The Open Road Tolling (ORT) Project comprises of three different entities. The ORT Operations consists of the road side system where transactions are generated; images are taken; reading of the tag; Vehicle License Plate information captured and toll tariffs applied as well as the ORT back office that applies discounts; verify compliance and carries out manual verification. The second entity is the TransactionClearing house operations where transactions are linked to an account and payments transacted. The third entity is the violations processing operations that manage overdue transactions, debt collection and enforcement. The Transaction Clearing House and violation-processing center are national assets from which all-electronic toll collection transactions and violations in South Africa are transacted. The integration of the processing of electronic toll transactions at the Bakwena toll plazas and the central Transaction Clearing House began in September 2012.

 

ORT objective was to centrally clear all-electronic transaction throughout South Africa from a central point. In addition, the aim was for users to have one tag and use it nationally in other South African conventional toll plazas, i.e. one tag and one account standard. The other objective was for users to have one account and manage numerous vehicles and tariffs payments through one account system this is also applicable to corporate fleets and organizations.

 

The successful integration between the ORT system, Transaction Clearing House and the violations processing center together with the interoperability with the ORT project with other conventional toll plazas is relevant to the overall toll industry. The ORT system is one of the largest of its kind in the world and interoperability is one of the first successful interactions internationally. The project has increased capacity and will continue to increase capacity through the conventional toll plazas and add convenience in the payment of toll tariffs in South Africa for users of the electronic toll collection system.