electronic toll collection
Description
This report is an adaptation of FHWA’s reference report, ITS Benefits: Continuing Successes and Operational Test Results, October
1997. The four sections of this report summarize the benefits seen in real-world applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
in: metropolitan areas; rural areas; commercial trucking; and intelligent vehicle systems. In general, the benefits of ITS include:
- enhanced public safety;
- reduced congestion;
- improved access to travel and transit information;
- cost savings to motor carriers,
transit operators, toll authorities and government agencies; and
- reduced environmental impacts.
Electronic toll collection reduces
backups at toll plazas and improves efficiency of toll collection. ITS technologies can lead to improved traffic flow and reduced vehicle
emissions, encourage travellers to use transit and reduce idling pollution at traffic signals and toll plazas.
Pollutant Reduction
Reported
Electronic toll collection on the Muskogee Turnpike, OK, the Garden State Parkway, NJ and the Massachusetts Turnpike, MA projected
to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide at toll plazas by 72%, hydrocarbon by 83% and nitrogen oxides by 45%.
Other Impacts & Co-Benefit
Reported
An estimated 70% of toll lanes in the U.S. now feature an electronic tolling option; e.g. On the Tappan Zee Bridge in Westchester
County, NY, an electronic toll lane peaks at 1,000 vehicles per hour, as compared with a manual lane which can only accommodate 450 vehicles
per hour.
Reference
Apogee/Hagler Bailly. Intelligent Transportation Systems: Real World Benefits. Report for the ITS Joint Program Office of
the US Department of Transportation. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, 1998.
