TransCore Accelerates Electronic Toll Collection to the Speed Limit at World-Class Test Track; Open Road Tolling Research to Expand on Decade of Experience

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--March 13, 2004--TransCore announces construction of a world-class test track facility to design sophisticated open road tolling (ORT) wireless applications, expanding on the company's success with the Oklahoma Turnpike, Dallas North Tollway and the George Bush Turnpike. The Albuquerque track, located near TransCore's Amtech Technology Center for RFID research, development and manufacturing, will serve as a hub for electronic toll collection design innovations. Since the mid 1990s early adopters have used express lane formats for open road tolling and the new test track will evaluate expanded wireless design scenarios that contemplate the complete elimination of barriers (e.g. toll booths or medians) enabling free-flow of traffic among multiple lanes.

Testing in New Mexico first began in 1985 during the early days of the technology. TransCore began operating a formal test track in New Mexico in 2001 as well as maintaining a San Diego-based test track. The new and larger track, located at Albuquerque's Fiesta Balloon Festival Park, is one-third of a mile long, with six lanes at its widest point and three lanes at its narrowest and is equipped with the latest innovations in automatic vehicle identification technology.

With the surging mobility crisis and an enormous increase in traffic nationally, the need to eliminate choke points on high traffic thoroughfares has accelerated. During the late 80s and early 90s in metropolitan locations around the world, electronic toll collection helped to dramatically decrease vehicle queuing at toll plazas, speed throughput and significantly improve the quality of life for commuters and communities. Building on this successful model, toll authorities are looking for ways to further speed vehicles through toll plazas. Open road tolling allows electronic toll collection transactions to occur under normal highway driving conditions, eliminating plaza barriers and creating a new toll road design that mitigates congestion.

A recent report by E-ZPass(R) in New Jersey showed that more than 9 out of 10 motorists who use the E-ZPass system to pay for tolls prefer express lanes, rather than using slower tollbooth lanes that accept E-ZPass. As in many areas of the country, as they approach a toll zone, New Jersey E-ZPass users must make a decision to use one or more dedicated express lanes and then maneuver towards them to avoid longer lines at single lane booths that accept cash, or cash plus E-ZPass. These single tollbooth lanes require a slower driving speed for safety, even if the motorist is paying the toll electronically.

Open road tolling, first deployed in the U.S. by TransCore in Oklahoma, is making quick inroads with motorists nationwide, who are demanding even greater convenience. Oklahoma's PIKEPASS system is the first and largest open-road ETC system in the world, allowing motorists to automatically pay tolls at highway speeds. Developed in the early 1990s, it is a statewide system, encompassing nearly 600 miles, 10 turnpikes, 453 lanes and more than 500,000 users. In 2000, TransCore was awarded a $33 million contract to upgrade and replace the entire toll collection system and add 164 new ETC lanes.

Ultimately, as more and more motorists migrate to electronic toll payment, toll authorities imagine roads that are primarily an open-road design, eliminating toll plaza congestion, improving motorist safety and controlling operational costs. The Florida Department of Transportation recently partnered with TransCore for a system demonstration to position for a gradual shift to open road tolling, and other toll authorities are responding to the trend as well. Open road tolling is being built into the design of new roads, and existing plaza areas are being retrofitted to allow for it.

TransCore's experience in electronic toll collection, customer service and violation processing is extensive, including projects with some of the largest toll authorities in the world, including Hong Kong, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and in the U.S. the Delaware Department of Transportation, Denver's E-470 Public Highway Authority, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, Houston's Harris County Toll Road Authority, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the North Texas Tollway Authority, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and the Virginia Department of Transportation.

About TransCore

TransCore is a privately held transportation services company with 1,800 employees and more than 80 locations globally. With installations in 39 countries, 80-plus patents and a world-class manufacturing facility, TransCore's expertise in providing system-based applications that improve transportation efficiency is unparalleled. For more information, visit www.transcore.com.