Transmit: An Advanced Traffic Management System

TRANSCOM'S SYSTEM FOR MANAGING INCIDENTS AND TRAFFIC, KNOWN AS TRANSMIT, WAS INITIATED TO ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF USING AUTOMATIC VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION (AVI) EQUIPMENT FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND SURVEILLANCE APPLICATIONS. AVI TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS ARE TYPICALLY INSTALLED AT TOLL BOOTHS WHERE THEY CLASSIFY ONCOMING VEHICLES, THEN IDENTIFY AND DEBIT THEM BY READING DATA STORED ON A VEHICLE-MOUNTED TRANSPONDER THROUGH WIRELESS COMMUNICATION WITH A ROADSIDE ANTENNA. IN THE NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA, THIS APPLICATION OF ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION IS CALLED E-ZPASS SM . A SEVEN AGENCY GROUP (CALLED THE INTERAGENCY GROUP) REPRESENTING TOLL AUTHORITIES IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, AND PENNSYLVANIA WAS FORMED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROMOTING THIS ONE-TRANSPONDER SYSTEM WHICH CAN BE USED ON TOLL ROADS, BRIDGES, AND TUNNELS IN THE THREE STATES. E-ZPASS WILL ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR MOTORISTS TO EXCHANGE CASH, TOKENS, OR TICKETS AT A TOLL BOOTH. INSTEAD, TOLLS ARE PAID ELECTRONICALLY AS A VEHICLE PASSES NONSTOP THROUGH THE TOLL BOOTH. WHEN FULLY IMPLEMENTED BY 1999, E-ZPASS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT ALL PARTICIPATING TOLL FACILITIES IN THE TRI-STATE REGION. THE USE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR TOLL COLLECTION IS ALREADY GROWING RAPIDLY. THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY AUTHORITY REPORTS THAT APPROXIMATELY 40 PERCENT OF ALL THEIR TOLL TRANSACTIONS ARE MADE USING E-ZPASS TRANSPONDERS. AT THE TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE TOLL PLAZA WHERE THE TRANSMIT SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY OPERATING, 75 PERCENT OF THE A.M. PEAK PERIOD TRANSACTIONS ARE MADE THROUGH E-ZPASS. ON THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY WEST OF THE TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE, VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH E-ZPASS TRANSPONDERS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN DETECTED AT A RATE OF 3,500 PER HOUR BY TRANSMIT. WHILE ON THE GARDEN STATE PARKWAY, OVER 250 PER HOUR HAVE BEEN DETECTED, EVEN THOUGH AVI TECHNOLOGY HAS NOT YET BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE TOLL PLAZAS