One of three partnerships vying for a government contract for electronic toll-collection (ETC) systems has signed a technology-transfer deal just days before the government awards the contract.
Raytheon's Highway Transportation Management Systems yesterday inked an agreement with Taiwan Yu-Tung Information Technology Co to transfer technology on the use of dedicated short-range communication -- a wireless protocol to transfer data between vehicles and roadside electronic toll-collection systems; laser detection and classification of vehicles; and image capture of license plates.
The US' Raytheon is a partner in one of three partnerships vying to capture what has been referred to in the Chinese-language media as the largest ETC investment project in the world.
On Dec. 24 last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications selected three finalists for the project from a list of seven partnerships: Acer and Norway's Qfree; FarEastone and Austria's Efkon; and Taiwan Yu-Tung and Raytheon.
The controversial bid will be concluded tomorrow when the government awards the project to one of the three partnerships.
According to the ministry's Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau, a contract is scheduled to be signed by April 27. In addition, by February 2006, the first ETC booths should be completed on National Freeways No. 1 and 3.
The bidding process for the system has been surrounded by controversy, with the results of the first ETC bid in April 2001 declared null due to allegations of unfair competition.
Furthermore, lawmakers from the pan-blue camp have called attention to the fact that Raytheon is an arms manufacturer supported by Neil Bush, brother of US President George W. Bush, and have accused the Democratic Progressive Party administration of cutting an under-the-table deal with the manufacturer.
Michael Prout, Raytheon Highway Transportation Management Systems president, yesterday called the allegations "nonsense."
Of the three contenders, only Efkon's proposal would implement infrared technology.
Both Raytheon and Qfree, on the other hand, have designed ETC systems that are based on microwave technology.
Prout said that Raytheon had deployed ETC systems in Canada and Israel and estimated that construction of Taiwan's ETC system would take under a year.
Taiwan Yu-Tung president K. P. Chang (
"Images of the license plates of passing cars would allow us to locate the driver even without the on-board-units. The driver can set up an account that would allow money transfers to be made between bank accounts. Another option would be for the driver's account to be linked to a cellular-phone account so that tolls can be included on the phone bill," Chang said.
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