Gentex and TransCore have announced that they are teaming up to provide automotive manufacturers with a vehicle-integrated RFID tolling solution that enables motorists to drive on all U.S. toll roads without a traditional toll tag on their windshield. Currently, according to the two companies, more than 75 percent of new car registrations occur in states containing toll roads accessed by more than 50 million drivers annually.

Gentex and TransCore have signed an exclusive agreement to integrate TransCore's Universal Toll Module (UTM) into Gentex's electronic rearview mirrors. According to the two companies, the interior mirror is the optimal location for a vehicle-integrated toll transponder, eliminating the need to affix multiple toll tags to the windshield.

The UTM is designed to enable travel across all U.S. toll roads, the companies explains, so motorists do not need to have multiple RFID toll tags for different regions of the country, or to manage multiple toll accounts. Gentex's vehicle-integrated solution simplifies and expedites local, regional and national travel. According to the two companies, the UTM is also designed to provide transportation agencies with an interoperability solution without necessitating costly infrastructure changes to the thousands of miles of toll lanes throughout the country.

In 2012, President Obama signed into law the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). The act calls for the development of a nationally interoperable electronic toll-collection system by October 2016, the two companies report. Industry efforts are ongoing to establish standard tolling technology. Many toll roads within the United States use battery-powered transponders, but several U.S. tolling agencies are employing passive EPC Gen 2 RFID tags (see Efforts to Aid Adoption of ISO 18000-6C RFID for Toll Collection Move Forward). The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) seeks to establish a single tolling standard technology, and the outcome of that work might lead to an expansion in the use of passive EPC Gen 2 tags for tolling purposes (see Brazil's Von Braun Labs Brings New Secure UHF Chip, Solutions to U.S.).