Toll Excellence Awards

The ITR Concession Company (ITRCC) receives the Administration and Finance Award for its innovative methods of procuring and contracting the 80/90 PUSH project along the Indiana Toll Road. The Indiana Toll Road runs 157 miles east-west across the entire state of Indiana, from the Illinois to Ohio state lines. 80/90 PUSH is massive in scope and includes upgrading 292 lane miles (73 linear miles), 9 interchanges, and 53 bridges, and installing a fiber optic backbone along the corridor as a step to implementing an Intelligent Transportation System. With a $220 million budget it is the largest investment in the Indiana Toll Road since its initial construction in 1956.

80/90 PUSH incorporated an aggressive procurement and delivery schedule to deliver the project swiftly and with minimal travel disruptions. To meet deadlines and minimize costs ITRCC utilized an innovative blend of Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and Design-Build project delivery strategies. ITRCC involved contractors early in the project, ran concurrent design processes, and remained committed to transparency and communication with prospective partners. ECI is typically performed with one contracted design team, but by offering $250,000 to the unsuccessful team ITRCC kept multiple parties involved and maintained competitive pricing tension.

Considering the scope of investment in 80/90 PUSH, ITRCC maintained a strong contractual position throughout the project and implemented specific penalties for delays, traffic queues, and cost overruns. ITRCC mitigated future risks by negotiating an extended 7-year warranty thus assuring a well maintained, high quality product. Today 80/90 PUSH is ahead of schedule and under budget. Over 100,000 working hours have been logged without a single lost time injury. The safety, speed, and cost effectiveness of the project reflects the exemplary partnering and procurement strategies demonstrated by ITRCC.

Texting and driving has quickly become one of America’s leading causes of roadway accidents, injuries, and fatalities. At any given moment roughly 660,000 drivers are using cell phones while operating their car. North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) receives the Social Responsibility Award for its campaign to spread the dangers of driving “intexticated” as part of the nationwide Red Thumbs Movement.

Red Thumbs is an old-school solution to a 21st century problem. The movement aims to educate drivers about the dangers of texting and driving, and encourages them to mark a small portion of their thumbs red as a reminder to put down their phones behind the wheel. As part of the campaign NTTA distributed 95,000 red thumb straps emblazoned with the NTTA logo and the phrase “W8 2 TXT”.

The creative efforts of NTTA resulted in extensive regional coverage of the program through traditional media outlets, social media engagement, and nearly two dozen community partners including municipalities, other transportation agencies, and various local businesses. The agency distributed video shorts over social media and changed electronic signs along roadways to alert drivers to the campaign. Plano Presbyterian Hospital invited NTTA to offer educational courses on safety to local residents, businesses, government officials, police officers, and teenage drivers to help make the roads of North Texas as safe as they can be.

Because Texas is one of four states without a statewide ban on texting and driving, the campaign was critical to ensuring the safety of Texas roads. The result was a fun and memorable movement benefiting NTTA and their community partners while, most importantly, saving lives and making Texas a safer place to drive.

The Road & Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai receives the Toll Operations, Engineering and Maintenance Award for “Salik Toll System Expansion,” which recognizes RTA’s effort to revolutionize their Smart Salik app and online self-service system.

Project goals included: upgrading the Interactive Voice Response phone system – alleviating stress on the call center; revamping the website and Smart Salik app interface; a recharge by mobile and plate feature, thereby removing the frustration of forgotten PINs; a user portal with real time road and account information including pending and unpaid tolls; better integration across platforms and with smart device features such as fingerprint login on the app, back-end stability improvements, and a marketing campaign to educate customers on the changes.

Perhaps most impressive is RTA’s commitment to flexibility both now and in the future. Accounts can be recharged with cash at over 9,000 locations across Dubai, including at ATMs and through vouchers redeemed via SMS, the Smart Salik app, and the website. The redesigned back-end of the Salik network allows for advanced data analysis of user trends so RTA can stay ahead of the curve and remain proactive in meeting the needs of customers for years to come.

Results of the redesigned system are excellent across the board. Operational costs have fallen, call center calls have decreased 30%. Calls to retrieve forgotten PINs have almost been halved. Self-service transactions exceed 90 percent, well beyond the 80 percent government goal. Mobile adoption exceeds the 25 percent goal. In line with the Dubai Government’s Happiness strategy – to make Dubai the happiest city on earth –  the system’s happiness rating has risen from 73.2% to 93.2% following the launch of the renovated app and website.