- Illinois Tollway Dedicates Toll Plaza Customer Service And Sustainability Upgrades
- IBTTA Announces Awards For Outstanding Tolling Innovation And Performance
- Georgia DOT's McMurry Receives ITS Lifetime Achievement Award
- Briefer Still: Other Developments TRN Is Following
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Illinois Tollway Dedicates Toll Plaza Customer Service And Sustainability Upgrades
The Illinois Tollway Authority’s conversion of a conventional toll plaza into a customer service facility with several amenities was celebrated at a dedication ceremony yesterday, September 4.
The 163rd Street Toll Plaza on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) has been renamed Markham Plaza after the suburb south of Chicago where it is located. The facility now incorporates an in-person I-PASS Customer Service Center, 29 new parking spaces for commercial trucks, an array of electricity-generating solar panels, and sustainable landscaping. There are also Shorepower stations where trucks and recreational vehicles can recharge equipment without running their engines.
The Tollway has plans to add EV charging stations and other amenities to the facility. It is also exploring the possibility of creating direct access to the plaza from an adjoining street. In a news release, the authority noted that it “worked closely with Markham officials to redesign the toll plaza building and surrounding land into a new more robust service plaza facility that brings together amenities to benefit local drivers as well as those traveling through the region.”
Sources: Daily Southtown (via Chicago Tribune), Illinois Tollway news release, NBC News Chicago
Chicago Metro Area Customer Service Experience Environmental Protection Policies Procedures And Initiatives I-PASS (IL Tollway Authority) Illinois Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway) Service PlazasIBTTA Announces Awards For Outstanding Tolling Innovation And Performance
The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) yesterday announced the recipients of its 2025 Toll Excellence Awards and Outreach, Opportunity, and Engagement Award. The association’s annual awards program recognizes innovation and best practices in the global tolling and road-use charging industry. The following awards as well as the ultimate President’s Award recognizing the most outstanding category award winner will be presented during IBTTA’s annual meeting in October.
Toll Excellence Award Winners:
- Illinois Tollway Authority (Administration and Finance category) for its Transitional Duty Program, an initiative that supports authority workers recovering from injury or illness
- Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission (Customer Service and Marketing Outreach category) for its efforts, including a multimedia campaign to raise awareness about text scammers impersonating toll entities
- Central Florida Expressway Authority (Safety category) for its Drive Smart Florida campaign to encourage positive driving behavior and prevent crashes
- Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels (Social Responsibility category) for the Central Business District Tolling Program, its pioneering effort to combat congestion and pollution while generating revenue for the modernization and expansion of transit services
- Kansas Turnpike Authority (Technology category) for its exemplary network-wide deployment of an all-electronic, open-road toll system
- Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (Toll Operations, Engineering and Maintenance category) for its Habitual Violator Enforcement Remedies Program that addresses toll payment violations through a “data-driven, graduated enforcement process that recovers revenue and changes driver behavior”
- TransCore (Private Sector Innovation category) for its delivery of the New York City Central Business District Tolling Program collection system, which uses “AI and machine vision to process every vehicle as a video-based transaction”
- Valerann (Private Sector Innovation category) for piloting Insight Roads in collaboration with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, a program that uses an AI-powered platform to improve traffic management and road safety on Irish motorways
Outreach, Opportunity, and Engagement Award Winner:
- Illinois Tollway Authority, for its Diversity Advisory Council, which builds contracting and workforce opportunities and supports inclusion by bringing together advocacy groups that help the authority expand opportunities for small, diverse, and veteran-owned firms and create pathways to construction careers
Additional information on each of the Toll Excellence Awards and the Tollway’s Outreach, Opportunity, and Engagement Award is available on the IBTTA website.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Artificial Intelligence Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) Congestion Pricing ETC Systems Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) IBTTA Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway) Industry Awards & Recognitions Intelligent Transportation Systems Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission Public Outreach And Communication Scofflaws TransCore Transit and Toll Roads Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) Transportation and Infrastructure Leadership And Workforce Diversity Transportation And Infrastructure Workforce IssuesGeorgia DOT's McMurry Receives ITS Lifetime Achievement Award
Long-time Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry recently became the first state DOT leader in the US to be honored with an ITS Lifetime Achievement Award conferred jointly by ITS America, ITS Asia-Pacific, and ERTICO-ITS Europe. He received the unprecedented recognition for being a consistent champion of transportation systems management and operations and connected vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) technology. “Georgia DOT has a long legacy and history of ITS deployment, and I am grateful and humbled by this recognition,” McMurry commented. “The real recognition for this award, however, goes to the extraordinary men and women of Georgia DOT and our talented team of engineers and practitioners who are making the promise of intelligent transportation systems come to life.”
Commissioner McMurry serves on the ITS America board and is vice president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
Sources: AASHTO Journal, Georgia DOT news release
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Georgia Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Industry Awards & Recognitions Intelligent Transportation Systems ITS America Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) V2X and V2V TechnologyBriefer Still: Other Developments TRN Is Following
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Posts September 10 Board Meeting Agenda (NTTA)
Alabama DOT Officially Takes Control Of Foley Beach Express, Now Designated Alabama 161 (Gulf Coast Media)
Washington State DOT Seeks Public Feedback On Allowing Roadside Memorials To Crash Victims (KGW News)
Oklahoma Lags On Seatbelt Use. State DOT Responds By Launching Statewide Awareness Initiative (KWTV News)
US Trucking Industry Continues To Push For Federal Funding Of Parking Expansion (Transport Topics) And Rebuts Claim That Enough Spaces Already Exist (“Land Line”)
Trump Administration Postpones Action On Some Proposed Trucking Regulations (FreightWaves)
Albania Imposes Toll On Coastal Road Tunnel (SeeNews)
India Begins Tolling Of New Karnataka Expressway (The Times of India)
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