Plan Simplifies Interstate Toll Collection

Imagine using one transponder on toll roads in New York, Georgia and Florida.

"It sure would simplify things," says Christine Phillips of Lockport, N.Y.

Phillips and her husband, Jim, wouldn't have to keep two transponders in the car, one for New York and one for Florida, or maintain two accounts for the toll-collection devices, tying up as much as $100.

Toll agencies nationwide are imagining the same thing.

Except in places such as the northeastern United States, where motorists use one transponder to travel from New York to New Jersey, Connecticut and nine other states, most states don't have a way to share toll collection data and transmit tolls across state lines.

Now the agencies are talking about bridging their differences by using high-speed digital cameras.

With the cameras, the states can record license plate data and then match it against a list of toll agency customers from the driver's home state. If the driver's name shows up, the agency can have the toll deducted from the driver's account.

Potentially, a driver with an E-ZPass account in New York could drive Florida's Turnpike.

If the driver is not an E-ZPass customer, the agency would need to track his address to send him a bill.

Phillips said she and her husband would love the convenience of having one transponder and one account. The pair drive down yearly from Lockport, just outside Buffalo, to their winter home in Mulberry in Polk County.

"I'm sure it would help commercial vehicles, too," she said.

The idea of sharing data and collecting tolls across jurisdictions is called "interoperability." It's been talked about for years but has become a hot topic lately because of advances in camera technology.

The goal now, toll officials say, is to devise a business agreement to allow for the exchange of data and collection of out-of-state tolls.

A group called the Alliance for Toll Interoperability is working on a draft agreement. In June, the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the nation's largest toll industry association, will discuss interoperability when it meets in Tampa.

"I think there's a pretty good amount of momentum here," said Greg LaFrois, program manager for consulting services at the toll operations department at Florida's Turnpike Enterprise.

"The question is how easily and quickly can the specs being written now be implemented by a couple of agencies," he said.

LaFrois said he thinks there's enough enthusiasm for interoperability that testing could occur in two years and that Florida might become a testing ground.

The state's toll agencies already exchange data. A SunPass transponder, for example, can be used on the Orlando-Orange County Expressway, though it was intended for E-PASS transponders.

Additionally, the state has a large influx of out-of-state motorists using toll roads. About 60,000 tolls daily on Florida's Turnpike come from out-of-state drivers.

Although camera technology is developing rapidly, the idea of interoperability has been held back for years by technological and jurisdictional complexities.

Some of the talk about overcoming these problems has focused on the transponders, developing a unit that works on multiple systems or by switching out the electronic readers in toll booths. Both options would mean multimillion-dollar investments.

The toll agencies got in this predicament because they developed their transponders independent of one another. As the agencies grew, it became harder to integrate the systems.

The cameras offer a less-costly alternative. Virtually all toll agencies have cameras, thus the investment costs are reduced, and many states, including Florida, Texas and California, already share information among their own agencies.

"Video technology is a nice bridge," said Neil Gray, spokesman for the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.

The trickiest part with cameras is developing the out-of-state business agreements: how the agencies share tolls and the license plate data.

Depending on the state, those agreements might require approval from legislatures. Plus, the larger agencies would need some kind of incentive to enter state-to-state agreements.

The 12 northeastern states that use E-ZPass have a combined 20 million customers compared with Florida's 4 million SunPass customers. Before the customer's license and account information could be shared, E-ZPass would need to get the customer's permission.

"That would involve some kind of cost," said Jim Crawford, executive director of the Interagency Group, a consortium of toll agencies using E-ZPass. "It couldn't happen this year."

But J.J. Eden, executive director of the toll alliance, said agencies can make more money with the agreements than without them. Eden said the alliance is about a week away from developing a draft of a business agreement.

"This is an increasingly mobile society, and a lot of people do go from New York to Florida," he said. "For them, it would be nice to use E-ZPass on the Florida Turnpike."