llinois signs new I-Pass deal on strength of Jewel-Osco sales

llinois signs new I-Pass deal on strength of Jewel-Osco sales

llinois' I-Pass transponders are selling fast, and the recent boost in sales is the result of offering them at Jewel-Osco food and drug stores, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority said it sold 1,300 new transponders just on Nov. 23, the first day they were made available at 195 Jewel-Osco stores in northern Illinois. The stores sold about 20,000 transponders in their first two weeks on sale, according to the Chicago Tribune report. Jewel-Osco was selling the tags much faster than the toll authority's website, which sold 60,000 since they were made available there in June.

As a result of the increased sales, the toll authority's finance committee voted to increase its contract with IGOR the Watchdog Group from $150,000 to $581,000 to distribute the transponders and develop marketing materials. The full board was scheduled to vote on the proposal in mid-December.

"Making I-Pass available at Jewel-Osco is the type of customer service that is central to my reform agenda at the Illinois Tollway," said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a statement. "We want to increase the use of I-Pass because it reduces congestion and gets traffic moving on our state's busiest roadways."

I-Pass transponders are sold at Jewel-Osco for $50, which includes a $10 deposit for the transponder and $40 in prepaid tolls.

Reducing congestion is a major priority for the Illinois toll authority, which is aggressively promoting I-Pass and creating more I-Pass lanes. In early December, the authority opened an I-Pass-only lane at the River Road toll plaza in the eastbound lanes of the Northwest Tollway. The toll plaza was the last one without an I-Pass lane. Now motorists can drive the entire mainline of the Illinois tollway system without stopping to pay tolls.

I-Pass usage now stands at about 40% of rush-hour motorists; the toll authority hopes to boost usage to 75%.

N.J. pursuing toll cheats

Toll evaders in New Jersey have racked up $12 million in unpaid tolls and fees since late March, and the state is going after them, according to an Associated Press report. These toll cheats are being sent letters demanding that they pay up.

The top 10 toll evaders owe a total of $125,000, and the worst offender alone owes $79,520 in tolls and fees.

"I have all the confidence in the world that these people are still out there violating, and these are the kinds of people who are going to find themselves in court," Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, told The Record of Bergen County.

The state's E-ZPass contractor is ACS State and Local Solutions, which has hired a total of three collection agencies to send out the letters. They are collecting for toll violations after March 25, 2003. Before repairs on that date, officials said, the toll equipment was too unreliable to be sure the violations were recorded accurately.

"I think once it's known out there that we are serious about collecting it, I think the rate of payment starts to increase," Department of Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere said.

Quixote acquires Peek Corp.

Quixote Corp., the Chicago-based maker of highway safety products, has acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of the North American operations of Peek Corp., a worldwide supplier of transportation safety solutions. The $15.4 million purchase price consists of $10.9 million in cash and $4.5 million in Quixote common stock. The acquired business, now known as Peek Traffic Corp., had revenues of approximately $25 million for the year ended Nov. 30, 2003.

Headquartered in Palmetto, Fla., Peek Traffic was a pioneer in traffic systems dating back almost 90 years to the first electric traffic signal installed in North America. It is a major supplier of intersection control systems, advanced vehicle detection and classification products and automated red-light enforcement systems.

"The acquisition of Peek Traffic Corp. represents another important step in Quixote's progress toward becoming the one-stop shop for transportation safety solutions," Leslie J. Jezuit, chairman and chief executive officer of Quixote, commented. "This acquisition provides us with complementary intersection control products with a large installed base, exciting new products, an experienced distribution channel to better penetrate the city, county and municipal markets as well as the opportunity for operational efficiencies.

"Peek's NEMA-type traffic controllers together with U.S. Traffic's Caltrans-based products give Quixote a full spectrum of product offerings to address all traffic control needs in the North American marketplace," Jezuit continued. "In addition, we are particularly excited about Peek's red-light enforcement product line which we believe has significant growth potential. This system of cameras, software and back-office operations addresses the growing desire of municipalities to maintain safety at intersections where thousands of accidents and injuries are caused by red-light violations.

"While we remain enthusiastic about our business prospects over the longer term, we continue to feel the negative effects of the postponement of a federal highway bill. At the same time, state budgetary constraints continue as many states encounter budget deficits. We believe these factors may have resulted in a delay of orders from our customers. Currently, we expect sales for our second quarter to decline approximately 15% organically from the second quarter last year."

Jezuit said the 15% decline was due, in part, to last year's record second quarter results, which make this year's second quarter seem smaller by comparison.

Birmingham ITS makes slow progress

Birmingham, Ala., is moving in the direction of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) on its area highways, but there have been some bumps in the road, the Birmingham News reported.

The state's highway officials would like to have a way to divert traffic around incidents, such as the ones that shut down I-20/59 on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but the message boards that were installed in 2001 were faulty and were removed in May 2003.

The boards have since been replaced but will not be operational until early this year. When they function, they will be programmed to give drivers specific information about routes around an incident.

The $40 million ITS plan for the Birmingham Division of the Alabama DOT includes traffic cameras, message boards, a state traffic control center, the Alabama Service Assistance Patrol, "pathfinder" signs and many new traffic signal systems along secondary highways.

In the second and third phases of the plan, the state will complete tasks such as replacing traffic signals on secondary highways with signals that can be programmed to give longer green lights on diversion routes.

ITSA has new home

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America moved into new offices as of Dec. 22, 2003.

The new address is 1100 17th St., N.W., Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20036.

The main telephone number for the new office stayed the same (202/484-4847) as did the fax number (202/474-3483). The new telephone numbers for individual staff members are available on the ITS America website (www.itsa.org).

The association also adopted a new philosophy, announced at the World Congress on ITS in Madrid in November. "Zero Fatalities/Zero Delays" commits ITS America--and calls on the entire ITS industry--to pursue a state of zero fatalities, zero injuries and zero delays. The new guiding principle states that "instead of pursuing 'acceptable' levels of highway fatalities, injuries and delays, the industry should vigorously work toward elimination of these wholly unacceptable consequences." TME

--edited by Allen Zeyher

Scranton Gillette chairman, CEO passes away

Halbert Scranton Gillette, chairman of the board and CEO of Scranton Gillette Communications, publishers of Roads & Bridges and TM+E magazines, passed away on Nov. 22, 2003, due to complications from chemotherapy after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.

Born in Chicago on June 29, 1922, the son of Edward Scranton Gillette and Claribel Reed Thornton was raised in Chicago and Winnetka, Ill.

He was chairman of the board and CEO of Scranton Gillette Communications Inc., which specializes in trade magazines and was founded in 1906 by his grandfather. Mr. Gillette started as a salesman for Gillette Publishing in 1947. In 1960, two-thirds of Gillette Publishing Co. was sold to Ruben H. Donnelly, which then was merging with Dun & Bradstreet. Mr. Gillette also moved to Donnelly/Dun & Bradstreet as a publisher and a vice president. In 1970, he rejoined his father's company, then Scranton Publishing Co., and shortly became president of the company, which was renamed Scranton Gillette Communications.

He will be missed.