Interoperability HUB RFP Pilot Program Vendor Selection Complete

PRESS RELEASE – Alliance for Toll Interoperability
Coming Soon ‐‐ Your toll account will work anywhere
Toll interoperability to become a reality in North America

The Alliance of Toll Interoperability (ATI) has taken a major step towards providing a seamless option for travel between North American Toll Facilities. Currently interoperability between toll systems is limited by transponder technology. Customers of one interoperable system or region are limited to use within that system, i.e. E‐ZPass, SunPass, TxTag, etc. ATI, in conjunction with its 40+ member agencies, have worked with private sector leaders in developing a new, lower cost solution that will eliminate the need for common in‐vehicle toll collection technology. Customers using participating toll roads that are outside of their current toll program will be able to use the high speed toll lanes and have their existing toll account billed. Currently, drivers are considered bill‐by‐mail customers, and in several cases, violators even if they have an account with a different state or region.


At a special ATI board meeting on August 2, 2011, a live Interoperability Pilot Study was approved. This study will test the ability of four (4) vendors to interchange data between seven (7) independent toll operators.


The 3 month Pilot is the last step in the process to select an operator(s) for a clearinghouse or HUB that will provide customers of toll, transit, parking and ferrys the ability to utilize one "transportation account" to pay for their services. The opportunity to incorporate additional payment options for services such as fast food and car washes could be close behind.

 

According to J.J. Eden (President and CEO) "This system, when fully deployed will bridge the current gap between existing technologies allowing the use of windshield mounted
and keychain transponders, swipe cards, license plate readers and GPS, as well as cell phone applications for customer payments through one account.”


On March 1, 2011, ATI issued an RFP for the pilot and received 11 bids. A selection committee comprised of operations experts from major toll agencies across North
America, short‐listed four of these vendors on July 13, 2011 The short‐listed vendors are: ACS (a subsidiary of Xerox ), Federal Signal, Cofiroute USA, and Secure Interagency
Flow (a consortium between Egis Projects and Intrans Group, Inc.).


The pilot is expected to be complete inDecember 2011. ATI expects that the HUB will be fully operational by the second quarter of 2012. The selected vendors are encouraged to provide add‐on services such as financial reconciliation, violation enforcement and license plate data lookup. Other services may be offered as well. These add‐on services further enhance the ability of toll agencies to reduce costs due to the large volumes of transactions expected to be processed through the HUB.

 

ATI is an organization of more than 40 toll road operators, founded in 2007 for the purpose of promoting and implementing interstate interoperability for the benefit of customers and member agencies. This mission is becoming increasingly important as electronic nonstop toll systems are deployed.

 

For more information: go to www.tollinterop.org or contact JR Fenske ‐ Director of Memberships and Programs at jr.fenske@tollinterop.org.

 

Released August 3, 2011