When the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) decided to convert the entirety of its toll road network to All Electronic Tolling, the project was sure to be a massive undertaking. MassDOT contracted Raytheon for a Design-Build-Maintain effort to deliver the new network of 32 AET toll zones on a tight deadline before the 2016 holiday season.  Raytheon receives the Private Sector Innovation Award for its implementation of MassDOT All Electronic Tolling.

Three months into the project, MassDOT issued a change order to change from Janus (E-ZPass) Readers to Multi-Protocol Readers (MPRs) in support of nationwide interoperability efforts. The change in technology required significant redesigns of gantries and wiring, and was expected to delay the project three months.

Raytheon remained committed to the original deadlines and responded to the change with an innovative accelerated construction schedule: gantry construction was performed concurrently instead of sequentially. Overhead cross members – with tolling technology attached – were assembled off-site as the vertical supports, power, and communications infrastructure were put in place along the road.

MassDOT anticipated 2-4 consecutive nights of road closures at each toll zone to construct the overhead components. Building the cross members off-site and delivering them to the toll zone shortened lane closures to six hours per zone. Traffic was fully stopped for only 15 minutes. This innovative process cut a remarkable 90 days from the construction schedule and completely negated the anticipated MPR delays. The new AET network went live on its original schedule in October 2016, 21 days before Thanksgiving.

The project’s quality has had an immense measurable impact on drivers. Not only did Raytheon’s innovative schedule minimize travel disruptions, converting to AET has shaved 12 minutes in each direction off the commute to Boston from suburbs in Western Massachusetts. Spread over the average 132,000 daily commuters, the AET network saves drivers 264,000 hours every week.