Vehicle-to-government, also known as V2Gov, brings eGovernment into the transportation sector, enabling, automating and enhancing vehicle-related transactions. V2Gov delivery models and activities build and expand the digital relationship between a vehicle, its owner, government and business. V2Gov is an emerging and evolving new field within eGovernment that is redefining how vehicle owners and drivers interact with each state's department of motor vehicles, auto dealers and infrastructure. An example of V2Gov’s increasing importance is electronic vehicle registration, which involves a third-party entity’s processing registrations and titling transactions for new cars on behalf of an auto dealer, in compliance with state departments of motor vehicles regulations. As the automotive industry and government work to automate regulatory-related transactions between vehicles and government agencies, V2Gov is fostering new ways of addressing them.
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History
Technology, particularly the internet, has enabled greater interaction between public agencies and citizens, making vehicle-related transactions more time- and cost-efficient and convenient. By utilizing new technologies, effective V2Gov solutions seek to improve the execution of transportation-related transactions, including registration renewals, toll payments, smog/emissions verifications and payments, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reporting and payments, parking payments, and IRP/IFTA disclosures and payments. For years, these transactions have been executed through disparate, manual, resource-intensive processes. V2Gov integrates these transactions into every day vehicle operations.
Connected Vehicles
The emergence of connected vehicles is a huge factor in the rise of V2Gov. Technology companies, including Tesla Motors, Google and Apple, have been developing connected cars – vehicles equipped with internet access that can communicate with devices (like a smartphone) inside the car, and devices and services outside the car, such as in the home or office. Greater connectivity, for example, provides passengers with control over the navigation and audio systems, and offers better access to the vehicle’s critical systems and roadside assistance. Government agencies and the private sector are exploring new technologies that enable direct communication between a connected vehicle and government agencies. Currently, areas for expanding V2Gov include the automatic paying of tolls and road usage-based taxes, and registration renewal processing – with many more to come.
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC)
One of the best known examples of V2Gov communication is Electronic Toll Collection (“ETC”). With ETC, Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) systems detect if passing cars are enrolled in an ETC program. If so, the bank accounts of enrollees are automatically debited; cars are not required to stop and pay tolls; the saved time dramatically reduces traffic. The largest ETC platform, E-ZPass, is currently supported in 15 states; nationwide, over 115 such systems exist across 34 states.