On a "Save on Tolls" website, former football defensive end Hall of Famer Leroy
Selmon says he never liked quarterbacks. So now he's telling commuters
how to "get their quarter back."
The
Leroy Selmon Expressway
is going electronic in September 2010, according to Sue Chrzan at the
Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority. "It looks like everything will
be in place by Friday, Sept. 17, 2010, so that we are ready for the
Monday morning commute," she says.
The expressway, which runs from the
Gandy Bridge in
South Tampa to the
Brandon Town Center,
is being outfitted with equipment and cameras, and its toll booths are
being demolished to accommodate a smoother commute for drivers.
Commuters with a
SunPass transponder will save a quarter at each electronic tolling point.
On the
Save on Tolls website, Selmon, a former
Tampa Bay Buccaneer and
restauranteur, explains the benefits of an all-electronic tolling system
along his signature road. He says those benefits include savings on
time, gas and emissions as well as decreased accidents due to slowed
traffic at toll booths. Those without a transponder will be billed
through toll-by-plate technology, through which gantry-mounted cameras
will take a picture of a vehicle's license plate as it passes through
the tolling point. The bill will be sent to the address on the vehicle's
registration.
According to Chrzan, it was a good time
to go electronic because existing cash and electronic equipment needed to
be replaced. Chrzan says less than 25 percent of Selmon Expressway
drivers paid cash, which is a costly way to collect tolls.
Commuters who buy a SunPass mini-transponder online or at
Publix or CVS for $4.99 and deposit $10 into their account will get a $4.99 credit. The pass is good statewide.
Writer:
Missy Kavanaugh
Source: Sue Chrzan, Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority
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