​The Maryland Transportation Authority recently awarded Kapsch TrafficCom a contract to replace and maintain all of the roadside tolling equipment in the mixed-mode, cash, and express toll lanes under MDTA management.
The agency said the base contract includes the replacement of all toll equipment and six years of subsequent operations and maintenance, along with hardware upgrades at all MDTA bridge and tunnel facilities, including the William Preston Lane Memorial Bay Bridge and the Fort McHenry Tunnel, as well as along the Intercounty Connector/MD 200 and I-95 Express Lanes.
The new roadside equipment will include RFID toll readers, automated license place recognition (ALPR) cameras, and scanners in the mixed-mode lanes. In addition, the contract calls for it to install its stereoscopic vehicle detection and classification sensor (nVDC) package in all-electronic toll lanes. Kapsch said its nVDC system is made up of 3D video-based sensors that can track and classify vehicles throughout an entire toll zone while triggering license plate recognition cameras, which will help generate single billable toll trips for a vehicle’s entire journey.
Kapsch noted that as part of its toll system replacement program for MDTA – which is expected to be completed by 2020 – the company will also provide license plate image-review services and fully-formed transactions to the agency’s back office to enhance “accuracy and auditability” of its tolling system.
“Reliability, collaboration and flexibility will drive this transformation,” noted MDTA Executive Director Kevin Reigrut in a statement. “It will allow us to meet the evolving needs of our customers and provide them with the level of customer service they deserve.”
Growth of toll road traffic remains on an upward track, according to analysis by Fitch Ratings and it continues to outpace growth in national vehicle miles traveled, which increased at an average rate of 1.3 percent in 2017.
Fitch added in its analysis said it expects revenue across the toll road sector to grow faster than traffic volumes overall as “many authorities” are planning to implement “inflationary” toll increases this year.
