New York City now world's largest electronic tollster

New York City's MTA Bridges and Tunnels (MTA B&T, also known as the Triboro Authority) became the world's largest operator of electronic toll tags (e-tags) late last year, less than 12 months after it began deployment. As we go to press MTA B&T has over 450,000 "E-ZPass" tags with customers and 2,000 to 3,000 extra are being sold each day in what is the most spectacular conversion to electronic tolling yet seen. About another 150,000 New York State Thruway e-tags are in use in the New York City area, and before the end of the year the Port Authority will begin begin its electronic toll operations, so it is quite likely the region's population of e-tags will top the million mark by year's end.

MTA B&T is America's largest collector of tolls reporting collection of $742m in 1995 based on an average daily traffic of 728,000 vehicles through the plazas attached to its 7 bridges and 2 tunnels which link the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island with the island of Manhattan and Staten Island and with the U.S. mainland in the Bronx. Cash tolls are $7 on the Verrazano, the only bridge tolled only one-way, $3.50 on the Triboro, Throg's, Whitestone, Midtown and Battery, and $1.75 on the H.Hudson and the 2 Rockaways — with token rolls and e-tag trips going for a 50c discount/trip off those numbers.

The conversion to electronic tolling has gone more quickly and more smoothly than most MTA B&T officals expected. The first installation was in October 1995 with 10 of 25 lanes equipped at the Verrazano-Narrows bridge on the entrance to New York harbor. Two small bridges to the Rockaways in Queens followed in March 1996, the Throg's Neck (one of two Queens-Bronx bridges) in May. On the Throg's Neck bridge e-toll-only or 'dedicated' lanes were introduced too early and the reduction of regular toll lanes together with confusing signage created bigger backups that provoked the city's frenetic tabloid newspapers to declare the whole E-ZPass program a total failure in their 3 inch high headlines. (See TR#5, July 96 p1)

"We got nearly beaten to death" says spokesman Frank Pascual of the tab-attack, engaging in a little hyperbole of his own, because other media coverage including the more important "New York Times" and TV was quite balanced. Late night TV man David Letterman did a brilliant skit on E-ZPass telling viewers it was a secret and exclusive "club" providing MTA B&T with millions of dollars worth of free advertising.

Early on MTA B&T required $100 be deposited in credit to get an e-tag but quickly moved that down to $25. Most customers get application forms by telephone and open accounts with credit cards, giving MTA B&T the authority to initiate charges when the balance drops below $10.

Learnt from blunder: From Throg's Neck onward the authority began electronic tolling only as an add-on to token/coin machine lanes, and introduced dedicated e-toll lanes later only when e-toll transactions constituted 10 to 15% of total transactions, which took 4 to 8 weeks. With this strategy the conversion went smoothly, first the parallel Bronx-Whitestone in June, the Henry Hudson with Westchester Co connections in July and in August the vast Triboro with its 39 toll lanes on the two plazas for Bronx/Queens/Manhattan movements. The Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels to Manhattan followed in December completing the conversion. Now 118 out of the system's 179 toll lanes are equipped for electronic toll collection. Traditionally New York commuters have used tokens to throw into automatic coin machine baskets for the quickest run through, and sale of these is ceasing Feb 1. New Yorkers tend to hoard tokens so they will be around a while but eventually all the E-ZPass/token/coin machine lanes will become e-toll only.

MTA B&T has had to issue several new orders for e-tags from its supplier Mark IV Industries which manufactures them at Mississauga Ontario. The authority expected to sell 170,000 tags by December 1997, but seems likely to sell 4 times that number by that date.

Pascual says traffic is moving noticeably faster at a couple of the toll plazas, especially the Verrazano and the Throg's Neck and further improvements are to be expected as e-tags move up from the present 30% to the expected 50%+ of total transactions.

Interoperability appears to have been achieved smoothly with no reports of problems using Thruway tags on MTA B&T crossings or the reverse. Later this year the Port Authority, which operates 4 bridges and 2 tunnels between New York and New Jersey, will begin installation of e-toll equipment and two northern New Jersey turnpikes will follow suit probably in 1998. By the end of '98 the number of motorists in the metro area using e-tags could be in the range 1.5m to 2m. (Contact MTA B&T Frank Pascual 212 360 3065 www.mta.nyc.ny.us)