FL & CA: TransCore gets 2 congos

TransCore, the new SAIC subsidiary and electronic toll systems integrator based in Harrisburg PA, has tied down two small but pathbreaking congestion pricing projects (‘congos’) that may give it an edge over other companies for future variable tolling jobs. The projects are (1) to design and run the electronic tolling for the LeeWay e-tag system in Lee County Florida which covers 2 toll bridges in the Fort Myers metro area in southwest Florida (2) to design and operate the most advanced phase of the ExpressPass toll buy-in project on the I-15 HOT lanes in San Diego with e-tags used for dynamic variable pricing.

The contracts are only worth about $2m each but they could provide the company with hands-on experience in seeking future HOT lanes projects that are coming along in southern Calif, the Bay area, MN, NY, VA and elsewhere that highway and crossing authorities want to make use of the synergy of variable pricing and e-toll technology to better manage peak traffic overload.

In Lee Co FL (see TR#11 Jan 97 p4) a new bridge, the Midpoint, is opening this month and together with the existing Cape Coral bridge will be the site of a major congo-price experiment. Toll rates will be reduced on both bridges in the shoulder hours before and after the rush hours in an effort to avoid peak overload by encouraging ridesharing and out-of-peak tripmaking. An obsolete automatic barcode reader system will be removed and up to 70,000 regular toll bridge patrons will receive e-tags (from Amtech) over the next few months. The project is due to go online 1/1/98.

The ExpressPass system on 13km of 2-lane reversible barriered center lanes of the I-15 Fwy north of San Diego (TR#11 Jan 97 p3) started Dec 96 with stickers which validated purchase of $50 monthly rights for solo drivers to buy-in to the central fast lanes. It has progressed to the use of e-tags (from Texas Instruments via MFS) which presently are used for automatic vehicle identification with the monthly access charge having been raised to $70. Given that there is a waiting list and low monthly drop-out there is a large unsatisfied demand for buy-in. At the same time eligible users are only making an average of 17 trips/month so the effective average per-trip toll is currently $4. If an unlimited number of e-tags were issued, officials currently guess that at the peak of the peak per-trip tolls could go well over $10.

TransCore will be in charge of implementing the third and most sophisticated phase in which the variable per-trip charge will be levied, the precise toll rate depending on how much spare capacity there is to sell in the express lanes at any time. Toll rates will be varied in 25c increments according to Hakim Al-Taan, TransCore’s project manager, with the price being adjusted to ensure that at least Level of Service ‘C’ is maintained in the lanes. Variable message signs showing the current toll rate will be located at least 800m ahead of the entry point to the HOT lanes. A TI reader at about the midpoint in the HOT stretch will identify account numbers and debit according to the toll in effect when the motorist chose the lanes. Al-Taan said that system algorithms will estimate the patron’s maximum and minimum travel time from the toll rate signage to the tag reader and give patrons the benefit of the doubt in levying the toll.

Both projects have FHWA funding and extensive before-and-after traffic monitoring and evaluation programs in place, so that the results can be independently analysed and the findings disseminated. (Contacts Jane Van Ryan TransCore 202 661 8903, Chris Swenson Lee Co FL 941 335 2853, Kim Kawada SANDAG CA 619 595 5394, John Berg FHWA 202 366 9238, Robert Poole HOT lanes inventor 310 391 2245)