However, company officials have said user data is only collected when the app is open, and they have no current plans to monetize user data. Transurban may provide app users’ personal information to third-party advertisers, or use personal information for “direct marketing or research,” according to the company’s terms and conditions statement. The GoToll app is not unlike the wealth of other apps that collect location data, and can then make that data available to third parties such as digital marketing or other operations. GoToll is powered, in part, by location technology created by Bluedot, allowing the app to distinguish travel direction and which lane a motorist is using. “I think this is something we would definitely start looking into,” she added. With the number of cities considering congestion pricing on the rise, Bell anticipates a possible future application for GoToll. The app is structured to support dynamically priced toll roads. “It’s simply another option.”įour of the toll roads in Virginia are “dynamically priced” toll roads, which means their rates fluctuate depending on the time of day and traffic flow. “I think the key here is that we’re not looking to replace an E-ZPass,” she added. “And they’re always looking for ways to offer residents here easier access and better access to roads in general. “Transurban has always had a great relationship with the Virginia Department of Transportation, and as we all know, VDOT is really committed to innovation in transportation,” said Bell. “We know that the license plate is associated with the GoToll account, and therefore the money flows from the customer to the GoToll account to us, and we facilitate the money back to the facility,” said Caudill. The toll road captures an image of the license plate, which is sent to the E-ZPass office to be matched with a GoToll user. (My Northern Virginia readers will understand this all too well).Īs always, if anyone has any questions or comments about anything that I have written, please feel free to contact me.“What we have found is that there is a segment of the population that doesn’t use toll roads very often, but when they want to use them, it’s difficult,” said Caudill. Of course, any comfort that this news brings to those riders will be short lived because they will still have to regularly travel the I-95 corridor in Northern Virginia. This will come as welcomed news to those who regularly ride along the I-95 corridor in Northern Virginia. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me. Our customers drive at the posted highway. The toll collection system on these two facilities will properly identify the vehicle as a motorcycle whether or not it is equipped with a transponder and apply the appropriate business exceptions. Pocahontas Parkway was the first road in Virginia to let motorists drive through E-ZPass lanes at highway speeds. In addition, motorcycles are not required to be equipped with an E-Z Pass transponder. Motorcycles will not have to pay tolls to use either the 495 Express Lanes or the soon-to-be-opening 95 Express Lanes. The Secretary’s office asked me to thank you and respond to your question regarding motorcycle use on the HOV/HOT lanes. Below is the email that we received in response to our inquiry: There is simply no logical reason to require a transponder, which in automobiles and trucks can be turned on or off depending on the number of people occupying the vehicle. Additionally, unlike automobiles and trucks, motorcycles are always considered high occupancy vehicles and are never required to pay to use the express lanes. There is no reliable way to mount a transponder to a motorcycle, especially motorcycles without windshields. This has concerned many motorcyclists in the Northern Virginia area. Recently, signage has gone up along the newly constructed HOV/HOT lanes stating that in order to use the lanes, every motor vehicle must be equipped with a transponder. VDOT assured us that since motorcycles are already considered high occupancy vehicles under state code, there was no need to require a transponder to use the express lanes. We had previously discussed this issue with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and had been told that motorcycles would not be required to be equipped with a transponder. On these HOV/HOT express lanes, E-Z Pass transponders automatically deduct tolls from the owner of a motor vehicle when the vehicle does not qualifying as a high occupancy vehicle. As the unveiling of the newest HOV/HOT lanes in Northern Virginia has drawn closer, there has been much consternation among motorcyclists about whether the Commonwealth is going to require motorcycles to be equipped with an E-Z Pass transponder in order to use the lanes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |