Patent ID: 7835753

Claim:
A method for operating an electronic toll system for traffic routes, by using at least one cellular mobile communication system comprising a plurality of mobile radio cells, a toll terminal of a toll customer in form of a terminal compatible with the mobile communication system, and at least one toll center for conducting the toll transactions between the toll customer and a toll operator, wherein the method comprises the steps of: registering the toll customer with the toll terminal at the toll center before the start of a trip on road sections subject to toll by transmitting an identification of the toll customer and booking of a toll route transmitting information about a planned route, wherein the information includes at least one start point and one destination, wherein during registration the following additional contents are transmitted from the toll terminal of the toll customer to the toll center: vehicle data for calculating the tolls, a unique identification of the vehicle, optionally intermediate points for identifying alternative routes, planned start time, capturing and storing in the toll terminal a list of a sufficient number of mobile cells traversed during the trip for later verification of the booked toll route, transmitting a message from the toll terminal to the toll center at the end of the trip, wherein the message includes the list of the captured and stored mobile cells, verifying the booked toll route by the toll center based on a comparison between the list of the traversed mobile cells and data about the routing of the toll roads, billing of the toll to be collected from the toll customer based on the booked toll route and the predetermined tariff data.