The E-ZPass Group, a consortium of toll roads and bridges across the eastern USA, has announced that the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) will be the first toll agency in Florida to accept E-ZPass for payment on designated roads in the Metro Orlando region.
Beginning in early spring 2018, the more than 35 million E-ZPass customers in 16 states from Maine to North Carolina and west through Illinois will experience the convenience of non-stop travel in metropolitan Orlando without the need to use cash at toll plazas.
Founded in 1993 with seven agencies in three states, the E-ZPass Group will now have 38 toll agencies in 17 states participating in the interoperable program with the addition of the CFX. The move is seen as another step toward the USA’s goal of nationwide electronic toll collection (ETC) interoperability (NIOP).
The CFX operates a 118 mile-long (190km) system of expressways in the Orlando region, serving Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. It processes more than one million transactions per day, with more than 80% of CFX drivers paying electronically via the existing E-PASS toll-transponder system. The more than half a million E-PASS transponders in circulation in Metro Orlando and throughout Florida will not function at existing E-ZPass facilities. However, CFX E-PASS customers will have the opportunity, if they choose, to request a special tag that does work at all E-ZPass toll plazas in the region.
“Expanding our network into Florida is wonderful news for E-ZPass customers who count themselves among the estimated 68 million annual visitors to the Orlando area,” said E-ZPass Group executive director PJ Wilkins. “One of our main objectives is to improve the ease and uninterrupted travel that E-ZPass customers enjoy, and portability to the Sunshine State is certainly a common request.”
E-ZPass Group executive committee chair Craig R Shuey added, “Continuing to expand E-ZPass helps toll operators become more efficient and better prepared to manage growth. Our efforts to grow into other markets ultimately boost mobility, safety, and customer value across all the regions we serve.”
CFX chairman and Orlando’s Mayor, Buddy Dyer, commented, “As the first agency to offer electronic toll collection in the State of Florida, it is only fitting that we are the first to accept E-ZPass as payment on our system. We are thrilled that more visitors than ever will experience seamless travel on the beltway that connects our community.”
