Delaware-based developer of innovative vehicle recognition systems, Rekor Systems Inc. has launched a new cloud-based software solution that has been designed to reduce costs and increase efficiencies for the electronic toll collection (ETC) industry.
Rekor’s new Numerus system is an easy to implement cloud-based software solution that costs less than US$0.75 per thousand for greater than five million tolling transactions per month. Beyond reading license plates with industry-leading accuracy, Numerus provides unique two-part authentication by instantly identifying the vehicle’s make, model, color and body type along with the license plate read. The Numerus machine learning-enabled software recognizes license plates from all 50 US states, in addition to plates from more than 70 countries on six continents worldwide.
According to KPMG’s 2015 Tolling Benchmarking study,the owners and operators of toll facilities have two levers for improving operating results: increase revenues or decrease costs. However, the vast majority of respondents to their comprehensive tolling industry study say they have little to no flexibility in driving new revenue by adjusting toll rates. As a result, many are now focusing on the cost side of the equation, where new toll collection and back office technologies are creating opportunities as well as challenges.
Rekor says Numerus is a cost-effective solution for tolling that has been created through customer engagement, research and development. Uses for the software product also extend to other applications that require superior accuracy, volume and speed, such as customer loyalty schemes, congestion pricing, and variable speed monitoring, where cost and ease of integration are major factors. Powered by its innovative machine learning-enabled OpenALPR software that can turn most IP cameras into highly accurate and affordable vehicle recognition devices, the Numerus platform can also be used in parking operations, freight and logistics, red-light and speed enforcement, or traffic management applications.
Images captured by a toll operator or traffic agency’s existing camera system are transmitted to Rekor’s Numerus cloud interface, where they are analyzed, converted to data (plate number, state, make, body type, color), and returned for processing. The company says that depending on specific requirements, a fully automated process can be in operation within a matter of days or weeks, with greater that 99% plate read accuracy, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional OCR-based (Optical Character Recognition) plate readers.
“Our disruptive pricing, combined with industry-leading license plate reading accuracy, is a game changer for the global ETC industry,” said Robert A Berman, president and CEO of Rekor. “We offer a simple and scalable cloud-based product that can easily integrate with virtually any single or interoperable tolling system. On average, traditional technology can cost toll operators upwards of US$290 per thousand transactions, with vehicle-mounted identification tags, such as E-ZPass, comprising a substantial portion of these costs. By supplementing these existing technologies with Numerus, tolling authorities can realize vast economies and significantly increase their bottom line. The cost efficiencies are staggering.”
