|
Functionality
History As the first ETC system in North America was installed on the Dallas North Tollway in 1989, many California toll facilities started to express interest in the technology. Because the state's toll roads and bridges are run by different government agencies, there was the possibility that a number of different incompatible ETC systems would be institued throughout California. Therefore, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1523 in 1990, requiring Caltrans, the state's Department of Transportation, to develop a statewide technical specification which all systems would be required to meet.• As a result, California was the first in the nation to require all of its toll bridges and roads to use the same ETC system.• When the Foothill Toll Road in Orange County opened in 1993, it became the first California toll facility to use an ETC system. Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), the local agency in charge of the toll road, named the system "FasTrak".• To this day, TCA still holds the trademark to the "FasTrak" name and logo.• When TCA first introduced the FasTrak system, the electronic transponders consisted of a gadget about the size of a Walkman in which a smart card was inserted.• However, the smart cards were unpopular with both tollway officials and users because they cost more, offered little advantage, and customers were charged with a $10 annual fee (which has since been discontinued).• By the time that the 91 Express Lanes opened in 1995, the FasTrak transponders were redesigned to be the size of a coaster that could be mounted by velcro strips to the windshield.• TCA later deployed the FasTrak system to the two other toll roads they administer as soon as they opened: the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road in 1996 and the Eastern Toll Road in 1998. Also in 1998, the system was then deployed on the high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes along Interstate 15 in San Diego. However, the system had to be modified so that it could be used on California's toll bridges. After a test run on the Carquinez Bridge in 1996, it had accuracy problems in dealing with the 18 different toll classifications for different kinds of trucks.• After the changes were made and another test run, the Carquinez Bridge became the first California toll bridge to use FasTrak in 1997. However, bureaucratic inaction, technical troubles, and financial mismanagement delayed the deployment of the system to the other six state-run toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area until October 2000.• Meanwhile, the Golden Gate Bridge, run by the independent Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, installed their system a few months earlier in July of that year. The FasTrak system was also briefly used on the state-owned San Diego-Coronado Bridge until tolls were discontinued on that structure in 2002. When the South Bay Expressway, a new toll road in San Diego County, opens in 2007, drivers will also be able to pay toll using FasTrak. The system would also be deployed on the proposed HOT lanes along Interstate 680 between Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Current usage and fees Fastrak usage is currenty administered by separate agencies, and each charges different fees for opening a new account. The Bay Area Toll Authority, which is in charge of the ETC system for the Bay Area's eight toll bridges (including the Golden Gate Bridge), requires an initial prepaid balance of US$40 per transponder if paying by credit card, or $50 if using cash or check.• The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), who administers the HOT lanes on Interstate 15 in San Diego, requires a $40 deposit to obtain a transponder.• Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), operators of the Orange County toll roads, charges requires a $30 deposit for each transponder and a prepayment of $45 in tolls. Those paying by credit card do not have to provide a deposit, but they still have to give $30 in prepaid tolls.• The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), owners and operators of the 91 Express Lanes, offers three separate payment plans. The "Convenence Plan" only requires a one-time non-refundable $75 per transponder enrollment fee. In the "Standard Plan", users are automatically charged $7 in prepaid tolls every month. There is also a "91 Express Club" where users are charged a $20 monthly membership fee, but get a $1 discount every time they use the 91 Express Lanes.• See also | ||||||||||||
|
--> | |||||||||||||
 |
|
| |