Finance:Smart Tag

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Smart Tag is the former name of a transponder-based electronic toll collection system implemented by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). It was launched as Fastoll on April 15, 1996. Fastoll was rebranded as Smart Tag in 1998,[1] and was placed under the umbrella of Smart Travel. In November 2007, the Smart Tag brand name was retired in favor of E-ZPass Virginia, several years after the Smart Tag system became a part of the E-ZPass network.

Originally, Smart Tag only operated at certain toll roads and crossings in Virginia. The system became interoperable with the E-ZPass toll collection system on October 27, 2004,[2] although Richmond Metropolitan Authority owned toll roads—Boulevard Bridge, the Downtown Expressway, and the Powhite Parkway (excluding the extension)—did not begin accepting E-ZPass until August 3, 2005;[3] E-ZPass integration had been delayed due to damages from Tropical Storm Gaston. Smart Tag branded transponders operate throughout the E-ZPass network, and E-ZPass branded transponders operate at all E-ZPass Virginia (formerly Smart Tag) toll collection points.

Roads and crossings that accept Smart Tag/E-ZPass Virginia/E-ZPass:

  • Dulles Toll Road from Falls Church to Dulles International Airport (DC suburbs).
  • Dulles Greenway, a privately owned highway from Dulles to Leesburg.
  • Downtown Expressway in Richmond.
  • Powhite Parkway and Powhite Parkway Extension in Richmond and Chesterfield County.
  • Boulevard Bridge (the "Nickel Bridge", though it costs 45 cents now) in Richmond
  • Pocahontas Parkway in Chesterfield and Henrico County.
  • Chesapeake Expressway in Chesapeake.
  • George P. Coleman Bridge, across the York River near Newport News (U.S. Highway 17).
  • Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
  • Any road or crossing in the E-ZPass network.

References

  1. Lyons, David (2002). Surveillance as Social Sorting: Privacy, Risk and Digital Discrimination. Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 0-415-27872-4.  [1]
  2. "SMART TAG AND E-ZPASS MERGE OCT. 27". Virginia Department of Transportation. 2004-10-22. http://www.virginiadot.org/news/hampton_roads/2004/smart_tag_and_e-zpass15274.asp. 
  3. Richmond Metropolitan Authority, August 3, 2005 (accessed through the Internet Archives)

External links