| Title Sort descending | Description |
|---|---|
| AADT | Annual Average Daily Traffic: total annual vehicular traffic divided by 365 days in a year. Used as a measure of roadway use. |
| AAMVA | American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators represents the state & provincial officials in the United States and Canada who administer and enforce motor vehicle laws. AAMVA encourages uniformity & reciprocity among the states and provinces and develops model programs in motor vehicle administration, law enforcement and highway safety. |
| AASHTO | American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is an interest group based in Washington, DC, involved in research, advocacy and technical assistance. Primary focus is highways. AASHTO is also a standard setting organization. |
| ABCR | Associação Brasileira de Concessionárias de Rodovias is the Association of Brazilian Road Concessionaires (ABCR) |
| ACC | Adaptive Cruise Control. Also known as Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control (AICC) and Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC). Dynamic speed and distance control in relation to the vehicle in front using on-board equipment. |
| Account | Each OBU is assigned to a User’s Account. The Account serves as the final destination for system transactions. For a pre-paid account the User periodically credits funds (from a Fiduciary) to the Account to offset the transaction cost. |
| Account Processor | An Account Processor is a third party organization that processes Accounts and transactions for an Issuer. For example, retailers who issue credit cards often contract account processing to third party companies like Payment Tech. In tolling, third-party Account Processors often operate Customer Service Center (CSC) entities. |
| ACH | The “Automated Clearinghouse” is a financial transaction network operated by the Federal Reserve. The ACH processes a number of different types of financial transactions including inter-bank transactions, credit card transactions, E-checks (a form of electronic payment), etc. |
| ACM | Automated Coin Machine - Unattended machines used for toll payment by coinage |
| ACM Lane | A toll lane with an Automatic Coin Machine (ACM) in place of a toll attendant. Generally signed for vehicles to come to a stop but in practice often allow slow roll-through. May include ETC and license plate cameras. |
| ADAC | Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club e.V |
| ADT | Average Daily Traffic |
| AENOR | Asociación Española de Normalización: is the Spanish Association for Standards |
| AET | "All-Electronic Tolling" describes toll collection operations exclusively with electronic toll collection and license-plate based collection and/or enforcement, without a cash payment option at the tolling point. AET is most often provided in an AET (or “ORT”) Toll Zone open highway environment but may also exist in a traditional toll plaza if cash collection has been discontinued. |
| AET Entry-Exit System | An arrangement of toll zones without toll plazas, at every facility entrance and exit, to measure trip length as recorded in the electronic toll system. |
| AET Mainline System | An arrangement of toll zones without toll plazas between interchanges. |
| AET Toll Plaza | A conventional toll plaza with ETC and license plate tolls only, with all cash toll equipment removed. Often a temporary condition until toll plaza replacement with a Toll Zone. |
| AET Toll Zone | Also described as an “ORT Toll Zone” or “Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF)” toll location. A toll collection point on a facility with no toll plaza and no place for a driver to stop and pay a toll. Tolls are only collected by ETC, license plate image capture or other evolving technologies at full travel speeds. |
| AETC | All-Electronic Tolling Conversion - Process of changing a toll collection method from manual cash payments to fully automated electronic payments. |
| AETIS | Association of Electronic Toll and Interoperable Services - Association representing European Electronic Toll Services (EETS) providers as a stakeholder group with regard to the European Union (EU). http://www.aetis-europe.eu/ |
| Aggregation | Transaction processing costs in electronic toll collection can be a significant component of an Issuer’s operating costs. To minimize this cost, Issuers often aggregate groups of transactions from Service Providers into a single transaction that is sent to the Fiduciary. This lowers the transaction cost by splitting the credit card transaction fee across a number of transactions. For example, a Customer Service Center (CSC) may collect all transactions for a period of time, and Aggregate those transactions into a single credit card charge to the User’s card account. As a result the Authority pays only a single transaction fee. |
| AICC | Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control. Also known as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC). Dynamic speed and distance control in relation to the vehicle in front using on-board equipment. |
| AISCAT | Associazione Italiana Società Concessionarie Autostrade e Trafori: is the Italian Association of Turnpikes, Tunnels, Bridges and Other Toll Road Concessionaire Companies. |
| ALI-SCOUT | A Siemens navigation system having an in-vehicle interface that provides turn-by-turn visual and voice guidance. |
| ANPR | Automatic Number Plate Recognition |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute |
| Application | This is the software that runs on the On-Board Unit and RSU Application Platform. The Application contains the “brains” (i.e. logic) that conducts the transaction using the Public and Private Keys (see below). |
| Application Platform | This is the computer that is collocated with the On-Board Unit and Roadside Unit. It runs the Application, or software that conducts the transaction. |
| APTA | American Public Transportation Association - The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) advocates the advancement of public transportation. APTA members are public organizations that are engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne passenger services, and high-speed rail. |
| ASA | Automatic Speed Adaptation. Various concepts aimed at limiting the vehicle speed in relation to different defined speeds (static, variable or dynamic) for certain road sections via various user interfaces (informative, supportive or compulsory). Also known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA). |
| ASECAP | Association Européenne des Concessionnaires d'Autoroutes et d'Ouvrages à Péage (European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures). ASECAP is the only European professional association of toll motorway companies. It brings together 17 Full members (France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Belgium, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Poland) and 4 Associate members (Morocco, Germany, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic) that manage a total network of over 28,000 km (tolling) and over 12,000 km (charging). |
| ASFA | Association des Sociétés Françaises d’Autoroutes et d’Ouvrages à Péage: is the Federation of French Motorway and Toll Facility Companies. ASFA is a professional organization which promotes the concessionary system for its members. |
| ATA | American Trucking Associations - American Trucking Associations is the national trade association for the trucking industry. http://www.truckline.com/ |
| ATI | Alliance for Toll Interoperability - Organization established to promote and implement toll collection interoperability among states and agencies. ATI's goals include establishing interstate customer video tolling and interoperability, establishing protocols & systems allowing for secure sharing of vehicle information and the investigation of RFID toll technology interoperability. ATI's membership consists exclusively of toll facility operators. http://www.tollinterop.org/ |
| ATIS | Advanced Traveler Information System |
| ATM | Automatic Teller Machine - An electronic telecommunications device that enables the customers of a financial institution to perform financial transactions without the need for a human cashier or clerk |
Description of Toll Facilities
That which is being tolled.
| Toll Facility Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Highway | Also described as a toll motorway, toll expressway, or toll freeway. A limited-access facility where tolls are collected. | Many examples listed on TollMiner, such as Pennsylvania Turnpike, Austria A2 Motorway, |
| Bridge | A bridge is vehicular roadway infrastructure which provides passage over a geographic barrier in exchange for a toll charged for each vehicle using the bridge. | Golden Gate Bridge, George Washington Bridge. |
| Tunnel | For purposes of this glossary, a tunnel with a toll charged for each use. Examples are the tunnels under the rivers into Manhattan. Other tunnels such as those on the Pennsylvania Turnpike are not tolled separately but as part of the overall turnpike toll, and so are not listed as separate toll facilities. | Lincoln Tunnel, BrooklynBattery Tunnel, WSDOT SR 99 Tunnel (Seattle) |
| Bridge/Tunnel | A toll facility with both major bridges and tunnels in one facility. | The Chesapeake Bay BridgeTunnel. |
| Managed Lane(s) | Designated expressway lanes operating in parallel with other general- purpose travel lanes on a given route. Traffic in the managed lanes is controlled by access rights, occupancy, and/or variable price. Priced managed lanes may include highoccupancy discounts or exemptions.
Express Toll Lanes (ETLs) are managed lanes with no provisions for HOV discounts or exemptions. | MDTA I-95 |
| Managed Lane(s) | Designated expressway lanes operating in parallel with other general- purpose travel lanes on a given route. Traffic in the managed lanes is controlled by access rights, occupancy, and/or variable price. Priced managed lanes may include highoccupancy discounts or exemptions.
High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes are managed lanes with provisions for HOV discounts or exemptions. | SRTA (GA) Managed Lanes, I95/I-395/I-495 Express Lanes |
| Cordon Tolls | Cordon tolls are fees paid by motorists to drive into a designated area defined by a line that encloses to tolling area, often a city center. Cordon tolls are charged when a vehicle crosses the line of the designated tolling area. Some cordon tolls are only in effect during designated hours of the days or days of the week. | Singapore, , Oslo, pending in NY and in design in other areas such as Los Angeles. |
| Area Tolls | Area tolls are fees paid by motorists that are present within a designated area, often a city center. Area tolls are based on detection of vehicle presence within the designated charging zone and may be charged for vehicles that begin and end their trip within the charging zone. | London |
Road User Charging (RUC) Program (also referred to as MileageBased User Fees (MBUF) and Vehicle-Miles-Traveled (VMT) Fees | Pricing the use of roadways by distance travelled on any facility. This may be applied on specific roadways or on all roads in a jurisdiction. Governments are exploring the utility of this transportation revenue options as a replacement for motor fuel taxes as a sustainable revenue source. | New Zealand, pilot in OR, UT, CA and other US |
Description of Plaza Lane Types
Lane types within a toll plaza environment with some conventional toll plaza lanes.
| Lane Type | Description |
|---|---|
| ACM Lane or Unattended Lane (1) | A toll lane with an Automatic Coin Machine (ACM) in place of a toll attendant. Generally signed for vehicles to come to a stop but in practice often allow slow roll-through. May include ETC and license plate cameras. |
| Conventional Lane = Manual Lane = Attended Lane = Full-Service Lane (1) | A toll lane wherein a Toll Service Attendant is present to accept cash, card, token or ticket as toll payment from a customer. |
| Mixed Use Lane (1) | A toll plaza lane accepting multiple options for toll payment. Typically modified to include ETC. Generally signed for vehicles to come to a stop but in practice allow slow roll-through for electronic transactions. |
| Dedicated ETC Lane = ETC Lane (1) | A toll plaza lane used to only accept ETC for toll payment and typically allowing roll-through speeds or speeds less than the roadway speed limit. More often with license-plate cameras for toll enforcement, but some toll operators use gates for toll enforcement instead of cameras. |
| Convertible Lane (1) | A toll plaza lane which can operate in more than one mode, for example in a conventional mode with a toll attendant, in an automatic mode with a machine to accept payment, or in a dedicated ETC Lane mode. |
| Non-Stop Lane (2) | A lane designed for ETC customers in a conventional toll plaza, with conventional toll lane widening or changes to safely allow for higher-speed ETC-Only travel. Typically with license plate tolls for enforcement. |
| ORT Lanes (3) | Open-Road Tolling, also called All-Electronic Toll lanes, equivalent to Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) roadways, which allow drivers to pass by without making lane changes or slowing down. Vehicles in these lanes are driving through a highway section with no restrictions or horizontal or vertical clearances or travel speed. |
| Notes | Note 1: Constructed with limited width, designed to bring vehicle to a stop, with toll plaza islands between the lanes. Note 2: Construction modified to provide improved passage for non-stop movement, typically with some toll lane widening. Note 3: Constructed to be physically separate from all other toll plaza lane types. |
Description of Toll Concepts
The arrangement of toll points on a facility to collect tolls. A toll point is a place where tolls are collected, either with a toll plaza, or at an Open Road Toll (ORT) toll zone without a cash plaza.
| Toll Point Type | Description | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed System An arrangement of toll points on a facility to ensure that all vehicles pay some toll amount for use of the facility. | Closed TripBased Toll System | Entry-Exit (“Ticket”) System | An arrangement of toll plazas at every facility entrance and exit. This arrangement enables the measurement of trip length by recording facility entry on paper tickets (or an electronic toll record) and collecting paper tickets or electronically recording the exit location. Entry-exit systems can work with ETC as well as with tickets. | PA Turnpike Mainline, Ohio Turnpike, Indiana Toll Road, NJ Turnpike. Mass Pike (I-90) was originally a ticket system toll road. |
| AET EntryExit System | An arrangement of toll zones without toll plazas at every facility entrance and exit, to measure trip length as recorded in the electronic toll system. | Toronto 407-ETR, portions of the New York State Thruway | ||
| AET Mainline System | An arrangement of toll zones without toll plazas between interchanges. The toll system collects the toll zone data to determine a trip entry and exit – and thus trip length. | Mass Pike (I-90), Virginia Express lanes (I-95, I-395, I-495) | ||
| Closed Barrier Toll System | AET Mainline System | An arrangement of toll zones without toll plazas between interchanges, with discrete toll rates at each toll zone. | Illinois Route 390, MDTA MD-200. | |
| Closed Barrier Plaza System | An arrangement of mainline and ramp toll plazas and/or toll zones with discrete toll schedules at each location, arranged such that every possible trip incurs at least one toll. | Illinois Tollway (except Route 390), TCA, E-470, NTTA and HCTRA | ||
| Open System Not a closed system. | Open Barrier System | An arrangement of (typically mainline) toll points with discrete toll schedules for each location. Open barrier systems do not capture all potential trip origins and destinations and so allow some toll-free travel. An open barrier system may use ORT toll zones or toll plazas. | Delaware Turnpike, MDTA I-95 (JFK Memorial Highway). | |
Description of Toll Points
The type(s) of toll infrastructure constructed on a toll facility to support a type of toll concept.
| Toll Point Type | Description | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toll Plaza | Toll Plaza without ETC | A conventional toll plaza where all drivers must stop and pay, without the ability to use an ETC account or pay by license plate. | |
| Toll Plaza with ETC | A conventional toll plaza with ETC available in some or all conventional toll lanes. May or may not include license plate tolls. | ||
| Toll Plaza with Dedicated ETC Lanes | A conventional toll plaza with ETC available in some or all conventional toll lanes, and also with some ETC-Only lanes typically allowing roll-through up to about 25 mph. May or may not include license plate tolls. | Ramps on the Illinois Tollway, HCTRA | |
| Toll Plaza with Non-Stop ETC Lanes | A conventional toll plaza with ETC available in some or all lanes, and with one or more lanes modified and widened to safely allow higherspeed ETC-Only travel. | BATA plazas until ORT conversion | |
| AET Toll Plaza | A conventional toll plaza with ETC and license plate tolls only, with all cash toll equipment removed. Typically a temporary condition until toll plaza replacement with an ORT Toll Zone. | Golden Gate Bridge, until ORT conversion | |
| ORT Toll Plaza | A toll point with an "ORT" or "MLFF" roadway for high-speed nonstop tolls, with a conventional toll plaza safely separated from the ORT lanes at the same toll point. | Mainline plazas on the Illinois Tollway, HCTRA, CFX and others | |
| Toll Zone | a.k.a. “ORT Toll Zone,” “AET Toll Zone” or “MLFF Toll” | A toll point on a facility with no toll plaza and no place for a driver to stop and pay a toll. Tolls are only collected by ETC, license plate image capture, or other evolving technologies at full travel speeds. | NCTA, MDX, Mass Pike, MDTA MD200, all managed lanes projects, |