North Carolina Turnpike to go for cashless - all electronic tolling chosen

North Carolina Turnpike Authority's board of directors has approved a staff recommendation that they do all electronic tolling (AET). This enables them to save $60m in capital costs on their first project, the $850m Triangle Expressway in Raleigh due to begin construction next year. The staff report also said there are safety advantages in not having some motorists peel off to stop and pay cash, then have to accelerate and merge back into the highway speed traffic.

The system will use a mix of transponders and video tolling. Occasional users will be able to get a pass by logging in to a website, making payment by bank/credit card and giving their license plate number.

J J Eden says the cashless solution allows them to engineer a fairer toll system with a uniform per mile charged toll because of the greater flexibility they have in locating tolling points. In the northern portion of the expressway a long bridge segment plus ramps each side made the civil works for cash collection extremely expensive to build.

The 29km (18 mile) 3+3 travel lane highway with a split at its northern end will have two mainline toll points:

- on NC540 a total of 9 toll lanes to cover the six travel lanes plus ramp and auxiliary lanes

- on the northern spur called the Triangle Parkway: 6 toll lanes

The Expressway has six interchanges with two, three and four movements per interchange, each movement needing ramp toll points, so there are a total of 18 ramp toll lanes for a total of 33 toll lanes.

On the mainline there is full shoulder each side, each direction so four shoulders have to be covered by the open road electronic tolling equipment.

Compared to the 33 toll lanes needed in the all electronic configuration providing cash as well as electronic tolling required 58 toll lanes total.

The Turnpike wants to have a toll system integrator selected by June 2008 at the same time a design-build contractor is due to begin building the road so the system integrator can be involved at the earliest stage of detailed design. That means an RFP for the toll system will be issued by March 2008. (Plans to come)

Integral to the RFP will be a decision on toll technology - E-ZPass or not.

NCTA says there are essentially three technologies to choose from:

- E-ZPass IAG transponders with Mark IV Badger readers

- TransCore sticker tags and Encompass 6 dual mode readers

- Kapsch 5.9GHz FHWA-supported VII/Omniair transponders and readers

One of these three will have to be chosen to be incorporated in the RFP.

Advisers to the NCTA on tolling are:

- HNTB civil works for tolling

- PBS&J toll systems

- Wilbur Smith traffic

Precedents

New tollroads in Texas are cashless including the SH121 north of Dallas and Loop 49 in Tyler. Maryland's Inter County Connector now starting construction north of Washington DC will also be all electronic, no cash.

The first no-cash toll facility in the US was the 91 Express Lanes in Orange County California which opened at the end of 1995. Other express toll lanes projects that followed like I-15 San Diego, reversible lanes in Dallas and Hopuston, I-394 Minneapolis, I-25 Denver CO, Tampa Elevated Reversible Lanes also opened cashless.

All electronic tolling on a full complex tollroad with multiple interchanges was pioneered on 407ETR in Toronto Canada in Oct 1997 using a system designed by Hughes (now Raytheon) of Fullerton Calif. This was also the system to have heavy reliance on video tolling. Others only allowed transponder equipped vehicles.

America's first full tollroad with multiple interchanges to be built AET or cashless was the Westpark Tollway which opened west of Houston TX May 1, 2004.

US toll authorities committed to abolishing existing cash collection, or into detailed planning include:

- Miami Dade Expressway Authority
- North Texas Tollway Authority (Dallas)
- E470 Public Highway Authority, Denver CO
- Port Authority NY & NJ Hudson River crossings

NCTA could be said to be the first new toll authority in the US to decide not to collect cash from the beginning.

TOLLROADSnews 2007-11-14 ADDITIONS 2007-11-15 16:00