Vehicle tolling system with occupancy detection

A system for assessing roadway toll charges based on vehicle occupancy level comprising:

• a vehicle-mounted RFID fob reader
• a plurality of RFID fobs;
• an RFID toll tag associated with the vehicle;
• an RFID toll tag interrogator located at a tolling point;
• and
• a fob reader interrogator located at said tolling point;
• wherein each fob is associated with a vehicle occupant and wherein said RFID fob reader interrogates said fobs to determine the number of fobs in the vehicle and thus determine vehicle occupancy;
• and
• wherein said RFID toll tag interrogator determines that said vehicle has passed said tolling point, said fob reader interrogator reads said fob count and;
• wherein a toll charge is assessed based on the vehicle passing said tolling point and said fob count.

A method of assessing a roadway toll charge based on vehicle occupancy comprising the steps of:

• providing a vehicle with an RFID tag and a fob reader each uniquely associated with the vehicle;
• providing vehicle occupants with fobs, each fob having a unique identifier;
• interrogating said fobs by the in-vehicle fob reader;
• determining a fob count;
• interrogating the RIFD tag at a tolling point;
• interrogating the fob reader at said tolling point to obtain said fob count;
• and
• assessing a toll charge for the vehicle based on said fob count.