Phoenix, AZ (October 10, 2002) – With more than 1,000 trucks equipped with the FusionTM transponder, HELP Inc. and the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) today announced that PrePass Plus went live. This cooperative pilot program enables truckers to use one transponder for both weigh station pre-clearance and electronic payment of tolls. This new service is offered as the result of a partnership between HELP and NYSTA.
“PrePass Plus allows us to achieve our long time goal of “One Truck; One Transponder,” said John Platt, executive director of NYSTA; chairman of the E-ZPassSM Interagency Group; and chairman of ITS America’s CVO Technical Committee. “The joining of these two technologies is long overdue and will have a positive impact on our transportation system.”
The HELP-NYSTA agreement will enable participating carriers to electronically comply with state safety and credential requirements at more than 200 PrePass weigh stations nationwide. At the same time, HELP’s partnership with NYSTA will enable participating carriers the opportunity to electronically pay tolls at nearly 400 E-ZPassSM toll plaza facilities in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts and West Virginia.
“PrePass Plus is an exciting new development for the trucking industry,” stated Duane Henn, Vice President of Safety, Werner Enterprises, Inc. “The FusionTM tag will allow our drivers to perform their jobs more efficiently and safely.”
ACS will be providing HELP and NYSTA integrated billing and service center functions that will make the pilot possible. ACS, a premier provider of business process and information technology outsourcing solutions to commercial and government clients worldwide, including more than 230 state and local government clients through its State and Local Solutions unit, is the system integrator and operator of the PrePass system.
“For more than five years I’ve been asking for this interoperability” reported Dan Einwechter, president and CEO of Challenger Motor Freight in Cambridge, ON and the first carrier to volunteer for the project. “I’m pleased we now have the technology and institutional arrangements in place to deliver an important, value-added service to truckers. I’d now like to see what incremental functionality we can get out of that same box – border crossing efficiency or compatibility with other toll authorities would be where I’d urge the partners to look. These are services for which carriers are willing to pay.”
New technology introduced by MARK IV has made the project possible. Current ETC and pre-clearance transponders utilize different protocols. MARK IV Fusion CVO transponders combine in one device the IAG’s toll protocol with the TDMA protocol used by HELP. MARK IV provides the backbone technology infrastructure for the E-ZPassSM system.
“PrePass Plus exemplifies a public-private partnership offering innovative business solutions to improve transportation. We’re proud to partner with NYSTA to offer commercial carriers the seamless interoperability of this new service,” said Richard P. Landis, president and CEO of HELP Inc.
Additional information is available at
www.e-zpassny.com