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SunPass hits 3 million transponders in use
Posted on Mon, 2007-04-16 19:49
Florida's Turnpike Enterprise reports the 3 millionth SunPass transponder activated today. The first million took nearly four years from the beginning of electronic tolling on the Turnpike and associated systems in 1999 to the fall of 2003. The second million was rung up in about 21 months by the summer of 2005. The third million has taken about the same year and three-quarters.
The SunPass system has interoperability with the older E-PASS in Orlando (fully operational in 1995) and the smaller O-Pass in Oseola County operated by the Orlando toll authority.
E-Pass has about 450k transponders in use so the Florida system total is now about 3.5m. SunPass transponders are provided for in special designated lanes in the LeeWay system in Ft Myers which is incompatible.
Evelio Suarez director of toll operations is quoted in a Turnpike statement as saying: "Our phenomenal growth rate simply confirms what our annual surveys say: customers absolutely love this program."
Comparisons
The are now four toll systems in the US with around 3m transponders in use:
- Triborough Bridge & Tunnel NYC 3.3m
- New Jersey Turnpike 3.2m
- SunPass 3.0m
- Illinois Tollway 2.9m
The New York State Thruway follows with 2.3m. Then there's a big drop to PANYNJ 1.1m, Houston 1.1m, Dallas 1.0m. There are some 23m to 24m in use nationwide. We counted 41 toll agenices with electronic tolling with 25 issuing transponders. In several places - Virginia is an example - agencies band together and all work off the same transponder issuing outfit. Some smaller agencies have their customers get transponders from a larger one - the Chicago Skyway uses Illinois Tollway I-PASSes, and New York State Bridge Authority uses New York State Thruway E-ZPasses.
A survey we did of toll agencies a year ago of data at end-2005 - http://tollroadsnews.info/artman/publish/article_1327.shtml - showed that Florida motorists made less use of their transponders than most of the other big systems, possibly because they have a smaller percentage of commuters and more occasional users.
Florida is somewhat below average in the proportion of toll transactions making use of a transponder - 55% compared to the average for the country of 59% and rates above 70% in Illinois and New York City and rates in the high-60s in Texas, southern California and New Jersey.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-04-16
The SunPass system has interoperability with the older E-PASS in Orlando (fully operational in 1995) and the smaller O-Pass in Oseola County operated by the Orlando toll authority.
E-Pass has about 450k transponders in use so the Florida system total is now about 3.5m. SunPass transponders are provided for in special designated lanes in the LeeWay system in Ft Myers which is incompatible. Evelio Suarez director of toll operations is quoted in a Turnpike statement as saying: "Our phenomenal growth rate simply confirms what our annual surveys say: customers absolutely love this program."
Comparisons
The are now four toll systems in the US with around 3m transponders in use:
- Triborough Bridge & Tunnel NYC 3.3m
- New Jersey Turnpike 3.2m
- SunPass 3.0m
- Illinois Tollway 2.9m
The New York State Thruway follows with 2.3m. Then there's a big drop to PANYNJ 1.1m, Houston 1.1m, Dallas 1.0m. There are some 23m to 24m in use nationwide. We counted 41 toll agenices with electronic tolling with 25 issuing transponders. In several places - Virginia is an example - agencies band together and all work off the same transponder issuing outfit. Some smaller agencies have their customers get transponders from a larger one - the Chicago Skyway uses Illinois Tollway I-PASSes, and New York State Bridge Authority uses New York State Thruway E-ZPasses.
A survey we did of toll agencies a year ago of data at end-2005 - http://tollroadsnews.info/artman/publish/article_1327.shtml - showed that Florida motorists made less use of their transponders than most of the other big systems, possibly because they have a smaller percentage of commuters and more occasional users.
Florida is somewhat below average in the proportion of toll transactions making use of a transponder - 55% compared to the average for the country of 59% and rates above 70% in Illinois and New York City and rates in the high-60s in Texas, southern California and New Jersey.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-04-16
