Abstract—Rapid urban growth and the steady rise in the number of vehicles have made congestion at highway toll plazas a persistent and costly problem. Long queues at toll booths not only waste travelers’ time but also increase fuel consumption, air pollution, and overall operating costs of the transport system. Traditional manual toll collection methods contribute significantly to these delays, as vehicles are required to stop for cash or card-based transactions. To address these challenges, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), particularly Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)–based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), have gained widespread attention.

This study evaluates the real-world performance of an RFID-based toll collection system at the Ban Toll Plaza on the Jammu–Udhampur Highway (NH-14) in India. The analysis focuses on peak traffic periods, representing the most congested operating conditions. Vehicle halt times under manual tolling were measured through on-site observations and automated sensors over a 30-day period, while RFID transaction data were obtained from comparable toll plazas with established ETC systems. Statistical techniques, including paired t-tests and queuing theory models, were used to assess differences in processing time, queue length, and delay between manual and RFID systems.

The results clearly demonstrate the advantages of RFID implementation. Average vehicle halt time dropped from 43.2 seconds under manual toll collection to just 3.4 seconds with RFID, reflecting a 92.1% improvement in processing efficiency. Queue lengths and waiting times were also dramatically reduced, with peak-hour queues shrinking from about 20 vehicles to only 4 vehicles. These operational improvements led to notable environmental benefits, including annual fuel savings of more than 58,000 liters and a reduction of approximately 142 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. From an economic perspective, the system showed strong viability, achieving a benefit–cost ratio greater than 7:1 and recovering implementation costs within six months.

Overall, the study shows that RFID-based electronic toll collection can significantly improve traffic flow, reduce environmental impacts, and deliver substantial economic benefits. Despite minor challenges such as occasional tag read failures, the findings strongly support wider adoption of RFID tolling as a practical and sustainable solution for modern highway transportation systems.

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• Y. Chen, “An intelligent traffic flow control system based on radio frequency identification and wireless sensor networks,” International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, vol. 10, no. 8, p. 917413, 2014.
• Alam and M. Kumar, “An integrated traffic light control system using rfid technology,” International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Emerging Technologies, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 420–430, 2017.
• Waghere, P. Nalawade, and N. Vanare, “Dynamic traffic control using rfid technology,” International Journal of Advance Research in Science and Engineering, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 994–999, 2017.
• D. Lakshmi and R. Ramesh, “Rfid–emergency traffic control and theft alert system,” International Journal of Engineering and Techniques, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 21–25, 2015.
• Krausz, T. Lovas, and A´ . Barsi, “Radio frequency identification in supporting traffic safety,” Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 727–731, 2016.
• National Highways Authority of India, “Rfid based electronic toll collection system,” Government of India, Tech. Rep., 2016.
• Zhang, X. He, and J. Wang, “Traffic performance evaluation of elec- tronic toll collection systems,” Journal of Transportation Engineering, vol. 144, no. 5, p. 04018020, 2018.
• Landt, The history of RFID. IEEE potentials, 2005.
• Zhou and S. Piramuthu, “A review of rfid technology for electronic toll collection,” Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technolo- gies, vol. 71, pp. 1–15, 2016.
• Kim and D. Lee, “Efficient toll collection system using rfid,” IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2183–2192, 2015.
• Piyush and A. Kumar, “Analysis of rfid based toll plaza system,” International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science and Engineering, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 1–5, 2017.
• Wang and X. Chen, “Performance evaluation of electronic toll collection systems,” Journal of Advanced Transportation, vol. 2019, 2019.
• Li and X. Guo, “Impacts of electronic toll collection on traffic flow characteristics,” Transportation Research Record, vol. 2672, no. 15, pp. 12–22, 2018.
• Zhang and D. Z. Wang, “Environmental benefits of electronic toll col- lection,” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, vol. 52, pp. 311–324, 2017.
• Gupta and A. Sharma, “Study of fuel consumption at toll plazas.”
• Chen and M. Liu, “Integration of rfid and wsn for traffic monitoring,”

• Kumar and R. Patel, “Secure electronic toll collection using cryptog - raphy,” Journal of Information Security and Applications, vol. 40, pp. 1–11, 2018.
• Sharma and P. Singh, “Challenges in rfid implementation for toll collection.”
• Singh and V. Kumar, “Optimization of rfid reader placement in toll plazas,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. 5987–5996, 2020.

Abstract—Rapid urban growth and the steady rise in the number of vehicles have made congestion at highway toll plazas a persistent and costly problem. Long queues at toll booths not only waste travelers’ time but also increase fuel consumption, air pollution, and overall operating costs of the transport system. Traditional manual toll collection methods contribute significantly to these delays, as vehicles are required to stop for cash or card-based transactions. To address these challenges, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), particularly Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)–based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), have gained widespread attention.

This study evaluates the real-world performance of an RFID-based toll collection system at the Ban Toll Plaza on the Jammu–Udhampur Highway (NH-14) in India. The analysis focuses on peak traffic periods, representing the most congested operating conditions. Vehicle halt times under manual tolling were measured through on-site observations and automated sensors over a 30-day period, while RFID transaction data were obtained from comparable toll plazas with established ETC systems. Statistical techniques, including paired t-tests and queuing theory models, were used to assess differences in processing time, queue length, and delay between manual and RFID systems.

The results clearly demonstrate the advantages of RFID implementation. Average vehicle halt time dropped from 43.2 seconds under manual toll collection to just 3.4 seconds with RFID, reflecting a 92.1% improvement in processing efficiency. Queue lengths and waiting times were also dramatically reduced, with peak-hour queues shrinking from about 20 vehicles to only 4 vehicles. These operational improvements led to notable environmental benefits, including annual fuel savings of more than 58,000 liters and a reduction of approximately 142 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. From an economic perspective, the system showed strong viability, achieving a benefit–cost ratio greater than 7:1 and recovering implementation costs within six months.

Overall, the study shows that RFID-based electronic toll collection can significantly improve traffic flow, reduce environmental impacts, and deliver substantial economic benefits. Despite minor challenges such as occasional tag read failures, the findings strongly support wider adoption of RFID tolling as a practical and sustainable solution for modern highway transportation systems.

🔒 This is a subscription article

Full text is available to subscribers and institutional members. Please choose an option below to access it.

• Y. Chen, “An intelligent traffic flow control system based on radio frequency identification and wireless sensor networks,” International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, vol. 10, no. 8, p. 917413, 2014.
• Alam and M. Kumar, “An integrated traffic light control system using rfid technology,” International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Emerging Technologies, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 420–430, 2017.
• Waghere, P. Nalawade, and N. Vanare, “Dynamic traffic control using rfid technology,” International Journal of Advance Research in Science and Engineering, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 994–999, 2017.
• D. Lakshmi and R. Ramesh, “Rfid–emergency traffic control and theft alert system,” International Journal of Engineering and Techniques, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 21–25, 2015.
• Krausz, T. Lovas, and A´ . Barsi, “Radio frequency identification in supporting traffic safety,” Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 727–731, 2016.
• National Highways Authority of India, “Rfid based electronic toll collection system,” Government of India, Tech. Rep., 2016.
• Zhang, X. He, and J. Wang, “Traffic performance evaluation of elec- tronic toll collection systems,” Journal of Transportation Engineering, vol. 144, no. 5, p. 04018020, 2018.
• Landt, The history of RFID. IEEE potentials, 2005.
• Zhou and S. Piramuthu, “A review of rfid technology for electronic toll collection,” Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technolo- gies, vol. 71, pp. 1–15, 2016.
• Kim and D. Lee, “Efficient toll collection system using rfid,” IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2183–2192, 2015.
• Piyush and A. Kumar, “Analysis of rfid based toll plaza system,” International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science and Engineering, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 1–5, 2017.
• Wang and X. Chen, “Performance evaluation of electronic toll collection systems,” Journal of Advanced Transportation, vol. 2019, 2019.
• Li and X. Guo, “Impacts of electronic toll collection on traffic flow characteristics,” Transportation Research Record, vol. 2672, no. 15, pp. 12–22, 2018.
• Zhang and D. Z. Wang, “Environmental benefits of electronic toll col- lection,” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, vol. 52, pp. 311–324, 2017.
• Gupta and A. Sharma, “Study of fuel consumption at toll plazas.”
• Chen and M. Liu, “Integration of rfid and wsn for traffic monitoring,”

• Kumar and R. Patel, “Secure electronic toll collection using cryptog - raphy,” Journal of Information Security and Applications, vol. 40, pp. 1–11, 2018.
• Sharma and P. Singh, “Challenges in rfid implementation for toll collection.”
• Singh and V. Kumar, “Optimization of rfid reader placement in toll plazas,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. 5987–5996, 2020.