Drivers in Massachusetts may no longer need to worry about having cash on hand as they hit toll roads.
The7213 Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is planning to replace every tollbooth in the state with electronic tolling systems that read E-ZPass transponders in cars and send monthly bills to drivers who use toll roads without passes.
“We’re trying to look at doing things faster, more efficiently and provide more information to the public,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola.
MassDOT says by spring 2014 the tolls on the Tobin Bridge will be gone, and within three years the toll plaza boxes will be replaced by state-of-the-art electronic tolling, a system of over-the-road sensors to read E-ZPass transponders in cars.
For those without the devices, DePaola says, cameras will record their licence plate and a monthly bill will come in the mail. “The high speed cameras will capture very high resolutions of the licence plates,” DePaola explained. “Through the national database we’ll look up the registration of that vehicle.”
The new electronic toll system is expected to cost US$100 million to build and install. Highway Administrator DePaola says that by eliminating the toll takers the system will pay for itself in two or three years.
The system includes a plan to increase tolls every other year to keep pace with inflation, and DePaola says there could be other changes. “With the electronic tolling format, it would allow us to look at other potential tolling locations,” he said.
Massachusetts has reciprocity agreements with New Hampshire and Maine, and is currently negotiating deals with Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. When the new system goes into service drivers from other states will also have their licence plates photographed and a bill at the end of the month.
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“We’re trying to look at doing things faster, more efficiently and provide more information to the public,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola.
MassDOT says by spring 2014 the tolls on the Tobin Bridge will be gone, and within three years the toll plaza boxes will be replaced by state-of-the-art electronic tolling, a system of over-the-road sensors to read E-ZPass transponders in cars.
For those without the devices, DePaola says, cameras will record their licence plate and a monthly bill will come in the mail. “The high speed cameras will capture very high resolutions of the licence plates,” DePaola explained. “Through the national database we’ll look up the registration of that vehicle.”
The new electronic toll system is expected to cost US$100 million to build and install. Highway Administrator DePaola says that by eliminating the toll takers the system will pay for itself in two or three years.
The system includes a plan to increase tolls every other year to keep pace with inflation, and DePaola says there could be other changes. “With the electronic tolling format, it would allow us to look at other potential tolling locations,” he said.
Massachusetts has reciprocity agreements with New Hampshire and Maine, and is currently negotiating deals with Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. When the new system goes into service drivers from other states will also have their licence plates photographed and a bill at the end of the month.
