This research, conducted over a three-year period starting from 2020, was a collaborative project between practitioners in the field of VE design and the Korea Expressway Corporation, aimed at innovating the design VE project to construct an intelligent ICT-based smart highway and enhancing highway driving performance and customer satisfaction.
 The research included R&D support for payment and management systems integrated with IOT technology, the application of the developed prototype at highway sites, and analysis of user performance evaluation. Based on the Innovation Work Roadmap of the Korea Expressway Corporation, the research process involved collaboration between a public participation group and an expert group, considering the technical feasibility of data-based ICT technology through the National Idea VE Contest.
 The final VE design results were implemented at the Seongnam tollgate site with budget support from relevant departments, followed by a satisfaction survey. It is expected that the continuous contributions to achieving an ESG society, such as the increase in the number of customers using the tolling zone equipped with smart upgrades, along with their satisfaction rate, and the reduction in carbon emissions and total settlement time of highway users, will be sustained.