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Press Release

More Than 500 Transportation Experts Gather in Dublin, Ireland

September 2, 2015
CONTACT: Bill Cramer, Communications Director
202-659-4620 x26 | 202-210-2962 (mobile)

 

Dublin, Ireland -- More than 500 transportation leaders from 29 countries gathered for the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association's (IBTTA) 83rd Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Dublin, Ireland this week. 
 
This year’s theme, The Business of Mobility showcased technical tours and sessions on procurement, technology and security, incident response plans, service level improvements on congested toll roads, value added services and looked into the future of tolling. 
 
"Because this is the world’s largest, most significant toll industry gathering with every discipline and role in toll facility operations and governance represented, in just three days, participants were able to tour the world of tolling, collecting best practices and innovative ideas to apply in their own communities," said Javier Rodriguez, P.E., Executive Director, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, Miami, Florida, USA, and IBTTA President.  
 
Ireland’s own Transportation Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which develops, maintains and operates the national road network hosted the international event. 
 
Ireland served as a timely venue for the event. In the first decade of the 21st Century, Ireland upgraded its primary road network—a massive project that required billions of Euros in investment, created jobs for tens of thousands of workers, employed innovative financing, new technologies, and the cooperation of many private companies and organizations.
 
"We came to the Emerald Isle because it is a shining example of how a dramatic, nationwide transportation transformation that includes toll roads has significantly changed a nation in a single generation," said Patrick D. Jones, Executive Director and CEO of IBTTA. "The 300 kilometres of multilane motorways and growing network of toll roads have improved the way the Irish live by boosting the economy, and providing a way to travel in less time, with increased safety and efficiency."
The theme of addressing challenges through pure innovation carried over in the remarks by the keynote speaker, Ben Saunders, a globally acclaimed motivational speaker, repeat TED speaker, and world record-breaking polar explorer. 
 
"If I've learned anything in 12 years of dragging around heavy objects in the cold, it's that true, real inspiration and growth only comes from adversity and challenge--from stepping away from what's comfortable and familiar and stepping out into the unknown," Saunders told the IBTTA audience.
 
The spotlight on innovation was also reflected in the many educational workshops led by transportation experts from more than 10 countries. These experts discussed their first-hand experiences on topics such as how value-added services are disrupting traditional assumptions about future transportation funding and financing, how urban areas are managing traffic congestion, and how the latest technologies are transforming the movement of people and goods. In addition, TII transportation experts led sessions on how Ireland accomplished the recent transformation of its road network.
 
"We launched many new toll roads using state-of-the art technologies, including 'free-flow' tolling on the M50 Motorway and systems to promote interoperable electronic tolling nationwide," said Nigel O'Neill, Director of Commercial Operations, TII, "Ranked as one of Ireland's greatest achievements, our new infrastructure has helped to improve Ireland’s competitiveness and has provided safer and easier travel for the public."
 
On Monday, August 31, IBTTA announced the recipients of its prestigious President's Award honoring exemplary contributions to the tolling industry. The recipient of the 2015 President's Award is Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau for Transitioning from a Manual Flat-rate Pay-Per-Use Toll Collection to Electronic Distance-based Toll Collection on Taiwan’s Freeways. The organization introduced its electronic, distance-based toll collection system to increase fairness and equity across the highway network, boost operational efficiency, streamline traffic flow through variable pricing, and deliver superior accuracy. The agency introduced manual and electronic tolling in February 2006, followed by an eTag system in May 2012, and now averages 14 million transactions per day with a tolling accuracy rate of 99.97% and detection accuracy of 99.9%, the world’s highest. The new system consists of 319 single gantries that feature a modular design for rapid deployment. It took 10 months to install all the gantries, with no on-the-job accidents or loss in quality. The Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau also received the Toll Excellence Award in the category of Customer Service and Marketing Outreach. 
 
The 2015 IBTTA Toll Excellence Award recipients include:
• Customer Service and Marketing Outreach: Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau - Program for Transition from Manual Flat-rate Pay-Per-Use Toll Collection to Electronic Distance-based Toll Collection on Taiwan’s Freeways
• Social Responsibility: Illinois Tollway - Partnership with The Chicago Lighthouse
• Toll operations, Maintenance and Engineering: New Jersey Turnpike Authority - Traffic Permitting and Lane Closure Application
• Technology: Transurban - 495 Express Lanes in Virginia 
• Private Sector Innovation: ETAN Industries – Fast Lane-The Financial Accountability Solution for Tolling
 
For more information about each Toll Excellence Award recipient click here or visit www.ibtta.org/toll-excellence-awards.
 
For more information about IBTTA visit www.ibtta.org or contact Bill Cramer, [email protected]
202-659-4620 x26; or 202-210-2962 (mobile).
 
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About IBTTA
The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve them. Founded in 1932, IBTTA has members in 20 countries on six continents. Through advocacy, thought leadership and education, members are implementing state-of-the-art, innovative user-based transportation financing solutions to address the critical infrastructure challenges of the 21st Century. For more information, visit www.ibtta.org or join us on Twitter @IBTTA or #TollRoads.
 
About TII
The Transport Infrastructure of Ireland is the result of a merger of the National Roads Authority and the Railway Procurement Agency. Established under the 1993 Roads Act, TII is tasked with improving the quality of life and national economic competitiveness by developing, maintaining and operating the national road network in a safe, cost-effective and sustainable manner. The first decade of the 21st Century witnessed the development of a modern and extensive road network in Ireland with the upgrade of the primary network in Ireland – an engineering achievement that ranks with the great accomplishments of the past in Ireland, such as the development of the railway network and the development of the canal ways. This road upgrade programme, however, was no easy feat and it required billions of Euro in investment, tens of thousands of workers, innovative financing schemes and new technologies and the cooperation of many companies and organisations. During this programme, the NRA delivered many new toll roads on the network including “free-flow” tolling on the M50 Motorway and arrangements and systems to promote interoperable electronic tolling nationwide. This new infrastructure has helped to improve Ireland’s competitiveness on the world’s economic stage, and provided much safer and easier travel for the public.