Delaware Advances Toward All-Electronic Tolling

A multi-year plan to replace change machines and cash tolls with all-electronic tolling is taking firmer shape in Delaware. It starts with a pilot project already under construction along Route 301, which runs 15 miles north from the state’s border with Maryland.

Delaware is a long-time E-ZPass member, and the idea of shifting to AET has been circulating in the state for some time. Last month, Transportation Secretary Jennifer Cohan announced a timeline for the plan, during an interview with a Milford, DE radio show.

"The change machines are not very good, especially in difficult weather, and our goal is to get rid of them completely," she told 105.9 FM’s Susan Monday show. "I want to go all-electronic tolling, and Route 301 is going to be our pilot with that. Nobody is building brick and mortar tolling facilities, it's ancient, and there's no need to slow traffic down when you don't have to."

Removing the ‘Neck of the Bottle’

If the pilot goes well, Cohan sees at least an eight-year process to roll out AET along State Route 1 and Interstate Highway 95. The Route 301 project broke ground in early 2016 and is scheduled to open this December.

DelDOT sees it as a project with multiple benefits.

“New US 301 will improve safety, manage truck traffic, and reduce congestion; support approved and proposed economic development in southern New Castle County (a key Delaware growth area); enhance the region’s ability to compete for economic development; create needed jobs; improve local access to the Northeast Corridor Rail (Amtrak), commuter rail (SEPTA) and bus (DART) services; improve livability in the region and reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions,” the agency’s project overview states.

With seven different contractors working concurrently, the project “will remove the ‘neck in the bottle’ of the regional highway network,” converting US 301 from a two-lane, local roadway with multiple direct access points to a modern roadway network.

Don’t delay! Sign up today for IBTTA’s Managed, Lanes, AET & Technology Summit, April 22-24, 2018 in Charlotte, NC.