all-electronic tolling

Consultants McCormick Taylor and Wilbur Smith Associates (McCT&WSA) say in an interim report that all scenarios they model for the Pennsylvania Turnpike produce net revenue gains from a conversion to all-electronic tolling (AET). In addition AET would improve travel times and safety, reduce emissions, and provide management with more flexibility.

Crashes are down drastically at the Miami toll points of Florida's Turnpike since their conversion to all-electronic tolling (AET) February 19 this year. Five former mainline toll plazas (one a split plaza) went completely freeflow and cashless in the conversion. Previously they'd had open road tolling (ORT) through the middle but cash toll booths to the sides of the mainline plazas.

In the initial version of Wednesday's report on new developments in tolling in Ireland we attributed the work on eFlow - the Irish brand-name for free flow all-electronic tolling - to Kapsch.  Bad mistake. In fact it was the work of their leading competitor CS Communications & Systemes (CS).  

An emailed newsletter from HNTB's top two toll experts lists what they regard as "eight best practices" for going to all-electronic tolling. The email is called a Transportation Point Tolls Extra. The piece is authored by Rick Herrington, director toll services and Gregory Le Frois, director toll facilities group.

The HNTB list as edited by us:

Around the end of this year South Africa is due to open the first phase of perhaps the world's most ambitious highway speed all-electronic toll system.

Indiana DOT reckon they'll save about half operating costs and motorists will save time and hassle with the conversion of a small Indiana-Illinois cash toll bridge to all-electronic toll (AET) collection. The last cash tolls were collected December 27, 2010 at the Wabash Toll Bridge, a small 2-lane 1950s steel truss span in the far southwest corner of Indiana on Indiana state route 62 (IN62) and connecting over the river with Illinois state route 141 (IL141).

Michael Lindenberger of the Dallas News has set off a firestorm of criticism of toll authorities in Dallas and Austin over the numbers of motorists getting free rides in open road and all-electronic toll lanes. Some of the reporting that picked up on the News pieces is sensationalized or unreal such as the assumption behind the report headlined: "Not all drivers are being billed on toll roads."

The Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) authority is planning all-electronic tolling (AET) as a major budget balancing measure as well as a way of reducing exhaust emissions and motorist delay. A longterm financial plan shows AET as contributing a $16.3m in savings through FY2019/2020, by far the largest item in a list of "Increased efficiencies through technology." (Attachment p1 to FY2009/2010 Financial Plan for Achieving Longterm Financial Stability)

Major moves toward cashless tolling will be made this year and next, with the largest conversions to all-electronic tolling (AET) on major toll systems in Texas and Florida. In the Dallas area North Texas Tollway (NTTA) plan to collect their last cash tolls before the end of this year. NTTA already has two major all-electronic tollroads operating: President George Bush Turnpike and Sam Rayburn Tollway.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is keen to move quickly to get a "pilot" project for all-electronic tolling (AET) running on the Turnpike. In a radio interview this week he mentioned the possibility of "tests" of all-electronic tolling at the Turnpike's interchange with MA128 (I-95) and also on the Tobin Bridge.