Open Road Tolling
Open Road Tolling (ORT) is the future of toll collection as it automatically deducts road user fees without having to do anything other than driving straight through the systems. Toll patrons love the convenience of free flowing travel without the congestion and stress caused by toll booths.
ORT systems have overhead gantries at predetermined points and deduct tolls based only on the highway segments each patron travels. This approach eliminates vehicle queuing at toll booths, provides free flowing traffic at highway speeds, and significantly improves quality of life for travelers and communities.
By eliminating plaza barriers, the resulting open road design mitigates congestion and enables variable pricing and new lane management systems such as High Occupancy Tolling (HOT), Truck Only Tolling (TOT), and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
Outpace Environmental Concerns
Regardless of your position on global warming, environmental concerns including air quality, land use, fuel costs, fossil fuel dependency, and public health issues are changing the way people think about environmental issues. In the last five years, climate change and environmental or “Green” issues have taken significant importance among the global public and government officials and will significantly impact decisions made in the transportation industry.
ORT systems have been effective at reducing traffic congestion on toll highways, which directly lowers vehicles emissions and fuel consumption. ORT systems provide significant air quality benefits over conventional toll plaza design. They have been reported to reduce carbon monoxide levels by 37% and reduce diesel particular matter by 58%.
Along with emissions reduction, ORT allows ways to explore alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles, encourage/facilitate public transportation, or lower user fees to reward use of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
