I-85 and Ga. 400 toll systems may not be compatible

By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When the HOV lane of I-85 from the Perimeter to Old Peachtree Road becomes a toll lane next year, the electronic sensors charging the toll will not be able to read the Cruise Card that is used by drivers on Ga. 400, at least not yet.

State officials say the I-85 toll system they’ve chosen is much cheaper than the Ga. 400 one, the only hitch is that they’re not currently compatible systems, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. With some adjustments the Ga. 400 system could be changed to work with the I-85 one, for a price, they said.

“Nothing precludes us as we go forward to merge the two together,” Terri Slack, the State Road and Tollway Authority’s director of strategic business development, told the state Department of Transportation’s board this week. “One of the driving factors was price…The goal was to be economical, and then address interoperability.”

The I-85 tolling technology contract went to the low bidder, Transcore, at $1,162,365. 

Making money is not the point of the High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane system, which state officials hope to expand across metro Atlanta. Rather, it is to guarantee, for a price, a rare and precious thing in metro Atlanta: one spot on the highways where drivers can find fast-flowing traffic.

State officials assured the DOT board Wednesday and Thursday that they intended the eventual toll system to be seamless.

The toll price would rise and fall based on congestion in the main lanes, and could cost up to $1 per mile for the most congested time of the week. Carpools of three or more, vanpools and buses could drive it for free. The price would always stay high enough to keep out drivers who can't afford it so that the traffic within the lane would remain manageable. Advocates stress that it's a useful option for all drivers.

The technology is evolving fast. As things currently stand, if Ga. 400 and I-85 were toll roads at the same time, drivers who wanted to drive both would have to use two different toll transponders for the two different systems. Transponders are electronic gadgets the drivers put in their car windows, to ping roadside toll sensors that charge their accounts as they drive through the lane.

The I-85 transponders will cost the state $1.59 each as opposed to $10 each for Cruise Card transponders, SRTA director Gena Evans said.

Some DOT board members, who learned about the different toll systems at the board’s monthly meetings this week, appeared stunned.

“I can’t believe that,” said Brandon Beach, whose district includes Ga. 400. “We need to make this as seamless as possible for the citizens of Georgia when we implement them from here on out,” Beach said.

Evans pointed out that SRTA discussed the different technologies with DOT staff before SRTA inked a deal. DOT spokeswoman Karlene Barron added that the I-85 toll project was a demonstration project intended to test out issues like what tolling technology to use, before the rest of the system is built.

The separate technologies might not be a big deal, since the I-85 and Ga. 400 toll roads won’t coexist for long -- if at all -- if the Ga. 400 tolls come down anyway as expected, which is after the debt incurred to build the road is paid off in summer 2011.

But the State Road and Tollway Authority is studying its options for Ga. 400, including keeping the road tolled into the future.

“We’ve been asked by the SRTA board to explore our options,” Evans said. Gov. Sonny Perdue chairs the board. Evans said all options were on the table, including free lanes paired with optional toll lanes, continuing to toll all lanes perhaps with new technology, or eliminating the tolls completely. The state is also evaluating public-private projects that could widen or improve roads like Ga. 400 and be paid back by tolls.

When Ga. 400 was first built, some opponents were appeased by assurances that the toll revenues would only be spent on improvements in that corridor, and that the tolls would come down when the debt was retired.

Aides to Perdue have long pointed out that the decision may not be his to make, since he leaves office in Jan. 2011.

“The governor believes in the principle that tolls should come down once the project is paid for," said his spokeswoman in 2006, Heather Hedrick.