Open Road Tolling
Keeping Traffic on the Move

Sitting in traffic is unpleasant in any circumstance, but sitting in traffic to pay a toll can seem like adding insult to injury. With open road tolling, will toll-plaza congestion become a thing of the past?

Over the past decade, the technology has existed to allow toll agencies to collect tolls electronically from prepaid accounts using transponders mounted on vehicles. Typically, this has been implemented by retrofitting or reconfiguring conventional toll plazas to accommodate electronic toll collection (ETC). In fact, it is estimated that in the U.S. the number of vehicles equipped for ETC is rapidly approaching 13 million. While this scenario has certainly helped to increase traffic throughput, it does not guarantee the elimination of all backups at toll plazas, where vehicles still have to slow down to funnel through narrow toll lanes for their transponders to be read and tolls to be deducted.

Today, the latest stage in the evolution of tolled expressway systems is a concept known as open road tolling (ORT). Viewed by many as the “holy grail” of the toll industry, ORT allows drivers to travel just as they would any other highway, unfettered by lane restrictions, toll plazas, and reduced speeds. But as with any new technology or service, implementation presents challenges, and one by one, these challenges are being addressed and resolved.

Vehicles Without Transponders

One of the biggest hurdles to ORT implementation is answering the question: What happens when vehicles are not equipped with an appropriate transponder, or when the number of entrance and exit ramps makes it impractical to limit access to a toll facility?

According to PBS&J Associate Vice President and tolls expert Tom Knuckey, P.E., “The first thing is simply to minimize the problem by increasing ETC usage. This can be done by publicizing its benefits, making it easy to obtain transponders and set up accounts, and creating incentives, such as opening more ETC-only lanes and reducing tolls for those who pay electronically.” Knuckey has assisted Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) in the implementation of its SunPass ETC program for the Sawgrass Expressway and its self-imposed challenge of growing transponder usage to 75 percent of its customer base by 2008. FTE is targeting the retrofitting of one of its entire expressways to ORT by 2008, the first such retrofit ever attempted.

But what about those drivers who are newcomers or visitors to an area or who are unwilling or unable to purchase a transponder? One solution is to move toll plazas off of the main expressway. Drivers with transponders travel under open, gantry-type systems that span the roadway, while those that need to pay cash exit off the system briefly to pay and merge back into mainstream traffic. Day passes—available through rental car agencies, a web site, or other means—could be another option for those drivers who want to use a toll road, but don’t have a transponder.

Another potential solution is using overhead cameras to record the license plates of those vehicles without registered transponders. The license plates are matched to entries in the department of motor vehicles’ (DMV) database to obtain billing information. While simple on the surface, there may be some snags to this approach.

“Statistics show that much of the information found in DMV databases may be corrupt or unusable. In situations like that, it may be possible to expand the search for billing information by searching water and phone company databases,” explains Kevin Hoeflich, P.E., a vice president in PBS&J’s Transportation Services group who has worked extensively on ORT and express lane projects. “The goal is to retrieve as much information as possible from existing databases so that customers can be moved to a form of electronic billing.”

It’s essential for toll agencies to let their clients know how to access and use the system to achieve the greatest degree of success. However, if billing information still can’t be found, or if a system user refuses to pay the bill, “it may be necessary to institute penalties such as uniform traffic citations or vehicle registration suspensions,” says Hoeflich.

Maintenance Without Closures

Another challenge to toll agencies regarding ORT is having access to ETC system devices to perform maintenance in live traffic situations. For this reason, most of the gantries used to support transponder and violation enforcement systems on ORT systems around the world are walkable, and video-imaging equipment can be easily maintained or repaired by unplugging components and plugging in new ones when necessary. Under these conditions, the goal becomes placing equipment in protected areas and making repairs during off-peak hours, limiting issues related to system maintenance.

What Lies Ahead

The lure of ORT is substantial. Less congestion at toll plazas means happier toll road customers, improved safety, less impact on air quality, and the ability of toll agencies to process tolls on their systems more quickly. As each challenge of ORT implementation gets addressed and toll agency experiences are shared, ORT will become more prevalent and toll road facilities—now recognized by many in the public sector as a fiscally necessary approach to road building—will become a more appealing transportation option for the public.

For more information about open road tolling, visit the ITS America web site at www.ITSA.org, or the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association's web site at www.IBTTA.org.