End of cash on Florida tollroads sees new off-road cash facilities

With cash payment disappearing on the tollroads of Florida as they go all-electronic, the state Turnpike is publicizing a major initiative to allow motorists to pay their tolls offroad with cash or a bank card.  The program uses the BlackStone “Touch-n-Buy” touch-screen terminals - bright red machines in use for multiple purposes at nearly 600 locations around Florida - in pharmacies, convenience stores, gas stations, ethnic markets, check cashing stores, and more.

FTE is negotiating with two other vendors with similar terminals — ePay and TIO Networks — to add to the availability of offroad cash-based services to SunPass and TOLL-BY-PLATE accounts.  

Orlando Torres, Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) deputy director of toll operations for SunPass is quoted: “Touch-n-Buy already have a large customer base. Florida residents have been using the technology since 1999, so it was a matter of adding SunPass to something the customer is familiar with.”

Customers touch the SUNPASS logo near the bottom right corner of the Touch-n-Buy screen, type in their SUNPASS transponder number, view the account balance, and enter the amount of money they want to add to the account. 

They can swipe a credit or debit card to make the payment/transfer or go to a cashier with cash or a check.

The terminal prints out an invoice/receipt that customers take to the cashier, along with the payment.  A $1.50 service fee per transaction is charged. The terminals have data links to the SUNPASS accounts management system.

Florida Turnpike Enterprise wants the terminals to be developed to service non-transponder TOLL-BY-PLATE transactions.  TOLL-BY-PLATE is the brand being used for image based or video tolling that uses cameras and optical character recognition to identify motor vehicles traveling by highway speed toll points without a transponder.

Most people would pay TOLL-BY-PLATE online but two plans are proposed for off-road terminals like Touch-n-Buy:

- one-off payments of Toll-By-Plate

- establishment and management of prepaid Toll-By-Plate accounts

TOLL-BY-PLATE is already in use on Miami Dade Expressway Authority's Gratigny Parkway, FL924.

FTE is preparing to phase out cash toll collection on the heavily traveled HEFT segment of the Turnpike on the western fringe of the Miami metro area in the new year. There is statewide interoperability with SUNPASS transponder-based accounts and toll agencies are now collaborating to bring the same statewide arrangements to image-based PAY-BY-PLATE.

The shift to all-electronic tolling (AET) and the end of cash options on-road could spur demand for offroad cash payment, Florida officials think. The emphasis will still be on trying to encourage transponder use because of the higher accuracy rate and lower costs of transponder tolling.

FTE Deputy Executive Director Jennifer Olson is quoted: " “It’s all about offering options to our customers. As we implement all-electronic tolling and remove the tollbooths on the Turnpike Extension early next year, we want to make it easier for cash customers to transition to SUNPASS.  Now, they can get all the benefits of having a SUNPASS transponder, while still paying their tolls with cash at hundreds of convenient locations."

Miami Dade Expressway Authority's tollroads will be completely cashless within three years.

Tampa Hillsboro is going cashless too.

http://www.touch-n-buy.com/sunpass/

TOLLROADSnews 2010-06-25