ORT

A single open road toll (ORT) lane on I-80 at the Delaware Water Gap bridge toll point is consistently carrying more traffic than five conventional toll lanes alongside, Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission  reports.  Traffic has been steaming through the leftside ORT lane at about 2,000 vehicles per hour (1.8 seconds per vehicle) during weekday peak periods, whereas the conventional toll lanes tend to back up when traffic goes above about 400

Maine native and toll systems engineer Daryl S Fleming has previously worked as a consultant to the town of York and advised them that all-electronic tolling (AET) is the most cost-effective collection mode for the controversial toll plaza there at the southern end of the Maine Turnpike. He argues here against the idea of doing a hybrid open road toll in the center with cash-to-the-sides (ORT+cash) at the existing plaza:

Daryl Fleming, Ramon Grijalva and Tom McDaniel who comprise the eTrans Group all have PhDs in engineering. But just as impressive they were heavily involved in the nitty-gritty of getting the first electronic toll systems to work during the late 1990s. We first met them back then in Toronto Canada when they were on the job at 407ETR on the world's first big all-electronic startup.

They've been at it here and there ever since.

Maine Turnpike Authority's proposal for an open road toll (ORT) plus cash toll plaza gets editorial support this morning from the Portland Press-Herald, the major newspaper of the state.  The editorial writer picks up on the great reception ORT+cash got in the introductory test over the Memorial Day weekend at the Hampton toll plaza in New Hampshire. It's just 20 minutes south of the contentious toll plaza sites near York Maine.

Brian McGrory a columnist at the Boston Globe drives the I-95 New Hampshire Turnpike regularly and after experiencing open road tolling at the Memorial Day weekend, he's just blown away by the achievement. His column titled "Pay NH your toll, your respects" leads off: "I’m sorry, New Hampshire.

The last cash customer went through the old 17-lane mainline toll plaza of the FL924 Gratigny Parkway of the Miami Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) in Opa-Locka in the northwest suburbs of Miami at 11:57pm Sunday, paying the $1.25 cash toll for a car. As midnight approached workers began moving big red construction barrels in toward the central lanes to block off the 'belly-out/belly-in' of the old mainline plaza.

Tens of thousands of motorists traveling I-95 through New Hampshire this Memorial Day weekend experienced the joys of open road tolling. Bureau of Turnpikes administrator Chris Waszczuk told us in an interview today they are "delighted and proud" at how well the highway speed tolling worked, and how well it seems to have been received by motorists. He said toll system integrator Telvent had done an "excellent job" and the civil contractor also.

Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) will open their first open road toll (ORT) point next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday May 11.  This is at the I-78 bridge over the Delaware River, the busiest of seven toll bridges operated by DRJTBC between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Tolling is westbound only and the new facility provides two open road or Express E-ZPass toll lanes and four cash lanes.

Usually protest movements involve angry people at meetings, placard carrying picketers, a petition perhaps, two or three local politicians, and a rather predictable litany of narrowly cast complaints from an environmental group.

A study commissioned by the town of York in south Maine argues that all-electronic toll (AET) collection is both the most cost-effective and the most environmentally friendly solution to the longstanding dispute over a new 'gateway toll plaza' on the south end of the Maine Turnpike.