A new partnership will be working together to provide a complete open road tolling (ORT) back-office services system for the Dominion Boulevard Project in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA.
In March this year, a subsidiary of United Bridge Partners (UBP), UBP Dominion, received Notice to Proceed instruction from the City of Chesapeake to develop a complete ORT back-office system for the project. ETAN Industries, as a subcontractor of UBP Dominion, will provide tolling support in the areas of customer service call center operations, transaction management, billing, accounting, and payment processing services.
Founded in 2010, UBP is a joint venture created through the partnership of: American Infrastructure MLP Funds (AIM), a US$1.9bn private investment firm; FIGG Bridge Group (FIGG), one of the USA’s largest bridge-focused design and engineering companies, with over US$14bn in transportation infrastructure projects and innovative toll systems; and LANE Industries, an integrated construction and infrastructure project management company.
The Dominion Boulevard Project provides for the construction of a new 95-ft (29m) high, fixed-span, four-lane toll bridge to cross the Elizabeth River. This bridge, along with widening of surrounding roadways and the addition of several interchanges, is designed to accommodate traffic increases in the area. In 1990, there were 18,000 vehicles on Dominion Boulevard, with the current count being 33,000, which is expected to climb to 42,000 by 2030. Dominion Boulevard will be an all-electronic toll collection system, in which drivers can pre-pay by using an E-ZPass transponder. If a transponder is not present, a license plate image will be used to mail an invoice to the DMV address associated with the vehicle.
“ETAN Industries is a trusted partner, providing advanced, accurate and reliable service. We are confident that they will be a strong addition to our back-office program,” said Veronica Latonio, project manager for UBP Dominion. “We are also grateful for the professionalism and efficiency of the city’s Treasury Office in helping to get this project off the ground.”
In July 2015, ETAN was honored with the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA) Toll Excellence Award for the development of FASTLane -the Financial Accountability Solution for Tolling. Several aspects of FASTLane, which combines industry-leading accounting services with powerful video toll transaction capabilities, will be used as part of the UBP Dominion solution.
FASTLane operates using a unified database and a common data model, enabling ETAN to offer a completely centralized system, with a single point of reference for everyone involved in a tolling deployment, including consumers, the customer service team, for the toll-authority administration. The system’s Point in Time database architecture allows for instant processing of adjustments, easy reconciliation with toll-authority data, and almost real-time reporting and control of video toll activities.
Tolling for the Dominion Boulevard Project is expected to begin as early as the fourth quarter of this year, and Steve Levine, CEO of ETAN Industries, commented, “We look forward to working with UBP Dominion, and to helping ensure smooth travels and unsurpassed customer service to the people of Chesapeake and the surrounding communities.”
