6 JANUARY 2010 | TM&E

Highlights

New data from three of the largest toll agencies in the U.S. demonstrates that the number

of traffi c accidents at open-road tolling (ORT) plazas is signifi cantly less than at traditional toll plazas, PBS&J, Orlando, Fla., reported.

Data from Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE), the Orlando-

Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) and the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA) Division of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) show that conversion to ORT reduces toll plaza accidents by more than 60%.

At traditional toll plazas, vehicles must slow down and pay tolls with

either cash or a transponder. At ORT plazas, vehicles travel at highway speeds under gantries that collect thetolls electronically.

Over the past several years, FTE has been converting a number of traditional toll lanes to ORT lanes. At the seven toll plazas that now have ORT (refl ecting about 174 million transactions per year), accidents have decreased by an average of 62%.

Since 2003, OOCEA also has been converting toll lanes to ORT, and in 2008 processed over 120 million transactions through convertedORT plazas.

Th e data shows that accidents at these converted plazas have decreased on average by over 80% compared with the number of accidents that occurred at the traditional toll plazas.

TTA’s Central Texas Turnpike System processed about 99 million toll transactions in 2007 and 2008 combined.

Slightly more than half of the tolling transactions were through an ORT gantry location, and the other half were through a traditional plaza where tolls are collected in either stopped or slow-down conditions. In 2007 and 2008, there were a total of 96 accidents at the traditional toll plazas, but none at the ORT lanes.

“Most of the accidents at toll plazas involve vehicles colliding with some part of the toll plaza infrastructure: guardrails, bollards, attenuators, barriers or light posts,” said Michael Davis, P.E., PBS&J national tolls senior group manager.

“ORT lanes are ‘open’ for good reason. Th ere are no such obstructions for vehicles to hit.”

Some accidents involve vehicles rear-ending the slowed or stopped vehicles in front. ORT collects tolls as the vehicles pass under the gantries at highway speeds. Th ere are no slowdowns to cause such traffi c irregularities.

Tolling without tearsStatistics say open-road tolling reduces crashes in toll plazas

Edited by Allen Zeyher

FTE has been converting a number of traditional toll lanes to ORT lanes. At the seven toll plazas that now have ORT (refl ecting about 174 million transactions per year), accidents have decreased by an average of 62%. Photo courtesy of PBS&J.

WWW.TMEMAG.COM | TM&E 7

Traffi c.com not willing to share

Th e U.S. DOT’s grand highway traffi c monitoring system will most likely not make a grand entrance.

Sensors are being installed in 27 cities, but the contractor hired to implement the system, Traffi c.com, was granted exclusive control of the data and is now planning on charging state and local DOTs a user fee. Th e U.S. DOT’s inspector general released a report on the troubled system onDec. 14.

Th e audit also found widespread reliability problems with the data collection. Members of Congress are now encouraging the U.S. DOT to terminate its contract with Traffi c.com.

Signs to shrinkon Intercounty Connector

Th e Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) is planning to install smaller signs on roads leading to the Intercounty Connector (ICC), the Washington Post reported. Th e signs, originally planned for guiding drivers to the new highway, drew complaints from Olney, Md., residents, who said the larger, overhead signs ruined the “greenway” feel of Georgia Avenue, one of fi ve roads that will intersect with the ICC.

SHA now plans to install unlighted signs a third smaller and placed on the roadside or in a median. Th e decision aff ects about 200 signs telling motorists how to enter the ICC, what the toll is and where to tune their radiofortraffi c information.

Cruising Florida nonstopTh e Florida Department of

Transportation has begun converting the southern 26 miles of the Florida Turnpike in Miami-Dade Countyinto an all-electronic open-roadtolling facility, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise announced.

Th e $33 million project will upgrade the Homestead and Bird Road mainline toll plazas and the 17 ramp plazas located between the U.S. 1 and S.R. 836 interchanges.

All-electronic open-road tolling will eliminate the collection of cash at the plazas. Tolls will be collected

via SunPass or through Toll-by-Plate, a system that uses cameras to snap a photo of a vehicle’s license plate and bills the registered owner of the vehicle for the toll.

Drivers without SunPass can wait for a bill to arrive in the mail or set up a Toll-by-Plate account to pay for their tolls. SunPass users will pay the same rate they currently pay. Toll-by-Plate users will pay the current cash

rate, which is often 25 cents more than the SunPass rate, according to the Associated Press.

Th e project also entails removing the existing tollbooths and structures, toll plaza building modifi cations, roadway improvements, grading, drainage, new signs and new pavement markings.

Construction is scheduled to beginin January 2010 and wrap up inearly 2011. TM&E

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8 JANUARY 2010 | TM&E

Industry NewsGarrettCom Inc., Fremont, Calif.,

has completed shipping an order for industrial hardened Ethernet switches worth more than $1 million to Danish rail operator DSB in the last two quarters of 2009. DSB chose GarrettCom’s Magnum 6KQ Managed Ethernet Field Switches to provide onboard networking to passengers, as well as IP networking for video surveillance within its service area.

Caltrain has reached a $1.8 million agreement with Maryland-based Arinc Inc. to install GPS tracking devices in its trains to allow Caltrain to provide real-time delay data to its customers at station platforms, on the 5-1-1 phone system and online at 511.org.

Image Sensing Systems Inc., St. Paul, Minn., has supplied the city of New York with its RTMS G4 radar units for mid-block detection for nearly 200 intersections in four boroughs of the city as part of the TOPICS IV

project. Th e project is an expansion of a strategic program to centralize computer control and improve traffi c fl ow around the city.

Mercedes-Benz USA, Montvale, N.J., and Hughes Telematics Inc., Atlanta, have launched mbrace, a new telematics off ering that brings an unprecedented level of connectivity to Mercedes-Benz drivers and begins the process of allowing them to customize their in-vehicle experiences to fi t their daily needs. Mbrace is now available on all new Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold through authorized dealers in the U.S. and replaces Tele Aid, MBUSA’s previous telematics off ering.

Hemisphere GPS, Calgary, Alberta, has formed a strategic business alliance with Th ird Eye Maps, Lubbock, Texas. Th e alliance recognizes Th ird Eye Maps as Hemisphere GPS’ authorized representative for aerial imagery capture and processing.

CSX Transportation (CSXT) has unveiled two ultra-low-emission GenSet locomotives, which will operate full-time at its Avon Yard in the town of Avon outside of Indianapolis. CSXT is the fi rst railroad in Indiana to utilize GenSet locomotives, which can reduce nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions by 80% and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50% and switch to a “sleep” mode after a period of inactivity.

International Road Dynamics Inc. (IRD), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, along with its wholly owned subsidiary, International Road Dynamics South Asia (IRDSA), has been awarded a contract by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority for the installation of two weigh-in-motion systems and a toll collection system for the Bangabandhu Bridge. Th e project is expected to be commissioned by April 2010 and is valued at approximately $1.1million (Canadian). TM&E

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