Skip to main content

A Texas star for ViaPlus

Firm will provide number-plate imaging in Houston for Harris County’s toll authority
By David Arminas May 13, 2024 Read time: 2 mins
Contract takes in free-flow highways in and around Houston (© Bryan Roschetzky | Dreamstime.com)

ViaPlus has been selected by Harris County Toll Road Authority in Texas to provide image review services on the free-flow highways in and around Houston.

The 19-month base contract includes four one-year extension options and will start after an implementation period of seven to nine months for software configuration, staffing and services.

Harris County Toll Road Authority’s free-flow system includes the taking of licence plate images for toll invoicing. Through the contract, ViaPlus will provide automatic and manual processing of these images.

Overall, ViaPlus will optimise the image review process with its optical character recognition software and machine learning algorithms and will manually review any outstanding post-processed transactions. Together these modules deliver the highest efficacy for revenue capture in a video tolling system and will contribute to the smooth operation of the authority’s free-flow electronic tolling operations.

With this new contract, ViaPlus strengthens its position in Texas, noted Richard Arce, chief executive of ViaPlus, part of Vinci Highways. The contract adds to its portfolio of free-flow services in Dallas, Austin, Rancho Viejo and Pharr. Total ViaPlus transactions in the state exceeded 1.35 billion in 2023.

“We are eager to continue scaling our operations in Texas with our full range of mobility solutions,” he said “Texas is a leader in modern and large-scale highway networks and supporting the authority’s video toll programme demonstrates the strategic initiatives of ViaPlus and Vinci Highways to grow mobility operations in and around the state.”

ViaPlus specialises in revenue and services management solutions. Its customer operations, data analytics and full-featured, single-account back-office technology help manage high-volume transactions required for seamless multimodal mobility.

Vinci Highways, a Vinci Concessions subsidiary, designs, finances, builds and operates highways, bridges, tunnels, urban roads and mobility services along 3,140km in 14 countries.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS need not reinvent machine vision
    October 29, 2014
    Machine vision techniques hold the potential to solve a multitude of challenges facing the transportation sector Optical Character Recognition (OCR), the base technology for number plate recognition, has been in industrial use for more than three decades. It is a prime example of how, instead of having to start from scratch, the transportation sector can leverage and adapt the machine vision expertise already used in industry in order to provide robust solutions with new capabilities. “The real val
  • Kapsch TrafficCom wins further contract in Chile
    September 30, 2015
    Kapsch TrafficCom has secured a new contract in Chile through a subsidiary company. It will implement the tolling system and intelligent transport system (ITS) for the first 15 km of the Ruta 5 Norte, located in the north of Santiago and operated by Sociedad Concesionaria Autopista del Aconcagua (SCADA). The contract, valued at around US$23 million including maintenance services, includes all the technology needed to upgrade a highway section into the urban standard of Santiago, including ten multi-lane
  • Mexico’s Durango-Mazatlan highway sets tunnel safety standard
    August 26, 2016
    Mauro Nogarin looks at the management of the longer tunnels on Mexico’s Durango-Mazatlan highway. In recent years the National Infrastructure Fund of Mexico has increased investment in the installation of ITS systems on selected highways to increase road safety. One such major investment is the 230km long Durango-Mazatlan highway which is 12m in width and has an average speed of 110km/h.
  • Waycare uses AI to manage Texas traffic
    May 25, 2021
    Waycare system also employs machine learning to alert traffic managers to potential hazards