Just wave and go with electronic tolls

Drivers using the Windsor-Detroit tunnel linking Canada with the US will shortly be able to pay electronically on both sides of the border. Until now, electronic payment has only been available on the US side. Tunnel president Neal Belitsky said it’s part of a plan to eventually phase out tunnel tokens after 2013. “We’re going to be getting out of the token business,” Belitsky said. “It takes time to buy rolls of tokens. All that is going to disappear. If you look throughout the US or Canada, you can count
November 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Drivers using the Windsor-Detroit tunnel linking Canada with the US will shortly be able to pay electronically on both sides of the border. Until now, electronic payment has only been available on the US side.

Tunnel president Neal Belitsky said it’s part of a plan to eventually phase out tunnel tokens after 2013. “We’re going to be getting out of the token business,” Belitsky said.

“It takes time to buy rolls of tokens. All that is going to disappear. If you look throughout the US or Canada, you can count the number of transportation facilities that use tokens ... probably on one hand.”

The electronic system uses Nexpress cards, radio-frequency identification (RFID) cards similar to those used in the NEXUS program. Canadian customers will be able to order a Nexpress card online, load it with funds, then pass through the toll gates quickly and smoothly by waving the card at an electronic reader.

“It’s a lot faster and it’s a lot more convenient,” Belitsky promised.

Belitsky said there are currently about 15,000 tunnel tokens in circulation. He envisions the tunnel will stop selling tokens in early 2013, and stop accepting them entirely at the end of that year. Belitsky said the tunnel will still have attendants, and always accept cash.
Charging, Tolling & RUC

Related Content

  • Helsinki’s residents trial MaaS as alternative to private cars
    August 21, 2018
    Would you give up your own car? Helsinki implemented MaaS late last year and Colin Sowman discovers that the initial reaction has been positive What would it take for you to give up your own car? That is the question posed by Sampo Hietanen, the so-called ‘father’ of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and CEO of MaaS Global. And he is about to discover if MaaS really will convince the people of Helsinki to do the unthinkable. MaaS Global introduced a fledgling version of its Whim app in the city in late 2016
    Read More
  • DriveWyze wireless Preclear system speeds weighstation waiting
    March 1, 2013
    Drivewyze aims to revolutionise the way weighstation bypass systems work with its Pre-Clear system. And it’s not just looking at weighstations, either… Pete Goldin reports. Truck drivers know the drill: pull off the high­way at every weighstation and wait. Carriers know the drill, too: every minute spent waiting there translates directly into dollars lost. Traditionally, the only alternative to this scenario is a transponder-based system, which allows trucks to bypass the sites using technology similar to
    Read More
  • Where is tolling tech taking us?
    September 25, 2019
    From DSRC and RFID to GNSS or smartphones – which technology is ‘best’ for tolls, charging and pricing schemes? In the first of two articles, Josef Czako examines the options
    Read More
  • Xerox’s mobility app offers Mobility as a Service
    June 1, 2016
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at a new mobility app in Los Angeles and Denver that brings Mobility as a Service one step closer. Commuting today doesn’t have to require a single modal route. You can take Uber to the nearest light-rail station or a bus to the commuter line. Then on the other end of your trip, you can book a bikeshare the rest of the way to your office. For many who live in major metropolitan areas around the US this is a distinct reality as new ways to move from Point A to Point B continue to
    Read More

Highlighted Content