OPEN ROAD TOLL COLLECTION : HIGHWAY TO THE FUTURE

Though massive Federal and State funding programs over the last several decades have significantly reduced the need for toll highways, those that do exist have basically deployed the same tolling paradigm as those initial turnpikes. However, recent developments in electronic toll collection (ETC), optical character recognition (OCR) and other technologies have circumvented the need for stopping vehicles to collect a toll. In fact, the culmination of these developments has enabled deployment of the first open road, all- electronic toll facility -- the Highway 407 Express Toll Route (H407 ETR) in Toronto, Ontario. This paper provides a summary of changes realized in conventional toll operations resulting from the advent of ETC, as well as an overview of the open road toll system deployed on the H407 ETR. Challenges of and benefits from the deployment of this new technology are also presented. Other applications that this technology enables are identified, as well as the possible benefits these applications could provide. Institutional issues that will be faced beyond their initial application and other known constraints to realizing the full benefits of this technology are also addressed