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Tolling Points

Toll Excellence Award Winners Turn Ideas, Commitment Into Results

By: 
Bill Cramer
Category: 
Stories

When IBTTA announced the winners of this year’s Toll Excellence Awards, the list of achievements read like a sneak preview of the scale, effectiveness, and community connections that every tolling agency is striving to attain in the not-too-distant future.

From the world’s largest open-road, multi-lane tolling point, to massive reductions in traffic gridlock and collisions, to an agency that stepped up to assist a community devastated by multiple tornados, this year’s award winners exemplify the very best the global tolling industry has to offer.

“This year’s submissions were particularly innovative,” said IBTTA Executive Director and CEO Patrick Jones. “There were many great examples of projects highlighting new ideas and emerging practices throughout the international tolling industry.”

The winners were:

  • In the Technology category: The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority for the Salik Toll System Expansion, a US$6.6 million project that delivered the world’s largest open-road, multi-lane, free flow tolling point and widest single-direction free flow tolling zone, resulting in 13 to 30% faster travel times along one key corridor;
  • In the Administration and Finance category: The Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited for the Shin Tomei Expressway, a 162-kilometer, ¥2,571 billion (US$25.7 billion) project that reduced traffic gridlock by 92% and collisions by 27.5%, while increasing the proportion of non-local tourists visiting Mt. Fuji Seseragi Park by 74%;
  • In the Toll Operations, Maintenance, and Engineering category: Autostrade per l'Italia S.p.A for the Effectiveness and Efficiency in Winter Operations Project, a three-year, €4-million intiative that achieved a 100% reduction in gridlock and 93% reduction in congestion due to snow, along with a 20% reduction in road salting costs;
  • In the Customer Service and Marketing Outreach category: The North Texas Tollway Authority for the Toll Enforcement Remedies Program, a three-year effort that collected more than $9 million in overdue revenue, boosted TollTag distribution by 22%, and guaranteed fairness for  the 92% of customers who pay their tolls; and
  • In the Social Responsibility category: The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, for its quick, exemplary response after tornados devastated the town of Moore, OK on May 19 and 20, 2013.

The winners will receive their awards on September 15, during IBTTA’s 82nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition, September 14-17 in Austin, TX. During the awards ceremony, one winner will receive the coveted President’s Award for Excellence.

photo credit: SpreadTheMagic via photopin cc

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