Unintelligent plates for October

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (DRT) will again not meet the deadline for the roll out of the intelligent number plate (INP) project.

After several previous delays, the department had set October as its deadline for the implementation of the new number plates that have RFID tags and that contain unique identification codes programmed into a 2D bar code.

However, parts of the project will not be ready by then, despite Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane committing to the introduction of the INP system in October during her state of the province address.

Roads and transport MEC Bheki Nkosi also stuck to this deadline in his Gauteng DRT budget speech for the financial year 2010/11.

“In October, the department will launch the intelligent number plate system,” he said. “The department has set aside R25 million for this project in this financial year. The process has gone past the drafting of regulations where motorists in the province participated in giving their inputs and comments, which have shaped the entire process thus far.”

“We undertook to roll out the new number series on aluminium plates, with securitised intelligent features, as from October this year. A project team was appointed to oversee the roll out of this project.

“The specification and standards for the intelligent aspects of the new plates were finalised and a tender process was entered into,” said Nkosi in a quarterly media briefing statement.

He added that proposals were submitted by prospective service providers, but none met the set standards and specifications of the intelligent aspects of the project that were set out by the project team.

“Our preliminary results from the tag tests conducted indicate they fall short of the required specification. We are in constant interaction with industry with a view to discussing the radio-frequency identification, as well as other technologies.”

Nkosi says the new number series would be rolled out on aluminium plates as soon as the last combination on the current series is issued.

The current number plate system is expected to have exhausted its number series by the end of October.

However, Nkosi adds that intelligent component of the project will be rolled out in phases, as per the new INP framework.

“The revision of specifications means we will not be confining ourselves to the RFID technology only.”

The department has declined to comment on the implementation of the first phase of the intelligent component until an upcoming press conference.

Neil Campbell, Democratic Alliance spokesman for roads and transport in the Gauteng Legislature, had doubts about the October deadline.

He says this is because the department had not identified several critical areas in the industry.

“The portfolio committee has been asking about the tenders, but we get no answers. We've been asking since April. They obviously don't have all their ducks in a row.”

Campbell adds that the delay of this project, in turn, contributes to the delay of the e-tolling system.

The manufacturing process of INPs was supposed to begin in February, but, by June, there was still no sign of this, according to Campbell. “I have seen prototypes with the blank chipped and bar-coded plate embossed with numbers, but I have not seen any plates other than prototypes.”

Despite ITWeb submitting several queries to the DRT about the manufacturing process, there has been no response from the department.

The DRT has missed several deadlines over the past three years in its attempts to roll out the INP system.

The project was initiated in 2006, with full-scale implementation scheduled for 1 January 2008.

It was, however, postponed to January 2009 and later to April 2010. When this deadline could not be met, it was postponed to October.

Campbell says there are several contributing factors to these missed deadlines. “The problem was getting a readable chip. When this was identified, it required a metal backing plate as a crude 'satellite' dish to pick up the disc. Other delays were a lack of legislation - now promulgated and getting sufficient traders to buy new metal embossing machines - a substantial investment for many.”

The project is scheduled to run for four years, and is intended to be complete by November 2013.

The electronic number plate system will place a number validation label on the rear window of vehicles, along with a bar code that traffic authorities will be able to scan.

Number plate manufacturers will also have to be accredited and plates have to be bolted onto vehicles with tamper-proof screws to prevent fraud.

“The new system is part of a smart crime-fighting initiative aimed at putting an end to the duplication of number plates frequently used in motor vehicle theft and other illegal practices.

The INP system will make it possible to undertake a roll call of all vehicles in Gauteng to ensure all are properly registered and licensed, as well as assist in improving revenue collection due to improved vehicle identification,” says the DRT.

All plates will be aluminium and will also have an RFID tag that contains a unique identification code programmed into a 2D bar code. The unique code will be used in the encryption of the tag and will contain a secure electronic mark.

This mark will act as a digital signature and will certify the numbers on the plate, the vehicle it was issued to, and if they were issued by a registered manufacturer.

The system will also have to integrate with the Gauteng proprietary portion of eNatis, Gautis, to provide notification of any offences. Each vehicle owner will be required to produce their personal identification and vehicle identification documents when ordering the new number plate from the accredited manufacturers.

The number plates are projected to cost an additional R50 to the current cost of purchasing a set. The department says prices will range from R150 to R170, depending on the supply-demand market transactions, but that costs will be closely monitored to protect motorists from inflated pricing.