IBTTA Summit on All-ElectronicToll Collection
July 2012
Interoperability (regional and national) is the single most important issue facing our industry today.
The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are both looking to establish national interoperability through legislation.
Toll agency customers are asking for interoperability between systems, at least on a regional or corridor basis.
Toll agencies are looking to interoperability to improve traffic operations at their facilities and to make their operations more efficient.
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The E-ZPass Group has established a National Affiliate Membership Program:
Allows agencies using dissimilar but compatible technology to become interoperable with us.
Use of multi-protocol equipment with IAG as one of the protocols is encouraged.
NCTA expressed interest in interoperability with E-ZPass and SunPass due to location between the two systems
NCTA uses multi-protocol tags and readers that should enable them to meet their objectives for interoperability
Equipment testing will be performed in order to establish compatibility and accuracy rates
The IAG requires certain performance standards be attained.
The IAG has set performance requirements for both Traditional Toll Plaza and Open Road Environments.
For Readers/Tags the IAG has three areas: Read performance Write performance Lane assignment
Read Performance
Write Performance
Lane Assignment
Toll Plaza 99.90% 99.90% 99.98%
Open Road 99.90% 99.80% 99.90%
The E-ZPass Group Tests the following: Plaza Type – Open Road and Conventional
Toll Plaza Vehicle Types – Cars, trucks, trailers, etc. Lane Position – in lane, straddling lanes, etc. Vehicle Speed – various speed profiles Transponder Mounting Position - various
Plaza Testing Multiple adjacent lanes Testing under a Canopy Bumper to bumper Stop and go
ORT Testing Multiple adjacent lanes Bumper to bumper Stop and go High Speed Straddle lanes
The goal is to operate E-ZPass in a manner that appears as seamless to the customer as possible.
One transponder and account works for all E-ZPass agencies.
E-ZPass has agreements and policies that each agency conforms their operations to for compliance and unity.
The IAG Policy Matrix The IAG Operating Agreement
Nine Amendments The IAG Reciprocity I Agreement The IAG Reciprocity II Agreement
(Public Parking Facilities) The IAG Reciprocity III Agreement
(Private Parking Facilities)
Mandatory Privacy of Data Plaza Signage Tag Colors Use of Standard Approved Equipment Customer Account Opening Settlement of Funds
Discretionary Items that the IAG keeps track of but are not required to be consistent:Tag Charge for private and commercial customersAccount Service FeesLost or Stolen Tag FeesAccount ReplenishmentDriver Feedback
The IAG File Specifications call for 14 different files for both Toll and Non-Toll (i.e. Parking) applications.
The Major Files Are: ITAG (The Transponder File)
Has nearly 28 Million records Includes active and inactive status transponders Has four (4) status’ for transponders
Valid Low Balance Invalid (Customer account is not good) Lost/Stolen
ICLP - The Customer License plate file Has nearly 30 Million Records
ICTX - Transaction files ICRX - Reconciliation files
There are 13 Customer Service Centers that are currently operating in the E-ZPass Group.
Every agency connects to the other agencies independently thru the network and directly passes files for their specific agency.
The IAG arranges the network connection and the testing of the connection through a Managed Frame Relay network.
Each Customer Service Center tests their File Transfer Protocol (FTP) processes to pickup and drop off files to each agency.
Each Customer Service Center tests file processing to ensure all data elements are contained and proper.
Reciprocity testing is done with at least 3 agencies having different back office providers depending on the specifics of the testing.
The E-ZPass Group has a proven model that works Well established business rules and file
specifications that allow for efficient and accurate interoperability for past 17 years
Member agencies exchange $2.6 billion in tolls each year, with robust and accurate reporting capabilities and strong audit trail
When striving for national interoperability, do we need to reinvent the wheel?
Equipment must be tested for compatibility Operating and/or Reciprocity Agreements are
needed – guarantee of tolls Business rules must be agreed upon File Specifications developed Reporting and Auditing very important
elements
E-ZPass group will make all the above available on our website for agencies to use in advancing interoperability
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