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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W
Title Sort descending Description
Violation Enforcement System

VES. The collective equipment and procedures that capture a violation transaction, image and the citation process.

Violation Lighting

Lights located around the lane to enhance ambient light conditions for the VES cameras to take pictures of vehicles.

Violation Processing Center

VPC. A place where violation processing systems and/or human reviewers work on reviewing and processing violations through the system.

Violations Processing

The composite set of procedures, equipment and operations used in the Back Office to examine violation images and assign the correct toll to either an ETC account holder or to a toll evader based on a Division of Motor Vehicle (DMV) lookup of license plate vehicle registration. True violations will include a fine, processing/administrative fee and any other punitive action as dictated by local law.

VMS

See Variable Message Sign

VMT

Vehicle Miles of Travel. The sum of all the miles traveled by vehicles (not people) in a specified amount of time

WCDMA

Wide-band Code-Division Multiple Access, a 3G technology that increases data transmission rates in GSM systems by using the CDMA air interface instead of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Description of Toll Facilities

That which is being tolled.

Toll Facility TypeDescriptionExamples
HighwayAlso 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,
BridgeA 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.
TunnelFor 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/TunnelA 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 TollsCordon 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 TollsArea 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

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Description of Plaza Lane Types

Lane types within a toll plaza environment with some conventional toll plaza lanes.

Lane TypeDescription
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. 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

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 TypeDescriptionExamples
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 SystemEntry-Exit (“Ticket”) SystemAn 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 SystemAn 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 SystemAn 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 SystemAET Mainline SystemAn 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 SystemAn 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 SystemAn 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).

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Description of Toll Points

The type(s) of toll infrastructure constructed on a toll facility to support a type of toll concept.

Toll Point TypeDescriptionExamples
Toll PlazaToll Plaza without ETCA 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 ETCA 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 LanesA 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 LanesA 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 PlazaA 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 PlazaA 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 Zonea.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,