Leave the Quarters at Home : Transit: On the first fully automated tollway, the fare--up to $2.50 per trip--will be deducted electronically from a prepaid account. The road opens late next month.

By KAREN D’SOUZA

Oct. 25, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM HILLS —

Motorists hoping to zip up the Riverside Freeway’s new toll lanes will pay from 25 cents to $2.50 for a 10-mile trip on the world’s first fully automated toll road, complete with lasers, cameras and antennas.

Officials with the privately financed project said at a press conference Tuesday that commuters will pay one of five prices: 25 cents, 50 cents, $1, $1.50 or $2.50, depending on time of day and direction of travel between Riverside County and the Costa Mesa Freeway. “We’re on the verge of a new era in California transportation,” said Gerald Pfeffer, managing director of the California Private Transportation Co., which began building the $126-million project in 1993. “This is a modern, pay-as-you-go road.”

Opening in late November, 91 Express Lanes is designed to relieve congestion along the route traveled by about 250,000 motorists daily. The lanes will be separated into two eastbound and two westbound. Pfeffer said the prices are geared to keep traffic flowing at all hours of the day.

“The prices are set to control congestion and maintain the speed at 55 m.p.h.,” he said. “In the heart of rush hour, there will be no stopping and no slowing.”

Journey westbound from Riverside County to the Costa Mesa Freeway at 9 p.m. and pay 25 cents. Travel the other way at 4 p.m. and pay $2.50.

To avoid confusion, prices and driving conditions will be posted on electronic signs at the entrances to the road. The average toll is estimated at $1.50. Car pools with three or more people can use a special lane and travel the roadway for free.

There will be no cash tolls on the road.

The tollbooth-free road will be open to cars equipped with a toll-tracking transponder that works like an electronic debit card. The 3 1/4-inch plastic device attaches to a vehicle’s dashboard with Velcro.

As a car passes under the overhead toll device, antennae read the account information contained on the transponder’s microchip and instantly deduct the toll for the trip. The antennae can scan cars traveling as fast as 100 miles an hour.

Motorists must pay at least $40 worth of toll in advance to get a transponder, which can be ordered by calling (800) 600-9191 or through the mail. The devices are also used on the Foothill Transportation Corridor in southern Orange County.

Three cameras hanging over the roadway will record the license plate number of vehicles without a transponder. The owners of those cars can receive fines of $100 to $300. Observers will be stationed nearby to make sure that no one cheats on the car-pool lane.

An on-road customer service patrol will be on hand to help motorists with flats and empty gas tanks. California Highway Patrol officers will be contracted to enforce the 55-m.p.h. speed limit and other traffic laws.

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High-Tech Highway

The first privately owned and operated toll road built in the country in 50 years is expected to alleviate congestion on the Riverside Freeway in Orange County. There are no tollbooths. Instead, commuters will be billed automatically by computer.

Automated Toll Collection

1. Transponder attached to lower inside left corner of windshield.

2. Motorists with transponders enter toll lanes at either end of tollway.

3. Overhead sensor reads vehicle’s transponder and deducts toll from prepaid account.

4. Car-poolers are verified by tollway workers at road’s midpoint.

5. Cameras record license numbers of cars without transponders; violators stopped by California Highway Patrol or ticketed by mail.

Smart Road

Cameras monitor traffic

Car-pools with three or more occupants drive free, but transponder is still required.

Fast Facts

Road opens: Late November

Length: 10 miles