian redirects here. ... The Royal Burgh of Ayr (Scottish Gaelic, Inbhir Ã€ir) in the south-west of Scotland is a burgh situated on the Firth of Clyde. ...

Traffic control

Many cities and districts have developed traffic control systems to help monitor the movement and flow of vehicles around the road network. This had typically involved looking at historical data, estimates, observations and statistics such as:

CCTV cameras can be used to help traffic control centres by giving them live data, allowing for traffic management decisions to be made in real-time. By using ANPR on this footage it is possible to monitor the travel of individual vehicles, automatically providing information about the speed and flow of various routes. These details can highlight problem areas as and when they occur and helps the centre to make informed incident management decisions. A pedestrian crossing or crosswalk is a designated point on a road at which some means are employed to assist pedestrians wishing to cross. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Some counties of the United Kingdom have worked with Siemens Traffic [9] to develop traffic monitoring systems for their own control centres and for the public. Projects such as Hampshire County Council's ROMANSE provide an interactive and real-time web site showing details about traffic in the city. The site shows information about car parks, ongoing road works, special events and footage taken from CCTV cameras. ANPR systems can be used to provide average driving times along particular routes, giving drivers the ability to choose which one to take. ROMANSE also allows travellers to see the current situation using a mobile device with an Internet connection (such as WAP, GPRS or 3G), thus allowing them to be alerted to any problems that are ahead. Siemens AG (ISIN: DE0007236101, FWB: SIE, NYSE: SI) is one of the worlds largest technology companies. ... Hampshire, sometimes historically Southamptonshire or Hamptonshire, (abbr. ... A website, Web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of webpages, that is, HTML/XHTML documents accessible via HTTP on the Internet; all publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to users of GSM mobile phones. ... 3G is short for third-generation technology in the context of mobile phone standards. ...

The UK company Trafficmaster has used ANPR since 1998 to estimate average traffic speeds on non-motorway roads without the results being skewed by local fluctuations caused by traffic lights and similar. The company now operates a network of over 4000 ANPR cameras [10], but claims that only the four most central digits are identified, and no numberplate data is retained [11].

Electronic toll collection

Toll roads

Ontario's 407 ETR highway uses a combination of ANPR and radio transponders to toll vehicles entering and exiting the road. Radio antennas are located at each junction and detect the transponders, logging the unique identity of each vehicle in much the same way as the ANPR system does. Without ANPR as a second system it would not be possible to monitor all the traffic. Drivers who opt to rent a transponder for C$2.00 per month are not charged the "Video Toll Charge" of C$3.45 for using the road, with heavy vehicles (those with a gross weight of over 5,000 kg) being required to use one. Using either system, users of the highway are notified of the usage charges by post. [12] FasTrak RFID station in Orange County. ... FasTrak RFID station in Orange County. ... Mounted FasTrak transponder FasTrak is an electronic toll collection system in the state of California in the United States. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... An Ontario Highway 407 toll transponder In telecommunication, the term transponder (short-for Transmitter-responder and sometimes abbreviated to XPDR, XPNDR or TPDR) has the following meanings: An automatic device that receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal on a different frequency (see also broadcast translator). ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area Ranked 4th... Highway 407, officially called the 407 Express Toll Route (ETR), is a pay-per-use freeway located in south-central Ontario, Canadas Greater Toronto Area. ... An Ontario Highway 407 toll transponder In telecommunication, the term transponder (short-for Transmitter-responder and sometimes abbreviated to XPDR, XPNDR or TPDR) has the following meanings: An automatic device that receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal on a different frequency (see also broadcast translator). ...

There are numerous other electronic toll collection networks which use this combination of Radio frequency identification and ANPR. These include: Many ETC systems use transponders like this one to electronically debit the accounts of registered cars without their stopping Transponder used in some Chilean freeways Electronic toll collection (ETC), an adaptation of military identification friend or foe technology, aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads. ... An EPC RFID tag used for Wal-Mart Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. ...

The Saint John Harbour Bridge is a hollow box, haunched girder bridge crossing Saint John Harbour at the mouth of the Saint John River in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. ... Saint John[3] is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick and the oldest incorporated city in Canada. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Official languages English, French (the only constitutionally bilingual province in the country) Government - Lieutenant-Governor HermÃ©nÃ©gilde Chiasson - Premier Shawn Graham (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 10 - Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st... CityLink is a tolled freeway system in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Melbournes CBD has grown to straddle the Yarra River in three major precincts. ... Mounted FasTrak transponder FasTrak is an electronic toll collection system in the state of California in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... Headquarters and control centre near Petah Tikva Highway 6 (Hebrew: ), widely known as the Trans-Israel Highway or Cross-Israel Highway (×—×•×¦×” ×™×©×¨××œ), is a major electronic toll highway in Israel. ... The snowcapped Andes above downtown Santiago Santiago (frequently called in Spanish) is Chiles capital and, when viewed as a conurbation, its largest city. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... NY redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area Ranked 20th - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 kmÂ²) - Width 230 miles (370 km) - Length 298 miles (480 km) - % water 1. ... The Bosporus Bridges are two suspension bridges located in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosporus strait. ... The location of Istanbul Province Maiden Tower and Historical Peninsula of Istanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) (the former Constantinople, Greek: ÎšÏ‰Î½ÏƒÏ„Î±Î½Ï„Î¹Î½Î¿ÏÏ€Î¿Î»Î¹Ï‚) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ...

Charge zones – the London congestion charge

The London congestion charge is an example of a system that charges motorists entering a payment area. Transport for London (TfL) uses ANPR systems and charges motorists a daily fee of £8 paid before 10pm if they enter, leave or move around within the congestion charge zone between 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Fines for travelling within the zone without paying the charge are £50 per infraction if paid before the deadline, doubling to £100 per infraction thereafter. London congestion charge mobile unit, large File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... London congestion charge mobile unit, large File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The white-on-red C marks all entrances to the congestion charge zone although in some areas the charge zone is poorly signed, and accidental journeys into the zone can occur The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists entering the Central London area. ... The white-on-red C marks all entrances to the congestion charge zone although in some areas the charge zone is poorly signed, and accidental journeys into the zone can occur The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists entering the Central London area. ... Transport For London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system throughout Greater London in England. ...

Two hundred and thirty CCTV-style cameras, of which 180 are installed at the edge of the zone, are currently in use. The 50 cameras within the zone are intended to pick up cars that are missed on entry and/or exit, as well as those that are moving solely within the zone. There are also a number of mobile camera units which may be deployed anywhere in the zone. The usage of surveillance cameras is increasing rapidly. ...

It is estimated that around 98% of vehicles moving within the zone are caught on camera. The video streams are transmitted to a data centre located in central London where the ANPR software deduces the registration plate of the vehicle. A second data centre provides a backup location for image data.

Both front and back number plates are being captured, on vehicles going both in and out – this gives up to four chances to capture the number plates of a vehicle entering and exiting the zone. This list is then compared with a list of cars whose owners/operators have paid to enter the zone – those that have not paid are fined. The registered owner of such a vehicle is looked up in a database provided by the DVLA. [13] A government investigation has found that a significant portion of the DVLA's database is incorrect. Furthermore, it is now the car owner's responsibility to report to the DVLA if they sell their car.

Controversy

The introduction of ANPR systems has led to fears of misidentification and the furthering of 1984-style surveillance [14]. In the United States, some such as Gregg Easterbrook oppose what they call "machines that issue speeding tickets and red-light tickets" as the beginning of a slippery slope towards an automated justice system: Nineteen Eighty-Four (commonly written as 1984) is a dystopian novel by the English writer George Orwell, published in 1949. ... Gregg Easterbrook is an American writer who is a senior editor of The New Republic. ... In debate or rhetoric, the slippery slope is an argument for the likelihood of one event given another. ...

Similar criticisms have been raised in other countries. Easterbrook also argues that this technology is employed to maximise revenue for the state, rather than to promote safety.[15]

The fallibility of older systems was alarming, with one critic of the London congestion charge scheme noting "Misread plate after misread plate appeared on the screen – of every 10 that appeared at least four were incorrect." [16] This can lead to charges being made incorrectly with the vehicle owner having to pay £10 in order to be issued with proof (or not) of the offence. Improvements in technology have drastically decreased error rates, but false accusations are still frequent enough to be a problem.

Other concerns include the storage of information that could be used to identify people and store details about their driving habits and daily life, contravening the Data Protection Act along with similar legislation (see personally identifiable information). The laws in the UK are strict for any system that uses CCTV footage and can identify individuals. [17] The Data Protection Act 1984 is a British Act of Parliament that provides a legal basis for the privacy and protection of data of UK citizens and businesses. ... In information security and privacy, personally identifiable information or personally identifying information (PII) is any piece of information which can potentially be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person. ...

Other uses

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Look up marketing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Contents

Other names

Development history

Technology

Algorithms

Difficulties

Circumvention techniques

Police enforcement

Glutton System in Northern Ireland

Project Laser in the United Kingdom

SPECS cameras

Traffic control

Electronic toll collection

Toll roads

Charge zones – the London congestion charge

Controversy

Other uses

See also

References

External links

Contents

Other names GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Development history

Technology

Algorithms

Difficulties

Circumvention techniques

Police enforcement

Glutton System in Northern Ireland

Project Laser in the United Kingdom

SPECS cameras

Traffic control

Electronic toll collection

Toll roads

Charge zones – the London congestion charge

Controversy

Other uses

See also

References

External links

Other names