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Tolling Points

Interoperability: Knitting Together the Nation’s Toll Roads System and What It Means for U.S. Drivers

By: 
Bill Cramer
Category: 
Stories

2016 is beginning to shape up as the year of hassle-free mobility on toll roads across America.

Since 2010, tolling agencies have been working hard with IBTTA to make all the country’s electronic toll collection systems interoperable by this October 1. When the system is complete, any driver with a toll tag will be able to use any electronic tolling system, anywhere in the country, without having to buy a second transponder or worry about whether they’ll be billed properly for their trip.

Interoperability is a complicated story, combining elements of technology, highway finance, even the signage toll roads will use to let drivers know what’s going on. Neil Gray, IBTTA’s Director of Government Affairs, has been involved at every step of the process and explains what the new system means for highway users.

What does interoperability mean for the average driver?

Tolling is always about hassle-free mobility, helping highway users get where they’re going safely, conveniently, and on time. For tolling authorities, electronic tolling is one of the best ways to meet that goal: it means drivers can pass through a tolling point at highway speed, rather than lining up at a toll plaza.

But because electronic tolling in America developed state by state, different jurisdictions use different technologies to record each trip to ensure accurate, reliable billing. That’s fine if you always drive in your own state, or even in your own interoperability zone. If you travel more widely, interoperability means you get the convenience of using local toll roads wherever you go, without worrying about having to buy a second or even a third toll tag.

Why is October 1, 2016 such an important milestone on the road to America-wide interoperability?

In 2012, Congress gave tolling agencies a four-year deadline—until October 1 this year—to make all the country’s electronic toll collection systems interoperable. We understood, and they understood, that it would be a tough, complicated job. We were very concerned about a government-mandated “answer”. We encouraged Congress to set a deadline, while leaving it to the industry to get interoperability done in the most effective, least damaging way we could.

How’s it going so far?

We’re working hard and addressing every detail. We’ve had dozens of volunteers working out the technical details of the new system—and there are enough details to make your head spin.

While the national system takes shape, we’ve seen great progress on regional interoperability. Tolling agencies across California are interoperable by law, and Washington State has adopted the same tag. Oklahoma is interoperable with Texas, and Kansas is offering a second tolling transponder to make its turnpike interoperable with Oklahoma’s. Florida and Georgia have harmonized their systems. In the northeast, the E-ZPass Group has moved south into Virginia and as far west as Indiana.

North Carolina actually took a hybrid approach by offering drivers three options: an in-state tag only, or that tag combined either with E-ZPass or the Florida Turnpike’s SunPass. That regional solution is similar to the approach envisioned for national interoperability, offering drivers an option for those who would benefit from it.

So national interoperability will be a hybrid solution?

Right now, that’s the most effective and affordable way to go.

To nobody’s surprise, the big challenge with interoperability is getting from here to there. Tolling agencies have already invested heavily in the systems they’ve got. Their customers have paid for tags or transponders. Each of the system works well where it’s been installed, but because the first generation of electronic tolling developed region by region, the transponder signals don’t talk to each other.

If everybody had to adopt a common technology, all at once, by October this year, there would be winners and losers. The losers, and their customers, would have to pay millions of dollars to replace technology that still does what it’s supposed to do.

Congress made it clear it was looking for a cost-effective solution. We agree. Replacing whole systems overnight wouldn't meet that standard.

So what’s the interim solution?

We’re setting up a system where any electronic tolling customer can continue using their existing electronic toll account. We’re also designating a universal device that will be available across the country. In states that don’t already use that universal technology, customers who drive more widely across the country will have the option of acquiring the second device to replace the local one.

The normal lifespan for toll tags and transponders is five to 10 years. So for now, interoperability will mean that every agency agrees to pick the same alternate tag and gradually completes the transition as today’s equipment wears out. If you never drive outside your state, nothing changes for you. When you eventually trade out your existing tag or transponder for a new one, you’ll receive a new device that happens to operate across the country, without any extra effort or cost on your part.

As a driver, what’s in it for me?

If you drive outside your state now, or expect to in the future, interoperability gives you one less thing to worry about when you plan your trip.

We already hear from people who map out a cross-country route, do their homework, get the toll tags or transponders they need, and tell us afterwards how they successfully navigated from coast to coast with two, three, or five tags. Once the alternate tag becomes the only tag, everyone will be able to do that, and it won’t take any special effort or dedication to take advantage of a nationwide interoperable system.

 

 

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