183A Toll going cashless
183A Toll going cashless
Written by Staff Thursday, 26 June 2008
By the end of 2008, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority intends to eliminate cash toll collections on 183A Toll, a move expected to save $1 million annually in operating costs.
“With roughly 80% of our customers paying with TxTag, it no longer makes economic sense to operate cash toll booths,” says Mike Heiligenstein, Executive Director of the Mobility Authority. “With so few people paying cash, we are spending almost as much money to collect cash as we are collecting. By eliminating cash collection, we can save money and shift those savings to other priorities such as the future expansion of 183A.”
The registered owner of vehicles driving on the toll road without a TxTag, Tolltag or EZ-Tag will be billed by mail. Cameras at each toll station snap photos of cars without tags and use vehicle registration records to determine where to send the bill.
The transition to a cashless system is expected as early as November depending upon the installation of signs to reflect the change.
The CTMA plans to go cashless on all its future toll roads, including the Manor Expressway, which will begin construction in 2009 along US 290 east of Austin.
In 2004, the Westpark Tollway in Houston became the first cashless toll road in the nation. 183A Toll will be the fourth such road in Texas. The North Texas Tollway Authority is testing cashless toll collection on a portion of the Dallas North Tollway and has announced plans to covert all its roads to cashless by 2010.
TxTag customers receive 25 percent off the pay-by-mail rate. Tags are available at all mainline toll plazas in Central Texas, online at www.TxTag.org or by calling 1-888-Go-TxTag.
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