Q: As a follow-up to the question you answered about Georgia and reciprocating tolls, is it the case that the federal government is working to make all state tolls interactive with each other so that a Peach Pass would be valid in at least the “lower 48”? If this is not true, shouldn’t it be the job of the feds to make the states work with each other?
—Vicki Davis, Peachtree City
A: The federal government called for nationwide interoperability by the fall of 2016 in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act of 2012. The International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association and its members, which own and operate toll facilities in 25 countries and in 35 states across the United States, have been working for seven years to achieve nationwide interoperability, Bill Cramer, spokesman for the group, told Q&A on the News.
“To make the nation truly interoperable, not only is technology key, but agreements must be in place between states to make it work, and those take time,” Cramer wrote in an email.
For example, E-ZPass works in 16 states, and Georgia’s Peach Pass works with North Carolina and Florida. Florida’s SunPass also is scheduled to become interoperable with South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas in the first quarter of 2018, Cramer wrote.
“IBTTA is committed to nationwide interoperability, but it is not like flipping a switch. There are more than 50 million transponders in use across the U.S., and it will evolve as states work with one another to ensure all drivers have a convenient and hassle-free system in place,” he wrote.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
