This Is Traffic That Doesn’t Compute

A clash of technology is forcing drivers to choose between electronic transponders issued by tollway agencies for use on toll roads and those issued by the Border Patrol for a commuter lane at the immigration checkpoint near San Clemente.

Both devices use the same frequency. But they are incompatible because one is used for collecting tolls and the other for hurrying through a federal checkpoint. Drivers who would normally be able to use both are being forced to choose one.

All of which has some commuters fuming.

“It’s stupid. What’s the sense of issuing incompatible transponders that can only be used on separate systems?” said Charles DeMarco, an Orange County business owner. DeMarco has a transponder issued by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which manage three local toll roads, and until recently he could also use the commuter lane at the San Clemente checkpoint.

Both agencies are working on a solution, with a compatible system expected to be up and running in a month.

The Border Patrol’s commuter lane--called PAL for Pre-Authorized Lane--was opened in 1997 and used bar code stickers and readers. On April 1, the Border Patrol switched to transponders, presenting a problem for some drivers authorized to use the lane, Agent Fernando Grijalva said.

He estimated that 35% of the 1,500 vehicles authorized to use the PAL also use transponders issued by the tollway agencies. These vehicles were not given Border Patrol transponders, he said.

TCA spokeswoman Lisa Telles said that about 300,000 transponders--called FasTrak--have been issued to toll road users. FasTrak units can also be used on other roadways throughout California where fees are collected electronically.

FasTrak transponders are issued when a prepaid account is established, and fees are deducted electronically. Border Patrol transponders are free, once an applicant passes a criminal background check.

“The problem we have is that FasTrak is a currency-based system. Ours is free, and they are two different systems,” Grijalva said. “PAL users have to undergo a security check to make sure they don’t have a criminal background. All FasTrak users have to do is keep money in their accounts.”

Compounding the problem: Information compiled by the Border Patrol on PAL users is confidential, and federal officials are concerned about others possibly gaining access to it.

Telles said the compatible system being developed would enable PAL users to sail along on local tollways if they open an account, and FasTrak users who pass a background check to use the faster commuter lane at the San Clemente checkpoint.

“We are about to enter into an agreement with the Border Patrol. FasTrak users who also want to use the PAL lane will have to get a new transponder from the Border Patrol,” she said. “If you already have a PAL transponder, we’ll be able to take that coding and integrate it into our system to establish a FasTrak account for drivers who want to use our roads.”

Vehicles with a PAL transponder but not a FasTrak account will be cited if they use the toll roads without paying, Telles said. Conversely, Grijalva said vehicles with FasTrak transponders that have not received PAL clearance will be stopped and possibly searched.

Drivers like DeMarco say the incompatibility problems cannot be ironed out soon enough.

“My business takes me to San Diego County quite a bit, and it’s frustrating having to crawl along with other cars as they make their way through the checkpoint when the PAL lane is also available. It’s not just the business trips. My wife is from Rosarito, so we rely on the PAL lane a lot,” he said.

Grijalva said many PAL users wanted to continue using the old bar code system to go through the checkpoint commuter lane while a single system is developed. “We had to tell them that the bar code reader is no longer being used, and we can’t issue them a transponder until a solution is worked out [with the tollway agencies]. You can’t use the PAL lane without a transponder, even if you’ve already passed a background check,” he said.

Frank Barbagallo, deputy director of toll operations for the tollway agencies, said vehicles are allowed to use multiple transponders if the devices use different frequencies.

FasTrak, licensed by the TCA, is the standard established by Caltrans for collecting tolls throughout the state, he said, and uses “the same radio frequency . . . throughout the state. The problem here arose when the Border Patrol decided to use the same frequency for its PAL transponder. The same frequency is being used for two different systems.”