New York State Thruway Authority E-ZPass evaluation report

008014432000PDFTech ReportAutomated toll collectionAdvanced traffic management systemsEvaluation and assessmentadvanced traffic management systemsevaluation/program assessmentelectronic toll collectionNew YorkUnited StatesVollmer AssociatesVollmer AssociatesNew York State Thruway AuthorityIntelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program OfficeThe implementation of electronic toll collection equipment on the New York State Thruway occurred over a four-year period beginning in the 1993 and ending in 1997. In conjunction with implementation program, the Authority set a list of goals and objectives to be achieved through ETTM. These short- and long-term policy goals have been achieved, some expectations have been exceeded. The ETTM system has proved to be cost effective and the benefits to the Toll Authorities and customers have surpassed anticipated results.The E-ZPass system has increased traffic throughput at toll plazas benefiting both the Toll Authority and customers in several ways. First, the Authority is able to process more transactions per hour, thereby increasing vehicle volumes processing. This increase eliminates the Toll Authorities\u2019 need to provide additional toll lanes to accommodate traffic volume growth translating to a capital cost savings. Second, the customer is able to travel through the toll plaza with little or no wait time. This not only decreases travel time for the customers with E-ZPass but also for customers without tags. Because there is less congestion at the toll plazas and more patrons are holding tags, cash and coin lanes have fewer vehicles.75