The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) is expanding its toll collection infrastructure to include open road tolling (ORT) -- part of a planned all-electronic system that will bring the total number of collection points on MDX's five expressways to 44.
Proponents say that an all-electronic collection system will ease traffic at collections points and spread payment fairly among users.
As part of the five-year plan for ORT development, the MDX deployed SunPass, an electronic toll collection system, in 1999. With SunPass, motorists' tolls are collected electronically via transponders located on vehicle windshields as motorists drive through dedicated SunPass lanes at toll plazas.
SunPass users, however, can only drive through toll plazas at a maximum of 25 mph for the electronic tolling to function properly, which slows highway traffic. In ORT, motorists can drive through toll collection points, instead of toll plazas, at highway speeds because the plazas are replaced by overhead gantries that span all four lanes of a highway.
The new ORT technology will use existing SunPass equipment already used for electronic tolling, but with modifications so that transponders can be read at normal highway speeds. Implementing the new ORT technology will help the MDX phase out toll plazas over the next few years.
In With the New
The MDX and United Toll Systems
In addition, ORT does not require a toll plaza. Transponders are attached to vehicle windshields, and antennas that read those transponders are mounted on overhead gantries that span the roadway. These gantries, similar to the structures that hold highway signs, are cheaper to build and maintain than traditional toll plazas.
For this expansion to work, however, all drivers must have a SunPass account, which is currently not the case. MDX authorities know 100 percent participation is unlikely, so MDX will test the plan's viability on a new extension of State Route 836 in 2007.
"The idea there will be to demonstrate to ourselves, our users, to our board, to the underwriters, to the bankers that we can collect whatever percentage [of drivers] does not have transponders, and we believe that we should have at least 75 to 80 percent participation of electronic toll collection," said Servando Parapar, MDX executive director.
At the State Route 836 extension tolling point, vehicles with a SunPass transponder will continue at normal speeds through the tolling gantry. Other cars will have to exit the freeway and pass through a traditional toll plaza to pay with cash, then re-enter traffic to continue on the expressway.
Eventually the MDX hopes to include video tolling options for drivers without a SunPass account. Toll plazas and gantries are already equipped with digital cameras that take a picture of every vehicle that passes through. With video tolling, when a SunPass transponder or video tolling account is detected and toll is collected, the image -- taken by the cameras already in place -- will be deleted. Adversely if toll is not collected, the image will be saved and a citation issued within 48 hours of nonpayment.
Those who opt for video tolling accounts can establish them prior to trips or within 48 hours of passing the tolling point. These prepaid accounts will be identifiable at the toll point by the vehicle's license plate number.
Video tolling is not yet in use, but it's an option the MDX hopes to implement to collect additional toll funds from out-of-state drivers and non-SunPass users, since the agency won't be installing any more tollbooths on roadways. The State Route 836 extension is the last place the MDX is planning to install
Given Florida's status as a tourist destination, rental cars pose a concern to the MDX, and the MDX is exploring options. One option is to require rental car companies to outfit all cars with SunPass transponders, or better yet, cards. That will be easier to do when the SunPass cards are ready, because they can be stuck permanently to the windshield and updated as needed either for each car individually, or as a single rental company prepaid account.
MDX is still working out how to deal with out-of-state drivers.
Fair Pay
In addition to easing traffic flow through toll collection points, the MDX expects electronic tolling to make collection more equitable.
Currently, according to the MDX, only 28 percent of users pay tolls, and others leave the expressway before passing through a toll plaza. Strategically placing toll gantries at key interchanges, exits and entry ramps will make it unlikely for drivers to avoid paying tolls. It will also allow the MDX to charge an average rate per mile used -- about 12 cents per mile -- for all vehicles.
"The people who are paying now, in all probability, will pay less, and the people that are paying nothing, are going to pay something," Parapar said.
The plan faces some opposition, especially because the MDX will be closing an open system. But, Parapar said it is necessary, because the MDX pays for all expressway operations, maintenance and improvements entirely with toll collections.
"People that have been driving 30 years through it feel that these roads have been paid for and that they should be free roads," Parapar acknowledged. "Believe me, there is no such thing as a free road. You pay for it one way or another."
Currently the MDX collects almost $77 million per year from tolls. When the all-electronic plan is complete, Parapar estimates an increase to $170 million in tolls collected, which will pay for land acquisition, improvements and other programs, including MDX's Road Rangers, who assist stranded motorists.
As the MDX's income increases, it will make SunPass more affordable and easier to use. The authority will soon introduce SunPass cards, about the size of a credit card, which can be permanently affixed to the windshield. The cards have electronic strips that will be read by the antennas on the gantries, are low maintenance and do not require batteries. The card will cost $3 to $5 -- much less than the SunPass transponders in use now.
SunPass accounts can be replenished online, at SunPass offices throughout the county, Wachovia Banks, and at some pharmacies and supermarkets. When it begins issuing the SunPass cards, which will have a $25 minimum starting balance, the MDX will increase the places and ways that accounts can be maintained.
In fact, authorities are considering account maintenance as an alternative use for the current toll plazas, but instead of destroying the structures they will convert them into kiosks with ATM-type machines, where users can update their SunPass accounts.
"We're going to minimize the throwaway in everything we are doing," Parapar said. "And we're looking for uses for those things that have been built or are being built right now."
