Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG)

Spanning greater Toronto, Canada’s largest city, 407 ETR was the world’s first open access, all electronic toll highway when it opened to traffic in October 1997.

The 108km highway attracts over 375,000 customers on average each workday and is widely recognised as the greater Toronto area’s fastest, safest and most reliable route. Customers are billed after either their transponder is read or an image of their rear licence plate is taken on entry and exit of the highway.

In recent years 407 ETR has implemented a number of initiatives to improve and upgrade its electronic tolling, billing and customer service systems, including:

• Upgrading its billing software during 2007, to increase efficiency and productivity for both customers and employees
• Introducing an automated workflow management system to improve processing time and efficiency of customer transactions
• Upgrading the video detection and classification laser tolling equipment and adding new closed circuit television cameras along the highway to monitor traffic
• Upgrading the tolling system’s optical character recognition (OCR) system, improving the accuracy of its automated licence plate reads and reducing unbillables. Furthermore, technology to ‘fingerprint’ vehicles has been implemented, enabling the image of a vehicle to be associated with a plate even if the plate is not readable by the OCR system.

Indiana
Toll Road

• 72% toll saving for i-Zoom transponder users until 2016
• Improved transponder sales as a result of upgrades to ITR’s website and sales system
• 52 automatic payment machines (ATPMs) across the network
• Operation of Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) and Variable Message Signs (VMS) systems for assistance with road safety and improved traffic flow.

Westlink M7 is a 40km cashless, fully electronic toll road and an integral part of the overall Sydney orbital network, linking major employment, industrial and residential areas of western Sydney. Built to motorway standards, Westlink M7 provides for travel at variable speeds up to 100km/h.

Traffic is monitored and managed across the entire motorway from one central control room. There, incidents are quickly identified and responded to, enabling management to minimise congestion and improve safety along the road.

Wire traffic loops built into the road provide continuous, real time information to the control room regarding:

• Traffic volume
• Traffic flows
• Traffic flows
• Vehicle types using the road
• Queue lengths and times
• Incident reports.

These loops are set in a ‘squared-off’ figure-of-eight pattern in each lane and attached to a sensor unit. The loops detect and measure the time a metallic object takes to pass over them and, within set parameters, the data generated can differentiate between vehicle types.

If an incident occurs and traffic begins to queue, information is relayed immediately to the control room. Control room personnel use cameras to zoom in on the incident to determine the appropriate incident response, which may include:

• Varying the speed limits between 40km/h and 100km/h to assist in managing the incident and maximising safety. Drivers are alerted immediately via VMS on changes in traffic conditions
• Alerting the Incident Response Team (IRT) via radio if on-site help is required. The IRT is on standby 24 hours per day, seven days per week
• Calling for additional assistance via dedicated phone lines from the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA), police and fire brigade.