Port of Hood River and Kapsch TrafficCom Introduce First Tolling System Deployment Based on 5.9 GHz DSRC WAVE in U.S.

(Hood River, Oregon) - Port of Hood River is the first road operator in the United States to deploy an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system based on the advanced 5.9 GHz DSRC WAVE technology platform. The installation of the equipment provided by Kapsch TrafficCom on the Hood River – White Salmon Interstate Bridge, located between Hood River, Oregon and White Salmon, Washington, was completed on September 8. 2010. Kapsch TrafficCom U.S. Corp.’s Managing Director Richard Arce stated, "We are very excited about the Port of Hood River’s decision to be the first agency in the U.S. to deploy a high-performance 5.9 GHz DSRC toll system".

The deployment of the first 5.9 GHz DSRC WAVE based ETC-System is a tremendous milestone for tolling systems in the United States. The first phase installation is in a bypass lane on the side of the existing toll plaza, which supports the BreezeBy program. "The Port Of Hood River is pleased to provide our users with this advanced platform, which we see as the future vision for tolling and advanced ITS applications in the Columbia/Hood River region. Since 1933, we see transportation as a key element to support the growth of our region and today we are continuing that tradition with the use of advanced technologies, that will improve our operating efficiencies, and enhance our service" said Michael McElwee, Executive Director of the Port of Hood River about the deployment.

Kapsch TrafficCom is the first tolling system provider to launch FCC-certified tolling equipment based on 5.9 GHz DSRC WAVE and is excited to demonstrate the capabilities of the system in a live deployment. “The first deployment of a 5.9-based tolling system is a bench-mark moment for the deployment of next generation toll systems that focus on performance and accuracy, while processing transactions with banking-grade security. We share our excitement with the Port of Hood River and thank the port commission for their leadership and role in inviting us to showcase the innovative and advanced capabilities of our system,” said Mr. Arce.

The 5.9 GHz DSRC WAVE technology platform enables greater accuracy than seen in legacy systems. Notably, it performs exceedingly well in high speed open road tolling (ORT) environments and offers additional capability, such as encryption of transactions with banking-grade security and lane-level localization of the transponder, while providing interoperability through open protocols. It also supports a number of advanced communication capabilities between the vehicle and the roadside, which enhance vehicle safety and provide added value services to the drivers, currently not available through legacy tolling technologies. Kapsch TrafficCom provides a FCC-certified solution to the Port of Hood River that is simple to install and easy-to-maintain with low operational costs.

For the first phase, the Port of Hood River 5.9 GHz DSRC WAVE system operates in parallel to the bridge’s original 915 MHz-based RFID system allowing the users of the Hood River Bridge an opportunity to see and compare both systems in operation side-by-side.
VIA PRWeb