TOLLING TECHNOLOGY
   
 

 

g

Ohio Turnpike Service AreaService areas provide food, fuel, and travel information on the Ohio Turnpike, in the United States.

Road pricing is an economic concept regarding the various direct charges applied for the use of roads. The road charges includes fuel taxes, licence fees, parking taxes, tolls, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle type, being used.[1] Road pricing has two distinct objectives: revenue generation, usually for road infrastructure financing, and congestion pricing for demand management purposes. Toll roads are the typical example of revenue generation. Charges for using high-occupancy toll lanes or urban tolls for entering a restricted area of a city are typical examples of using road pricing for congestion management purposes

Express toll lanes (ETLs) is a road pricing system in which motorists may pay a toll to gain access to lanes that are separated from the mainstream traffic. Typically, these tolls increase as traffic density within the tolled lanes increases. The goal of the pricing scheme is to minimize traffic congestion within the lanes

dfNew Jersey Turn pike Toll gate

Congestion pricing

Further information: Congestion pricing
Transport economists consider road space rationing a variation of road pricing, and an alternative to congestion pricing, but road space rationing is considered more equitable, as the restrictions force all drivers to reduce auto travel, while congestion pricing restrains less those who can afford paying the congestion charge. Nevertheless, high-income users can often avoid the restrictions by owning a second car.[1]

Mobility rights or congestion credits

A more recent and acceptable policy on automobile travel restrictions, proposed by transport economists[2] to avoid inequality and revenue allocation issues, is to implement a rationing of peak period travel but through revenue-neutral credit-based congestion pricing. This concept is similar to the existing system of emissions trading of carbon credits, proposed by the Kyoto Protocol to curb greenhouse emissions. Metropolitan area or city residents, or the taxpayers, will have the option to use the local government-issued mobility rights or congestion credits for themselves, or to trade or sell them to anyone willing to continue traveling by automobile beyond the personal quota. This trading system will allow direct benefits to be accrued by those users shifting to public transportation or by those reducing their peak-hour travel rather than the government

l

;

407ETR overhead cameras used to capture rear license plates in Onrio, Canada

fd

ERP Gantry at North Bridge Road, next to PARCO Bugis Junction.

Shunpiking
The term shunpiking comes from the word shun, meaning "to avoid", and pike, a term referring to turnpikes, which were roads which required payment of a toll to travel on them.[1] People who often avoid toll roads sometimes call themselves shunpikers.
Shunpiking has also come to mean an avoidance of major highways (regardless of tolls) in preference for bucolic and scenic interludes along lightly traveled country roads.
For some, practice of shunpiking involved a form of boycott of tolls (rather than just avoidance of them for financial reasons) by taking another route, perhaps slower, longer, or under poorer road conditions.

Historical boycott in Virginia

One such example of shunpiking as a form of boycott occurred at the James River Bridge in eastern Virginia, United States. After years of lower than anticipated revenues on the narrow privately-funded structure built in 1928, the Commonwealth of Virginia finally purchased the facility in 1949. However, rather than announcing a long-expected decrease in tolls, the state officials increased the rates in 1955 without visibly improving the roadway, with the notable exception of building a new toll plaza.
The increased toll rates incensed the public and business users alike. In a well-publicized example of shunpiking, Joseph W. Luter Jr., head of Smithfield Packing Company (the producer of Smithfield Hams), ordered his truck drivers to take different routes and cross smaller and cheaper bridges. Despite the boycott by Luter and others, tolls continued for 20 more years. They were finally removed from the old bridge in 1975 when construction began on a toll-free replacement structure. The newer toll plaza at the southern end outlived the original bridge by more than 30 years as an administration building, before it too was demolished in the early 21st century. Preservationists petitioned against the demolition of the toll structure

Electronic toll collection

Jump to: navigation, search
Electronic toll collection (ETC), an adaptation of military "identification friend or foe" technology, aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads by collecting tolls electronically. It is thus a technological implementation of a road pricing concept. It determines whether the cars passing are enrolled in the program, alerts enforcers for those that are not, and electronically debits the accounts of registered car owners without requiring them to stop.
Norway has been the world's pioneer in the widespread implementation of this technology. ETC was first introduced in Bergen, in 1986, operating together with traditional tollbooths. In 1991, Trondheim introduced the world's first use of completely unaided full-speed electronic tolling. Norway now has 25 toll roads operating with electronic fee collection (EFC), as the Norwegian technology is called (see AutoPASS). In 1995, Portugal became the first country to apply a single, universal system to all tolls in the country, the Via Verde, which can also be used in parking lots and gas stations. The United States is another country with widespread use of ETC in several states, though many U.S. toll roads maintain the option of manual collection.
Electronic toll collection systems rely on four major components: automated vehicle identification, automated vehicle classification, transaction processing, and violation enforcement.
The four components are somewhat independent, and, in fact, some toll agencies have contracted out functions separately. In some cases, this division of functions has resulted in difficulties. In one notable example, the New Jersey E-ZPass regional consortium's Violation Enforcement contractor did not have access to the Violation Processing contractor's database of customers. This, together with installation problems in the automated vehicle identification system, led to many customers receiving erroneous violation notices, and a violation system whose net income, after expenses, was negative, as well as customer dissatisfaction.

Automated vehicle identification

s

Some highways, such as Ontario's 407 ETR use automatic number plate recognition
Automated vehicle identification (AVI) is the process of determining the identity of a vehicle subject to tolls. The majority of toll facilities record the passage of vehicles through a limited number of toll gates. At such facilities, the task is then to identify the vehicle in the gate area.
Some early AVI systems used barcodes affixed to each vehicle, to be read optically at the toll booth. Optical systems proved to have poor reading reliability, especially when faced with inclement weather and dirty vehicles.
Most current AVI systems rely on radio-frequency identification, where an antenna at the toll gate communicates with a transponder on the vehicle via Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). RFID tags have proved to have excellent accuracy, and can be read at highway speeds. The major disadvantage is the cost of equipping each vehicle with a transponder, which can be a major start-up expense, if paid by the toll agency, or a strong customer deterrent, if paid by the customer.
To avoid the need for transponders, some systems, notably the 407 ETR (Electronic Toll Route) near Toronto, use automatic number plate recognition. Here, a system of cameras captures images of vehicles passing through tolled areas, and the image of the number plate is extracted and used to identify the vehicle. This allows customers to use the facility without any advance interaction with the toll agency. The disadvantage is that fully automatic recognition has a significant error rate, leading to billing errors and the cost of transaction processing (which requires locating and corresponding with the customer) can be significant. Systems that incorporate a manual review stage have much lower error rates, but require a continuing staffing expense.
A few toll facilities cover a very wide area, making fixed toll gates impractical. The most notable of these is a truck tolling system in Germany. This system instead uses Global Positioning System location information to identify when a vehicle is located on a tolled Autobahn. Implementation of this system turned out to be far lengthier and more costly than expected.

Automated vehicle classification

Automated vehicle classification is closely related to automated vehicle identification (AVI). Most toll facilities charge different rates for different types of vehicles, making it necessary to distinguish the vehicles passing through the toll facility.
The simplest method is to store the vehicle class in the customer record, and use the AVI data to look up the vehicle class. This is low-cost, but limits user flexibility, in such cases as the automobile owner who occasionally tows a trailer.
More complex systems use a variety of sensors. Inductive sensors embedded in the road surface can determine the gaps between vehicles, to provide basic information on the presence of a vehicle. Treadles permit counting the number of axles as a vehicle passes over them and, with offset-treadle installations, also detect dual-tire vehicles. Light-curtain laser profilers record the shape of the vehicle, which can help distinguish trucks and trailers.

Transaction processing

Transaction processing deals with maintaining customer accounts, posting toll transactions and customer payments to the accounts, and handling customer inquiries. The transaction processing component of some systems is referred to as a "customer service center". In many respects, the transaction processing function resembles banking, and several toll agencies have contracted out transaction processing to a bank.
Customer accounts may be postpaid, where toll transactions are periodically billed to the customer, or prepaid, where the customer funds a balance in the account which is then depleted as toll transactions occur. The prepaid system is more common, as the small amounts of most tolls makes pursuit of uncollected debts uneconomic. Most postpaid accounts deal with this issue by requiring a security deposit, effectively rendering the account a prepaid one.

 Violation enforcement

A violation enforcement system (VES) is useful in reducing unpaid tolls, as an unmanned toll gate otherwise represents a tempting target for toll evasion. Several methods can be used to deter toll violators.
Police patrols at toll gates can be highly effective, as being stopped by the police is quite memorable for the violator. In addition, in most jurisdictions, the legal framework is already in place for punishing toll evasion as a traffic infraction. However, the expense of police patrols makes their use on a continuous basis impractical, such that the probability of being stopped is likely to be low enough as to be an insufficient deterrent.
A physical barrier, such as a gate arm, ensures that all vehicles passing through the toll booth have paid a toll. Violators are identified immediately, as the barrier will not permit the violator to proceed. However, barriers also force authorized customers, which are the vast majority of vehicles passing through, to slow to a near-stop at the toll gate, negating much of the speed and capacity benefits of electronic tolling.
Automatic number plate recognition, while rarely used as the primary vehicle identification method, is more commonly used in violation enforcement. In the VES context, the number of images collected is much smaller than in the AVI context. This makes manual review, with its greater accuracy over fully automated methods, practical. However, many jurisdictions require legislative action to permit this type of enforcement, as the number plate identifies only the vehicle, not its operator, and many traffic enforcement regulations require identifying the operator in order to issue an infraction.
An example of this is the vToll system on the Illinois Tollway[1], which requires transponder users to enter their license plate information before using the system. If the transponder fails to read, the license plate number is matched to the transponder account, and the regular toll amount is deducted from the account rather than a violation being generated.[2] If the license plate can't be found in the database, then it is processed as a violation. An interesting aspect of Illinois' toll violation system is a 7 day grace period, allowing tollway users to pay missed tolls online with no penalty the 7 days following the missed toll

Enforcement is accomplished by a combination of a camera which takes a picture of the car and a radio frequency keyed computer which searches for a drivers window/bumper mounted transponder to verify and collect payment. The system sends a notice and fine to cars that pass through without having an active account or paying a toll.
Factors hindering full-speed electronic collection include significant non-participation, entailing lines in manual lanes and disorderly traffic patterns as the electronic- and manual- collection cars "sort themselves out" into their respective lanes; problems with pursuing toll evaders; need, in at least some current (barrier) systems, to confine vehicles in lanes, while interacting with the collection devices, and the dangers of high-speed collisions with the confinement structures; vehicle hazards to toll employees present in some electronic-collection areas; the fact that in some areas at some times, long lines form even to pass through the electronic-collection lanes; and costs and other issues raised when retrofitting existing toll collection facilities. Unionized toll collectors can also be problematic
Even if line lengths are the same in electronic lanes as in manual ones, electronic tolls save registered cars time: eliminating the stop at a window or toll machine, between successive cars passing the collection machine, means a fixed-length stretch of their journey past it is traveled at a higher average speed, and in a lower time. This is at least a psychological improvement, even if the length of the lines in automated lanes is sufficient to make the no-stop-to-pay savings insignificant compared to time still lost due waiting in line to pass the toll gate. Toll plazas are typically wider than the rest of the highway; reducing the need for them makes it possible to fit toll roads into tight corridors.[1]
Despite these limitations, however, it is important to recognize that throughput increases if delay at the toll gate is reduced (i.e., if the tollbooth can serve more vehicles per hour). The greater the throughput of any toll lane, the fewer lanes required, so expensive construction can be deferred. Specifically, the toll-collecting authorities have incentives to resist pressure to limit the fraction of electronic lanes in order to limit the length of manual-lane lines. In the short term, the greater the fraction of automated lanes, the lower the cost of operation (once the capital costs of automating are amortized). In the long term, the greater the relative advantage that registering and turning one's vehicle into an electronic-toll one provides, the faster cars will be converted from manual-toll use to electronic-toll use, and therefore the fewer manual-toll cars will drag down average speed and thus capacity.
In some countries, some toll agencies that use similar technology have set up (or are setting up) reciprocity arrangements, which permit one to drive a vehicle on another operator's tolled road with the tolls incurred charged to the driver's toll-payment account with their home operator. An example is the United States E-ZPass tag, which is accepted on toll roads, bridges and tunnels in over a dozen states from Virginia to Maine.

k k

Open road tolling (ORT) or free-flow tolling is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. The major advantage to ORT is that users are able to drive through the toll plaza at highway speeds without having to slow down to pay the toll. In some installations, ORT may also reduce congestion at the plazas by allowing more vehicles per hour/per lane. The disadvantage to ORT is the possibility of "leakage"; that is, "violators" who do not pay. Leakage may either be written off as an expense by the toll operator, or offset in part or whole by fees and fines collected against the violators.

hThe ORT lanes at the West 163rd Street toll plaza, going northbound on the Tri-State Tollway near the Chicago suburb of Hazel Crest.

Tolls are typically collected using RFID systems like FasTrak, Fast Lane, I-Pass, or E-ZPass. Some systems may also use license plate images as payment. One example of a system that collects tolls with plate images is the 407 ETR in Canada. To date, license plate based systems have struggled somewhat with accuracy and customer service issues.[citation needed] For example, the 407 ETR recently settled a lawsuit related to potential incorrect charges on the system.[1]
Today there are many roads around the world working with electronic toll collection technologies, and ORT has opened the feasibility to implement congestion pricing policies in urban areas, as already implemented in Singapore, London, Oslo, Stockholm and other cities. They are currently in usage throughought the highway system in Santiago, Chile and it is known as the TAG.

E-ZPass is an electronic toll-collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the northeastern United States, south to Virginia and West Virginia, and west to Chicago. Currently, there are 25 agencies spread across 14 states that make up the E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG). All member agencies use the same technology, allowing travelers to use the same E-ZPass transponder throughout the IAG network. Various independent systems that use the same technology have been integrated into the E-ZPass system. These include Fast Lane in Massachusetts, I-Pass in Illinois, i-Zoom in Indiana, and the defunct M-Tag in Maryland and Smart Tag in Virginia.

Functionality

kmA typical E-ZPass toll booth in Massachusetts. The transmission antenna is highlighted in the yellow box.

Within the IAG, each member agency has its own billing and customer service center; all customer service centers are connected by a secure network (the "reciprocity network"). The agencies also set their own customer account policies. Areas of variation include the refundable deposit or nonrefundable charge for a tag, periodic maintenance fees, paper statement fees, the low account threshold, and replenishment amounts. E-ZPass is usually offered as a debit account: tolls are deducted from prepayments made by the users. Users may opt to have prepayments automatically deposited when their account is low, or they may submit prepayments manually. For commercial accounts, some agencies allow postpaid plans with a security deposit (which effectively renders them much like prepaid accounts with a different replenishment policy).
Several agencies offer discounted tolls to E-ZPass customers. The details vary widely, and can include general discounts for all E-ZPass users, variable pricing discounts for off-peak hours, commuter plans with minimum usage levels, flat rate plans offering unlimited use for a period of time, carpool plans for high-occupancy vehicles, and resident plans for those living near particular toll facilities. Many of these plans are only available to customers whose tags are issued by the agency that owns the toll facility in question. (Reciprocity only applies to tag acceptance, not to discounts.) Three authorities in New England (Maine, the Massachusetts Turnpike, and New Hampshire) restrict even their general discounts to their own respective tagholders.

s An E-ZPass system transponder unit (also known as a 'tag' or a 'pack'); this unit is distributed by the Indiana Toll Road for use with the I-Zoom system and other roads which utilize E-ZPass.

E-ZPass tags are battery powered[1] RFID transponders. They communicate with reader equipment built into lane-based or open road toll collection lanes. The most common type of tag is mounted on the inside of the vehicle's windshield behind the rear-view mirror, usually with 3M's DualLock brand of hook and lock strips to allow easy removal. Some vehicles have windshields that block RFID signals. For those vehicles (or customers who have aesthetic concerns or historical vehicles), an externally-mountable tag is offered, typically designed to attach to the vehicle's front or rear license plate mounting points. Some third-party vendors offer alternative means of attaching a transponder pack without using locking tape, though the locking tape is the only method toll agencies endorse for attaching a tag to the windshield.
Although a tag can be used with a motorcycle also, there are usually no official instructions given for mounting due to the numerous variations between bike designs and the small area of a motorcycle windshield which could prove a hindrance if the transponder is attached following automobile instructions.
Most E-ZPass lanes are converted manual toll lanes and must have fairly low speed limits for safety reasons (5 and 15 mph are typical), so that E-ZPass vehicles can merge safely with vehicles that stopped to pay a cash toll. In some areas, however (typically recently built or retrofitted facilities), there is no need to slow down, because E-ZPass users can utilize dedicated traffic lanes ("Express E-ZPass") that are physically separate from the toll-booth lanes. (Examples include Delaware Route 1, Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway, the express lanes of the Atlantic City Expressway and Garden State Parkway, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Warrendale and Mid-County (I-476) toll plazas as well as on new sections of the Mon/Fayette Expressway.) In October 2006, Illinois completed[2] its open road tolling for IPass/E-ZPass users. Pennsylvania is planning on using open-road tolling when they convert Interstate 80 into a toll road.[3]
Each E-ZPass tag is specifically programmed for a particular class of vehicle, and while any valid, working tag will be read and accepted in any E-ZPass toll lane, the wrong toll amount will be charged if the tag's programmed vehicle class does not match the vehicle. This will result in a violation and possible large fine assessed to the tag holder, especially if a lower-class (e.g., passenger car) tag is being used in a higher-class vehicle such as a bus or truck. In an attempt to avoid this, E-ZPass tags for commercial vehicles are blue in color, contrasting with the white tags assigned to standard passenger vehicles. The blue E-ZPass is also used in government employee vehicles. In New York, an orange E-ZPass tag is issued to emergency vehicles as well as MTA, PANYNJ, and Thruway Authority employees.
Some agencies have imposed periodic account maintenance fees on their subscribers. After New Jersey began losing money with the E-ZPass system, a monthly account fee of $1.00 was implemented on July 15, 2002[4] and is still in effect. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also charges a monthly account fee of $1.00. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority imposed a monthly account fee starting on July 1, 2005 claiming to defray the administrative costs.[citation needed] However, as such a fee was considered to threaten the efficiency of moving traffic faster with lower tolls, New York State Republican Senator Michael Balboni sponsored Bill S06331 to prohibit administrative service fees on E-ZPass accounts. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority repealed[citation needed][5] the monthly account fee on June 1, 2006. On July 1, 2009, the Maryland Transportation Authority will begin charging $1.50/month fees to accountholders.[6]
Some agencies, instead of charging periodic account fees, charge a one-time fee between $20.00 and $30.00 for each new transponder, including the Delaware Department of Transportation and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. One agency, the Delaware River and Bay Authority, is now charging multiple fees. In a press release dated July 17, 2007, the DRBA stated: "Beginning January 1, 2008, all DRBA E-ZPass account holders will be charged an account management fee of $1.50 per month. The transponder cost will also be passed on to E-ZPass customers for each new transponder."
Some agencies that do not charge a monthly account fee or an initial fee for the transponder include the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. The Illinois I-PASS system does charge a $10 deposit for each transponder. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission charges an annual account fee of $3.00. However, PTC transponders are free and there are no other fees. E-ZPass users are not required to maintain their account with an agency in their home state. Subscribers can open an E-ZPass account with any member of the IAG regardless of residency. This means that users have the option of choosing an agency based on the fees that it charges, effectively allowing them to circumvent transponder and account maintenance fees.

E-ZPass On-The-Go

E-ZPass On-The-Go is a packaged E-ZPass transponder loaded with $25 in toll funds sold over-the-counter at a retail setting (such as a supermarket or pharmacy service desk) that are valid immediately. The first $15 is available instantly; customers can access their remaining $10 when they register their transponders with the issuing E-ZPass agency within several days of first using their tags.
On-The-Go tags are available at retail locations.[7] The On-The-Go package is unavailable in both Indiana and Illinois as both states require activation before use of their transponders.

History

The notion of electronic tolling had been considered as early as the 1980s, particularly in the New York metropolitan area. The tolling agencies of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—which constitute two-thirds of the United States' $3 billion-a-year toll industry—sought to create a compatible electronic-tolling technology that could be used on the toll roads and bridges of the three states, in an effort to reduce congestion on some of the busiest roadways and toll plazas in the United States. In 1991, the E-ZPass IAG was created to develop an interoperable system, and involved the participation and cooperation of seven independent toll agencies—The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The New Jersey Turnpike Authority, The New Jersey Highway Authority (operator of the Garden State Parkway at the time), the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York State Thruway Authority, The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and the South Jersey Transportation Authority (operator of the Atlantic City Expressway).
Under the direction of Peter Tufo, chairman of the New York State Thruway from 1989-1996, E-ZPass was first deployed on the Thruway at the Spring Valley toll plaza on August 3, 1993. Over the following three and a half years, the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) installed electronic toll-collection equipment, in stages, along the Thruway. By February 6, 1997, E-ZPass had been installed along the entire length of the corridor.
On October 6, 1998, a U.S. Patent for an "automated toll collection system" was issued to Fred Slavin and Randy J. Schafer.[8]
Meanwhile, various other agencies began work on similar electronic toll collecting facilities. This resulted in the emergence of other networks:

  • The MassPass system used in Massachusetts, now changed to the compatible Fast Lane.
  • The I-Pass system used in Illinois.
  • The Smart Tag system used in Virginia, integrated in 2005 and rebranded E-ZPass in 2007.
  • The TransPass system used in Maine, since replaced by the E-ZPass system.
  • The M-Tag system used in Maryland, integrated into and rebranded E-ZPass in 2001.

Originally, these systems were not interchangeable with E-ZPass. However, since most of them use the same technology (or have since converted over to a compatible technology), all of them have been incorporated into the E-ZPass network. Though several still retain their own brand name for their own facilities, users of those systems can use E-ZPass and vice versa.
Until 2005, drivers crossing the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, paid a toll before crossing to Canada. Following upgrades to the border crossings in 2005, drivers instead pay a toll on the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge after clearing Canadian customs. This is the only E-ZPass toll booth outside of the United States. The toll goes to the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, a bi-national agency that is charged to maintain the international bridge.
The E-ZPass system continues to expand. The Indiana Toll Road Concessions Corporation has upgraded its toll plazas to include E-ZPass functionality on the Indiana East-West Toll Road, while the Ohio Turnpike Commission plans to upgrade its system to be compatible with E-ZPass by October 2009 for the Ohio Turnpike (I-76, I-80, I-90). The Indiana Toll Road Concession Company brands its E-ZPass program as I-Zoom; Ohio will use the E-ZPass brand name.[9] On December 16, 2008, Rhode Island joined the network by activating E-ZPass lanes in the state's only toll booth, at the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge.[10]
E-ZPass ETC transponders do not work on all toll roads in the U.S. Currently, the E-ZPass electronic toll-collection system (as well as the other ETC systems that are part of the E-ZPass network) are not compatible with Florida systems (including SunPass and EPass), California's FasTrak, Kansas's K-Tag, Oklahoma's Pikepass, Texas's TxTag, or other ETC systems outside of the E-ZPass operating regions.
In 2009, an organization called the Alliance for Toll Interoperability stated that it was exploring the option of using hi-speed cameras to take photographs of the cars passing through non-E-ZPass lanes in other states.[11]

E-ZPass Plus

For E-ZPass subscribers who replenish their accounts with a major credit card (i.e., American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard or VISA), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey offers an E-ZPass option to pay for parking at three Port Authority airportsJohn F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport—through a program known as E-ZPass Plus.[12] This program is also available at Albany International Airport in Albany, New York, Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York and the Atlantic City International Airport near Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is also available for use at the New York Avenue Parking Garage in Atlantic City, New Jersey and the Atlantic City Surface Lot in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The parking payment is debited from the prepaid E-ZPass account if the parking fee is less than $20. If it is more than $20, the amount is charged directly to the credit card used to replenish the E-ZPass account.[12]
The Port Authority reports that drivers save an average of 15 seconds by opting to pay for airport parking using E-ZPass.[citation needed]
Subscribers who replenish their E-ZPass accounts with cash or a check cannot participate in this program. Additionally, this service is only available to customers with one of the following E-ZPass accounts: New York (PANYNJ, MTA or NYS Thruway), New Jersey, Delaware DOT, Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, Delaware River and Bay Authority, or Maryland.

Other non-toll uses for E-ZPass

Although not part of the EZPass-Plus promotion, E-ZPass users may also pay for parking at Pittsburgh International Airport. The E-ZPass transponder is used for identification only.
E-ZPass was tested by some McDonald's restaurants on Long Island, New York, at which drive-through customers were given the option to pay using their E-ZPass accounts. This program has ended [13].
The New York State Fair offered E-ZPass Plus as a payment option at two of its parking lots for the first time in 2007,[14] and offered the service again for the 2008 season.[15] The service was administered by the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), and motorists' E-ZPass accounts were charged the same $5 parking fee that cash customers were charged. Unlike other E-ZPass Plus implementations, the State Fair systems charged motorists at the parking lot entrances; drivers opting to pay by E-ZPass Plus used dedicated "E-ZPass Plus Only" lanes. Since the parking lots are only in use for the twelve days of the State Fair, mobile, self-contained E-ZPass units were used to process vehicles. The units were mounted on trailers with a collapsible gantry for the E-ZPass antennas, used a cellular wireless connection to send transactions to the NYSTA backoffice system, and were powered by batteries that were kept replenished by photovoltaic solar panels, with a generator for backup.[16]

Technology details

The EZ-Pass transponder works by listening for a signal broadcast by the reader stationed at the toll booth. This 915 MHz signal is sent at 500kbps using the IAG protocol in 256-bit packets. Transponders use active Type II read/write technology. [17]
The next generation of automated toll collection systems will be more open and likely to based on the 802.11p specification currently in development.[18]

Privacy concerns

Civil liberties and privacy rights advocates have expressed concern about how the position data gathered through E-ZPass is used. As of August 2007, several states that employ E-ZPass have provided electronic toll information in response to court orders in civil cases, including divorces and other non-criminal matters.[19]
Position data is collected by antennae at locations in addition to fee collection locations. The Port Authority of NY & NJ collects transponder information as vehicles pass under the signs in New Jersey that state, "xx minutes to the Cross Bronx Expressway (CBE)," and in New York City as vehicles reach the CBE. By subtracting the time when vehicles pass under the first sign from the current time, the sign can display the actual trip duration for vehicles just entering the C

BACK TOP TOP

       
[c] Copyright 2009 Enviroque Technlogies. All rights reserved.
About UsEnviroque Traffic Com ETC Union Picture Archives Contact Us Home