The N.C. Turnpike Authority began selling electronic devices this morning that will enable drivers pass through the cash-free toll road without slowing down to deposit coins in a bucket when the first section of the highway opens to the public in December. [10/12/11 update: see today's story.]
The turnpike authority's service center in Morrisville had sold 19 of the "transponders" by mid-day Tuesday. The first customers were mostly public officials who lined up at the sales windows as part of a publicity event for the new service center and the electronic devices.
The transponders cost $5 for in-state toll roads and $20 for use in North Carolina as well as toll roads in other states on the East Coast. The devices, which will be attached to windshields, will be read electronically at the tolls and drivers will be billed on their credit cards.
The first 3.4-mile section of State Road 147 will open in December and will begin charging the toll fee Jan. 3. The fee will be 50 cents for drivers with transponders. Drivers without transponders will be billed 77 cents by mail, based on the license plate of their car.
The toll road, called the Triangle Expressway, will be extended to 18.8 miles on the southwestern portion of I-540 next year. The fee for the entire toll road will be about $3 for drivers with transponders and about $4.05 for drivers without the devices.
Toll road drivers who don't own transponders and don't pay when they are billed by mail will not be able to renew their automobile registrations, officials said. Delinquent drivers will be notified three times before their registrations are put on hold.
The $20 transponder is not yet integrated with other state toll roads but should be within several months, officials said.
The service center is located at 200 Sorrell Grove Road in Morrisville. The transponders are also available online at www.ncquickpass.com.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or
Comments
5 vs .20
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 17:21 — apexdad2000it seems unfair to charge $20 for a transponder that works with other states -- not to mention an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. but that's a questoin for the lawyers, i guess.
Sweet. Less taxes.
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 16:56 — nctorwartSince they are putting in toll roads that means the Highway Use tax and Vehicle Property taxes are going away. I would also assume the tax that NC puts on gas will go down as well. Less taxes woohoo! But seriously toll road are bs in NC. We're already taxed enough and now we have to pay for the roads. So what are those other taxes for?
What a crock....
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 16:12 — PowderedToastManWhy should it cost $3-$4 EACH way? That will add a significant amount of $$ to commuters who will rely on using this road. A total crock of $h!t. ..not to mention it will be a huge waste of money sending paper bills for those who only drive a short distance on this road once in a while.
Other toll roads in the East cost more
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 22:54 — cpzilliacusOthers with similar (or higher) tolls include:
(1) Virginia's Route 267 (Dulles Greenway) between Dulles Airport and Leesburg
(2) Delaware Turnpike (I-95)
(3) Maryland's new Route 200 (InterCounty Connector) between Gaithersburg and Laurel.
yep
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 17:19 — apexdad2000I have to think they are charging $3 - $4 because they must to make it profitable. There's a reason this is the only toll road the Authority has built - the other options were complete losers.
Car rentals will add a charge
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 15:15 — PlainAndSimpleAt least one car rental company will automatically add a charge ($6/day) as a result of the cashless toll roads in the area.
N.C. does not have the first cashless toll road
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 14:08 — cpzilliacusThe N.C. Turnpike Authority began selling electronic devices this morning that will enable drivers pass through the nation's first cash-free toll road without slowing down to deposit coins in a bucket when the first section of the highway opens to the public in December.
Not correct.
Maryland partly opened the Md. 200 (InterCounty Connector) cashless toll road in the suburbs north of Washington, D.C. in February 2011. Most of Md. 200 will be open by this coming winter.
The Canadian province of Ontario built and opened the very first cashless toll road across the northern suburbs of Toronto in Highway 407 ETR all the way back in 1997.
California has operated cashless express lanes alongside free lanes on Ca. 91 (Riverside Freeway) in Orange County for many years.
Thanks, ...
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 17:45 — BruceSiceloffThanks, we corrected this error shortly after the blog item was posted. It reflected an error in my earlier stories.
NC Turnpike folks had told me incorrectly that TriEx would be the first new U.S. tollroad built without any cash collection booths. As noted, there are indeed a few toll roads and toll bridges that have opened in the past few years without coin booths. Several old tollroads have started removing their old coin booths, too.
You're right...
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 14:43 — JustAGuyInNCThis technology may not be as prevalent as it should be, but it's certainly not even close to being the first. One only needs to travel around the country to see that it has been around for some time. There are roads in CO, TX, FL, etc that all offer a cashless system.
Looks like someone forgot to do their research. Instead, they blindly believed what some marketing "guru" told them.
Reading comprehension 101...
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 16:14 — PowderedToastManuh...big difference in offering cashless lanes (in addition to cash lanes) vs. these tolls which are 100% cashless.
Cashless in Colorado
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 17:05 — Locomotive_BreathDuring a trip to Denver in the summer of 2010 I innocently drove up on the tollway with a rental car not knowing they wouldn't take cash. I was late for my flight to the airport so I kept going. I drove through 3 x $2.50 tolls. Later I got a bill from the rental car company (Alamo) billing me for the tolls plus a processing fee of $25 per occurance. They defined each $2.50 toll as a single occurance. They wanted $7.50 for the tolls and $75 for processing. This system will really put the screws to our visitors in rental cars. At a minimum, there should be a law minimizing how much the rental car companies can charge to collect the tolls.
Note to self . . .
Tue, 10/11/2011 - 13:06 — readeracctNote to self . . . set the Garmin GPS in my car to "avoid toll roads."
GPS
Fri, 10/14/2011 - 12:21 — gercohenI rented a car at FT Lauderdale airport a few years ago, and set the GPS that Hertz provided to "freeway only", foolishly thinking that this meant I would not be directed onto toll roads. Ha ha. Turns out Hertz used the dictionary definition of "free"way as meaning free of intersections, not free of tolls. Buyer beware.