AET

Bart Mueller executive director of the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) says they are shooting for conversion to all-electronic tolling (AET) at the Atlantic City Expressway (ACE) by "Memorial Day next year" - May 30, 2011. Planning of the AET and detailed work on the new toll system is well advanced, but civil construction to build about 50 gantries is only in procurement as we write.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says it is proceeding to construction of an all-electronic toll (AET) interchange on the mainline of the Turnpike northwest of Philadelphia. The project is located near PA29 about the middle of a 14 mile (23km) long stretch of the Turnpike between the Downington (MP312) and Valley Forge (MP326) interchanges.

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,

We mentioned HNTB as general engineering consultant (GEC) to Miami Dade Expressway Authority for their ongoing conversion to all-electronic tolling (AET) or as it  is termed there Open Road Tolling.

In fact there are two GECs on this job, the other being EAC Consulting, a Miami firm.

EAC has been involved in the project for five years.

see http://www.eacconsult.com

Until this Friday if you were on NJ50 at Interchange 17 in Hamilton township you could only get on the Atlantic City Expressway to travel west to Philadelphia. And traveling on the Atlantic City Expressway you could only exit to NJ50 if you were traveling from Philadelphia.

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.

North Texas Tollway Authority say they are doing the final conversion of their network to all-electronic tolling (AET) with a schedule that will have the last cash tolls collected on the evening of December 10 2010.

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.

France-based CS Group has signed a C$19m (US$18m) contract to provide an all-electronic toll (AET) system for the Port Mann bridge/Highway 1 (PMH1) project in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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.