Celebrate an Industry Leader at IBTTA’s Annual Meeting in Denver

A silver anniversary is always something to celebrate, whether it marks a successful marriage or a successful organization. So while you’re in Denver next month for IBTTA’s 84^th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to celebrate with one of the best.

The E-470 Public Highway Authority has been innovating non-stop since it opened in 1991, and non-stop is exactly what its customers can realistically expect today, courtesy of a 75-mile-per-hour, all-electronic toll road on the eastern edge of the Denver Metro area. E-470 delivers a safe, reliable, convenient commute in one of the country’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas, and runs back office services for nearby toll roads run by private concessionaires and the Colorado Department of Transportation.

On Sunday morning, September 11, in the hours before the Annual Meeting gets under way, you can attend a special back-of-house tour of E-470’s newly-renovated headquarters and call center, as well as an eight-mile road widening project that is currently in progress. (But you’d better register soon. This is an optional tour, not a standard part of the conference program, and spots are going fast.)

Innovation in Governance

From its earliest days, E-470 has been a shining example of what local governments can achieve when they decide to work together for the common good.

The Authority was formed in 1988, when elected officials in Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas counties realized the highway they needed would only be built if they financed it themselves. Its membership soon grew to include five municipalities across the three counties.

“With the construction of E-470, communities in Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas County showed that local governments can raise financing to meet their own surface transportation needs, without state or federal tax support,” stated an IBTTA success story on the Authority published in 2013.

“The project successfully redistributed traffic from roadways that were already congested and provided a crucial link to the new Denver International Airport, an important gateway in and out of the region. Thanks in part to E-470, traffic is moving much more freely in the area than it otherwise would have.”

Innovation in Technology

But E-470 does so much more than just show up for work. “By introducing in 2009 one of North America’s first all-electronic tolling systems, E-470 made it that much easier for drivers to use the road, with or without an ExpressToll account. Traffic volume has grown steadily, reaching a peak of 54 million transactions in 2012.”

That trend has certainly continued since: Last year, E-470 recorded a 12.4% increase in passenger volume, making it one of 10 U.S. tolling agencies to report double-digit growth.

E-470 is also the home of the Solar-Powered Toll Road, a 714.9-kilowatt installation across 18 highway ramps, several toll plazas, a main support site, and the Authority’s headquarters office and data center. By delivering electricity at a fixed price of 6.2¢ per kilowatt-hour, the project saved the Authority $80,000 in its first two years, and was projected to save more than $1 million and 24,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over a 20-year operating life.

For its work on the Solar-Powered Toll Road, E-470 earned IBTTA’s coveted President’s Award for Excellence in 2013.

With so much to celebrate and so much to learn, you won’t want to miss this year’s IBTTA Annual Meeting in Denver and being hosted by E-470! Click here for information and registration.