RFID in Bermuda

June 1st will mark the start of en effort in Bermuda to automatically check over 25,000 cars on the island nation RFID interrogators. It was estimated that the nation loses almost $11 million dollars every five years due to the inability to properly monitor and ultimately enforce licensing requirements.

If all goes to plan, the system is expected to be fully functional by July, 2008.

Bermuda requires annual vehicle inspections. The transport department estimates it will take about one year to tag all of the island's vehicles. Drivers who show up for their annual inspection will receive an RFID tag, while drivers with new cars will be required to come in just to obtain the tag. The department expects to utilize only about 25,000 tags, since 22,000 of the island's 47,000 vehicles are motorcycles, which will not be tagged during this phase of the project. The transport department is not sure if it will later tag motorcycles; it first wants to get the application up and running before making such a decision.