sTag (in windshield label format) Brings Hands-free Parking Experience

Years ago, Taiwan changed its freeway toll collection from manual to the so-called ETC (Electronic Toll Collection). How does it work? An ETC label, using RAIN RFID (UHF) technology, is applied onto the windshield or the headlight. When a car runs through a specially-designed gate which is equipped with multiple readers, the unique ID number of the attached label is captured to be further analyzed in the back-end system to count the toll. With the help of ETC, there is no need to stop your car to pay the toll. It brings smooth driving experience to drivers. However, this label has more to do than just ETC. In Taiwan, Taichung City Government installs the reader system at intersections and utilizes the label to count the traffic flow. Cars running on the road generates enormous amount of data for further analysis to facilitate the improvement of the city traffic. ETC label put the so-called Big Data into real practice.Meanwhile, such a mechanism can be applied to a parking scenario as to reduce the workload and give drivers a hands-free parking experience. When a car moves in the proximity of the integration zone, the barrier will open automatically and the fee will be charged to the recorded ID number. Simply put, drivers will be identified by the tags that are provided to the management. It not only removes the use of a token, keyfob or ticket (of course, no worry of losing it anymore) but also truly realizes a hands-free user experience. In some cases, this will also ensure security as only the registered tags (users) are allowed to enter.