Tolling Industry Celebrates PA Turnpike's Upcoming Conversion to National Standard of Open Road Tolling
Open Road Tolling isn’t anything new.
The 407 ETR in Toronto and the Transurban CityLink in Australia paved the way for cashless tolling back in the mid-90s, and that was a pretty big deal.
“It sent a signal to the tolling industry,” International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association CEO Pat Jones said. “We all stopped and said, ‘Wow. This is the wave of the future.’”
Now, the future is here, and America’s First Superhighway is getting ready to flip the switch to make the conversion to Open Road Tolling, or ORT.
“The Pennsylvania Turnpike today strikes me as a visionary organization,” Jones added. “In your strategic plan, you set the goal to be the nation’s first sustainable superhighway. To be setting goals like that is visionary, and the movement to Open Road Tolling is consistent with all of this.”
While the Turnpike is already cashless, traffic still funnels through the old toll plazas, where E-ZPasses and license plates are read. But when ORT launches in the eastern part of the Turnpike in January, E-ZPass transponders and license plates will be registered by tolling equipment on gantries over the highway instead of at the interchanges.
After ORT comes online in the east, overhead gantries to hold the tolling equipment will be constructed along the rest of the Turnpike and will go live in 2027. Additionally, the toll plazas will be torn down, opening up the interchanges and creating a smoother, more convenient ride.
Here’s how ORT works:
PTC AET ORT Toll Zone Video 3-22 (1) (vbrick.com)
“Open Road Tolling is already here,” IBTTA Director of Policy and Government Affairs Mark Muriello said. “It’s clearly the standard today that everybody’s using, which is why we’re seeing more than 95% of new toll facilities opening as Open Road or All Electronic tolling.”
According to IBTTA statistics, 233 out of 356 toll facilities in the U.S. are ORT in 27 out of 34 states that have toll roads and bridges.
Aside from the ease of collecting tolls, the advantages are significant. It’s environmentally friendly by reducing emissions, and travelers want a convenient system where they can keep moving and not have to worry about fumbling for cash. But most of all, Open Road Tolling is safer. The number of traffic fatalities and injuries at tolling points dropped by 46% from all-cash tolling to a hybrid of cash and electronic tolling points. That number dropped by a whopping 81% with facilities using all Open Road Tolling, Muriello added. Those numbers are from a 2015 study published by the University of Florida, examining mainline toll plazas in the state.
And having America’s First Superhighway – the second longest toll road in the nation – make the switch is a big deal, showing how far the technology has come and where it’s going, IBTTA officials say.
By Steve Marroni, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Communications Specialist