TransCore’s RFID technology deployed as I-95 gets HOT

TransCore has used its RFID technology for the successful deployment of high-occupancy tolling, or HOT lanes, on I-95 in Miami-Dade County – Florida’s first variably priced toll facility.

The project, known as ‘95 Express’, received US$62.9 million from the USDOT as part of the Urban Partnership Agreement, which selected Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Seattle to implement variable-pricing programs to reduce congestion on the USA's transportation network.

I-95 between Miami and Fort Lauderdale is one of the most heavily used highways in the USA, with some sections carrying over 290,000 vehicles per day. It was cost prohibitive to widen the corridor, so congestion management strategies were explored to increase capacity on the existing infrastructure.

95 Express was designed to create ‘non-stop, express’ toll lanes along I-95 using the existing high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to carry both HOVs as well as tolling single drivers. Variable pricing is used during peak travel times to manage capacity and help maintain traffic flow at speeds greater than 72km/h (45mph). In the first two weeks after opening, the average weekday volume in the express lanes was 21,500 vehicles, with the average speed differential between the general-use lanes and the express lanes 37km/h (23mph) faster in the evening peak hours.

TransCore’s work included installing HOT lane readers, antennae and violation enforcement and detection systems, which enable roadside identification by Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) of HOT lane violators. The company also installed all the roadside equipment and connections between FDOT’s Traffic Management Center and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise back-office operation in Boca Raton. This system enables the department to readily assess variable tolling. By using existing fully automated, electronic, open-road tolling (ORT) equipment, it was possible to implement the system on an accelerated schedule from concept to tolling in six months.
 

15 April 2009