Skip to main content

New survey shows technology revolutionising tolling

Advances in electronic tolling are transforming highway transportation by providing greater mobility, smoother traffic flow, and improved safety for drivers and their passengers, according to new survey data released by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA). The new survey, Toll Technology Transforms Mobility for Customers, conducted during the third quarter of 2016, collected technology-related data from 36 tolling facilities in 18 states, representing all regions of the cou
September 14, 2016 Read time: 3 mins
Advances in electronic tolling are transforming highway transportation by providing greater mobility, smoother traffic flow, and improved safety for drivers and their passengers, according to new survey data released by the 3804 International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA).

The new survey, Toll Technology Transforms Mobility for Customers, conducted during the third quarter of 2016, collected technology-related data from 36 tolling facilities in 18 states, representing all regions of the country.

One of the major findings was that, with the implementation of new technologies, cash use continues to decline. As a share of total revenue, from 2010 to 2015 cash use decreased from 29 to 18 per cent.

In addition, between 2010 and 2015, there has been an increase of 19.3 million electronic transponders on America's roads. There were 32.7 million toll accounts in 2015, up sharply from 19.9 million toll accounts in 2010, an increase of more than 64 per cent.

The 36 toll facilities participating in IBTTA’s 2016 National Toll Technology Survey experienced a combined increase of US$4.7 billion in revenues between 2010 and 2015.

According to Earl ‘Buddy J. Croft, III, executive director of the 6162 Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, and IBTTA president, as all-electronic tolling (AET) expands, people and goods travel more efficiently, helping to spur more robust economic growth. He said more tolling agencies are turning to AET as a proven congestion-buster that delivers a safer, more predictable ride for users who need to reach their destination on time.

Patrick D. Jones, executive director and CEO of IBTTA said that technology is transforming today's driving experience as more states move away from cash tolls and embrace cashless solutions. Colorado and Washington, with the exception of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (SR16), already have state-wide AET and Massachusetts plans to deploy AET state-wide this October.

As demonstrated in the report, the ongoing rise in the use of electronic and video tolling—and the decrease in the use of cash on toll facilities—signify an increasingly high-tech future for tolling and transportation throughout the country.

"This data offers us a stunning illustration of how technology has rapidly altered the transportation landscape in the last several years, and forecasts the increasing role it is certain to play well into the future," said Jones.

"As more tolling innovations make their way through the technology pipeline, and as the industry works toward achieving interoperability nationwide, drivers are looking at a user-focused future enhanced by ever-evolving technologies that continually improve convenience and safety on America’s highways, bridges and tunnels," Jones concluded.

Related Content

  • No in-road equipment for Queensland's free flow toll bridge
    February 1, 2012
    By May this year, the new Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, which is being built alongside an existing bridge, will be open. With it will come an end-to-end free-flow tolling system. Interview with Sue Caelers, Queensland Motorway Ltd. Queensland Motorways Ltd owns and operates 61km of roadway in the area around Brisbane, Australia. This includes the Gateway Bridge and the Gateway Extension, Logan and Port of Brisbane motorways.
  • Remote remedies help US authorities identify bridge deficiencies
    September 6, 2017
    Every day 185 million vehicles – cars, trucks, school buses, emergency response units - cross one or more of America’s 55,710 'structurally compromised' steel and concrete road bridges, the highest concentration of which are in Iowa (nearly 5,000), Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. Nearly 2,000 of these crossings are located on interstate highways, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association's recent analysis of the US Department of Transportation's 2016 National Bridge Inventory.
  • TransCore to upgrade toll collection on four bridges between US-Mexico
    December 2, 2015
    The City of Laredo has selected TransCore to provide a comprehensive upgrade to the toll collection system on its four international bridges between the US and Mexico. Each year, more than 6.7 million vehicles and three million pedestrians cross the Gateway to the Americas, the Juarez-Lincoln International, the Colombia Solidarity, and the World Trade bridges. The three-year project, which will be completed in 2018, upgrades both the electronic and cash payment toll collection systems.
  • Adding intelligence to transportation
    November 6, 2012
    Restarting city transportation systems following a natural disaster can take time. The impact of a storm cannot be predicted, but transportation systems and fleets of vehicles with embedded intelligence can provide the knowledge needed to get up and running faster. Machine to machine (M2M) technology can help collect and process information to better monitor and manage transportation systems on an ongoing basis. In the event of a disaster, technology could provide cities with critical data about bridges, r