Oklahoma PikePass reads and writes for US$16.6m
In the US, the Oklahoma Transportation Authority (OTA) has awarded transportation services firm, TransCore, a US$16.6 million contract to provide 620,000 windshield transponders and 10,000 license plate tags for use in the state’s ‘PIKEPASS’ electronic toll collection (ETC) system.
In addition to meeting immediate customer growth expectations, the contract (which is expected to fulfil the OTA’s planned RFID tag requirements for the next three years) is the culmination of a multi-year effort to move the PIKEPASS system from using read-only tags to using next-generation read-and-write tags. The OTA estimates that it is adding 10,000 new PIKEPASS accounts per month and replacing old tags with new ones at that rate. But that figure is now expected to increase to 24,000 per month.
Upgrading and expanding
The state’s ETC system allows motorists to automatically pay tolls at highway speeds. Developed in the early 1990s, it is a state-wide system encompassing almost 600 miles of road, 10 turnpikes, 453 toll collection lanes, and is used by more than 500,000 users. TransCore’s involvement with the system also dates back to the 1990s.
TransCore was also awarded a US$33 million contract in the year 2000 to upgrade and replace the entire toll collection system and add 164 new lanes. The upgrade to read/write capability is OTA’s latest investment to provide ongoing benefits to customers.
Driver benefits
The newly commissioned tags will provide a buzzer alert that sounds when the tag has been read, giving the driver an assurance that the transaction was successful. If the buzzer does not sound, the drive can proactively contact the toll collection authority.
PIKEPASS users are given a discount from the usual cash toll rate, as well as a volume discount if they incur more than 20 transactions per month on a single tag.
More Info: http://www.transcore.com
Source: TransCore
Copyright 2003 UsingRFID.com
Reprinted with permission from Using RFID (http://www.usingrfid.com/news)
UsingRFID provides free daily news reports and informative articles about Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, and its applications, users, developers, trials, and implications – for executives, technologists, researchers, developers, vendors, and prospective and current RFID users.