SERVICES PROVIDED
- Manual and electronic toll collection
- Customer Service Center operations
- Violations Processing Center operations
- Video-based tolling
- Courtesy patrols
- Traffic/revenue reconciliation and reporting
The $3.6 billion Central Texas Turnpike is a 65-mile-long toll-road system in Austin, Texas, operated and maintained by URS. One of the most high-tech toll-road systems in the country, it includes seven mainline toll plazas, the largest of which has 22 lanes and six express lanes. The toll-road system supports the rapidly growing area and is part of a plan to reduce traffic congestion, enhance safety, improve air quality and expand economic opportunity in the area.
Under a contract awarded by the Texas Turnpike Authority (a division of the Texas Department of Transportation), URS was responsible for all startup activities for the toll-road system and began full-service operations when it opened to traffic in January 2007. The final phase of the system was completed in April 2008. During the startup phase, the URS project team worked closely with the Texas Turnpike Authority to develop rules, procedures and reporting systems, as well as an innovative marketing and distribution campaign.
The marketing program resulted in the highest electronic toll collection participation rate ever experienced by a new toll road system in the United States – reaching 75 percent of the customer base only one month after the official opening of the first segment. This extremely high participation rate is an historical benchmark for a new toll road system in the United States, and earned national recognition. In 2007, TxDOT and URS were collective recipients of the 2007 International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) Innovation Award for Customer Service.
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