TOLLING: Raytheon receives $130 million for electronic tolling

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation awarded Raytheon Co. a $130 million contract for an All Electronic Tolling System (AETS). Raytheon and a team of Massachusetts-based companies will convert and replace all manual cash and electronic toll collection systems with an advanced system that will automatically toll vehicles as they travel under a gantry similar to an overhead sign. Drivers will be able to pass through the toll station at highway speeds without the need to slow down or stop.

The AETS will reduce congestion, travel times and vehicle emissions from stop and go driving at existing toll plazas. Vehicles equipped with existing E-ZPass transponders will work on the new AETS. The system will perform Image Based Tolling (IBT) at highway speeds on non EZ-Pass vehicles and send a toll invoice to the registered owner of the vehicle. 

The installation process is expected to begin in April 2015 and continue through December 2015. Raytheon will convert the Western Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), Metropolitan Highway System, Sumner/Callahan and Ted Williams Tunnels and the Tobin Bridge. The first phase of the project is the conversion of the Weston/Route 128 Interchange.