HEFT

2008 thru' 2010 with a combination of open road tolling leftside and cash toll collection rightside (ORT+cash) there were an average 63 crashes per year in the vicinity of the four mainline toll points (Miramar, Okeechobee, Bird Road and Homestead) on the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT), the Turnpike's Miami area spokesman Sonyha Rodriguez-Miller tells us.  

Annual crashes in the same four locations with all-electronic tolling (the cash plaza barriered off) numbered 40 in the latest full year period for which they have data - a decline of 37%.

2012-10-26: Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is the first toller in America to commit to implement dual pricing - a mix of variably priced express lanes and regular fixed price lanes in the same toll highway. The first is likely to be on the FL589 Veterans Expressway in the Tampa area which is being widened from 2 to 4 lanes each direction.

With less than a month until the busy Miami area HEFT segment of Florida's Turnpike goes all-electronic there's a push to publicize a growing network of off-road locations where motorists can use cash to top up their SunPass transponder accounts. Most of the publicity has previously gone to the new Toll-by-Plate or license plate based collection method that will substitute for cash payment when toll booths and coin machines cease operations February 19.

HEFT, the busiest tollroad in Florida with an average 460k transactions/day and point flows of up to 175k AADT is going cashless in the spring of 2011. The first construction contracts for toll equipment gantries and other civil works have just been let - $33m worth.