Subsystem Description

The 'Payment Administration Center' provides general payment administration capabilities and supports the electronic transfer of funds from the customer to the transportation system operator or other service provider. Charges can be recorded for tolls, vehicle–mileage charging, congestion charging, or other goods and services. It supports traveler enrollment and collection of both pre–payment and post–payment transportation fees in coordination with the financial infrastructure supporting electronic payment transactions. The system may establish and administer escrow accounts depending on the clearinghouse scheme and the type of payments involved. It may post a transaction to the customer account, generate a bill (for post–payment accounts), debit an escrow account, or interface to a financial infrastructure to debit a customer designated account. It supports communications with the ITS Roadway Payment Equipment to support fee collection operations. As an alternative, a wide–area wireless interface can be used to communicate directly with vehicle equipment. It also sets and administers the pricing structures and may implement road pricing policies in coordination with the Traffic Management Center.

Functional Object: PAC Data Collection

'PAC Data Collection' collects and stores toll, road use, parking, and other payment information that is collected in the course of operations performed by the Payment Administration Center. This data can be used directly by operations personnel or it can be made available to other data users and archives in the region.

Functional Object: PAC Payment Administration

'PAC Payment Administration' provides administration and management of payments associated with electronic toll collection, parking payments, and other e–payments. It provides the back office functions that support enrollment, pricing, payment reconciliation with financial institutions, and violation notification to enforcement agencies. It also supports dynamic pricing to support demand management. Secure communications with the financial infrastructure and distributed payment infrastructure, including toll plazas, support electronic payments and other ancillary requirements such as lost payment device identification and management.