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RFID to bring alpine traffic relief

Visitors to Victoria's snow fields may find relief from their traffic and parking woes in future seasons after the Victorian Government announced a $1.5 million grant for radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips to manage traffic flow.
Written by Luke Hopewell, Contributor

Visitors to Victoria's snow fields may find relief from their traffic and parking woes in future seasons after the Victorian Government announced a $1.5 million grant for radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips to manage traffic flow.

Cars in snow

FE Technologies has received a government grant to develop RFID chips to monitor traffic in the Victorian snowfields. (Blizzard Formation image by
Todd Anderson, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Speaking at the Creative Innovation 2010 conference yesterday, Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings announced the grant for Geelong-based FE Technologies to develop RFID technology for the snowfields.

"The Mt Buller region welcomes around 275,000 visitors during the snow season, which means it needs to manage around 60,000 cars and 2000 buses entering the resort," the minister said.

"Using innovative remote-sensing technology, we are investigating how we can improve the current Alpine Resort systems to better manage season passes, car parking and traffic for visitors and locals alike," he added.

FE Technologies will work with the Victorian Alpine Resort Management Board (ARMB) to investigate the future feasibility of the chip-tracking program for traffic flow management in the alpine region.

"The technology could help the ARMB better manage access to the resorts and facilitate year-round visitation," said the minister.

FE Technologies is also working in tandem with Monash University to develop chipless RFID technology.

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