HD14 - Technologies for Toll Facility Mobility Enhancement


Executive Summary:
This report has been produced based on the results of a study requested by Chapter 896 of the 2007 Acts of Assembly to investigate recent technological advances that could be applied in the Commonwealth of Virginia to enhance travelers’ mobility on Virginia’s toll facilities. Particular focus is given to information on Open Road Tolling (ORT) technology, which is the practice of tolling road users while they travel at normal speed along a given road without slowing to pay.

Virginia Tolling Background

There are currently ten toll road facilities in Virginia. The facilities vary widely in size, accepted payment methods, geometry, and gate use. Accepted payments vary but are always some subset of manual toll collection, Automated Coin Machines (ACMs), credit cards, and E-ZPass electronic toll collection.

E-ZPass-VA, previously known as Smart Tag, is Virginia’s implementation of the E-ZPass Inter-Agency Group (IAG) Electronic Toll Collection system. The IAG is the largest interoperable toll collection network in the U.S. with full reciprocity between agencies throughout the Northeast, Indiana and Illinois. VDOT currently operates a single, state-wide account management and Customer Service Center (CSC) E-ZPass back office system for all facilities within the Commonwealth.

In combination with the E-ZPass back office, VDOT also operates a centralized violation processing system that will pursue collections of tolls based on video evidence collected in the lanes from non-paying customers. This system currently processes violations for the three VDOT toll facilities: Coleman Bridge, Powhite Parkway Extension and Dulles Toll Road.

Open Road Tolling Technology

Until somewhat recently, the most common approach for collecting tolls was to have the driver stop and pay a toll collector sitting in a tollbooth. The toll collector determines the amount to be paid by each vehicle based upon its characteristics or classification. Enforcement was primarily addressed by the use of gates that were raised after the toll was paid. Manual lanes can accept an extensive variety of payment means, such as cash, checks, credit/debit cards, and smart cards.

A manual lane can process approximately 400 vehicles per hour in comparison to a free-flow freeway lane, with capacity approaching 2,000 vehicles per hour. Open Road Tolling technology has therefore been developed to allow tolling road users while they travel at normal speed along a given road.

ORT has many benefits including:

• ORT allows higher traffic throughput thus reducing traffic congestion usually caused by a toll plaza and providing more comfort for the users who can drive through the toll gantry at normal highway speeds.
• ORT minimizes environmental impacts (pollution, visual, and noise).
• ORT increases highway safety.
• ORT lowers investments costs for new toll roads due largely to the fact that less property is needed for toll plazas.
• ORT induces lower operational and maintenance costs.
• ORT enables tolling on new roads, where manual tolling is not possible, e.g. for congestion charging schemes, where no space is available (bridges) or where manual operational costs are inappropriate.

There are potential constraints, however, to tolling upgrades in the state that include the following:

• Toll rate constraints
• Existing E-ZPass/IAG membership
• Right-of-way availability
• Collecting revenue from out-of-state violators
• Cost of upgrades
• Privacy
• Safety
• Throughput

ORT requires several technologies working together to provide an effective revenue collection system. Most systems rely heavily on electronic toll collection, such as E-ZPass, supported by video billing and enforcement for those users who do not have a transponder.

These ORT technologies can be used to create completely cashless toll roads in which all payments are collected electronically at high-speed without the option of toll collectors or coin machines. There are several toll facilities in North America and around the world that are operating in this mode. Alternatively, these technologies can be utilized in a mixed cash/ORT arrangement. This involves the collection of tolls via both ORT and accepting cash at a more traditional toll plaza usually provided on a separated parallel facility. This option is potentially more attractive to agencies that need to provide customers with more payment options due to customer service or demographic mix.

There are an expanding number of ORT deployments in North America. The majority of these are mixed cash/ORT, but there is expected to be movement towards cashless ORT as electronic toll collection and video billing become more ubiquitous. Some examples of North American mixed ORT/cash deployments can be seen on:

• New Jersey Turnpike and Parkway
• Denver’s E-470
• Miami Dade Expressway (MDX)
• Illinois Tollway

Examples of North American cashless deployment can be seen on:

• Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway
• Toronto’s 407 Electronic Toll Road (ETR)
• Miami Dade Expressway (MDX)

Future Steps

Virginia does have several advantages when compared with some of its peers in terms of being in position to move forward with ORT deployment. Some advantages are as follows:

• Virginia already has some experience with ORT implementation through the Pocahontas Parkway and a pending implementation at the RMA.
• Many of Virginia’s tolling facilities have good E-ZPass penetration rates, which is a prerequisite for making good use of ORT facilities.
• Virginia has recently upgraded its online and interactive voice response back office capabilities for both customer service and violation processing, permitting more automated self service capabilities.
• Virginia already has a deployed and established violation processing system that includes legislative support.
• The state is already in the midst of establishing processes with the courts to deal with non-paying violators.

To progress an initiative to move towards ORT, there are a number of actions that should be taken by the commonwealth to prepare for a statewide deployment including the following:

• Maximize transponder usage.
• Optimize back office (Customer Service Center) operations.
• Address processes to effectively deal with out-of-state video billings and violations.
• Consider removing Automatic Coin Machines ACM lanes.
• Consider implementing ORT as part of other projects and upgrades.
• Evaluate cost and efficiency of investment.
• Evaluate Cashless vs. Mixed ORT/Cash systems.

The appropriate application of tolling technology must be assessed on a facility-by-facility basis. In terms of timing, this assessment is best done before making any major changes to existing operations, tolling equipment or toll rates or where congestion or safety issues warrant consideration of alternative tolling strategies. The general assessment process that should be followed for each Virginia toll facility includes the following:

• Identify potential tolling concepts.
• Gather data.
• Perform micro-simulation.
• Evaluate diversion potential.
• Develop capital costs.
• Perform cost-benefit analysis including operations and capital costs.
• Analyze results and develop recommendations.