FloridaÔÇÖs Turnpike Enterprise

Driving smiles┬áFloridaÔÇÖs Turnpike Enterprise keeps its focus on fiscal responsibility, safety and customer service to achieve high satisfaction ratings from motorists, Linda Seid Frembes finds out. FloridaÔÇÖs Turnpike Enterprise oversees more than 460 miles of roadway that service 1.8 million drivers each day. Opened in January 1957, the nearly 52-year-old toll highway has expanded its footprint while increasing revenue and improving efficiency.  It is responsible for all toll operations on every Florida Department of Transportation-owned and operated toll road and bridge, representing 80 percent of all toll facilities in the state. ÔÇ£We operate under five common goals: safety, excellent customer service, maintaining a well-trained staff, fiscal soundness for our bond holders and speed of delivery on our projects,ÔÇØ explains Jennifer Olson, deputy executive director/COO for FloridaÔÇÖs Turnpike.The agency oversees all highway operations including construction management, traffic operations, materials testing, planning, design engineering, electronic toll collection, and business development and concession management for the toll highway. ÔÇ£FloridaÔÇÖs Turnpike runs down the middle of the state from just south of Gainesville to Homestead,ÔÇØ says Olson. ÔÇ£The challenge is that we serve both commuters and tourists, with large areas of regional traffic that are either highly urbanized or in rural parts of the state. Because we cover such a large geographical area, the Turnpike also coordinates with seven other FDOT districts on projects in areas where there is overlap in jurisdiction.ÔÇØMost recently, the challenge has been lower traffic volumes and reduced revenue due to the slowing economy. The agency must focus, therefore, on developing a work program that still serves the publicÔÇÖs needs while maintaining fiscal prudence. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre diligent about prioritizing projects. ItÔÇÖs a skill we learned several years ago when material prices were rising faster than the budget,ÔÇØ says Will Sloup, director of planning and production for the Turnpike. ÔÇ£Instead of totally deferring projects to another year, we shrank the scale of the projects, i.e., four versus six miles.ÔÇØOlson points out that cars must slow down or stop at tollbooths constructed before the advent of electronic toll collection, which makes congestion worse. ÔÇ£Eight months ago, the engineering group designed and constructed an open road tolling (ORT) system for several parts of the Turnpike. It cut out the middle lanes of toll plazas so that cars can travel through the plazas at posted highway speeds without slowing down. ItÔÇÖs an interim step that delivers the service,ÔÇØ she says. ÔÇ£A stretch of roadway can accommodate 2,100 cars per hour with open road tolling versus 400 cars per hour in the staffed lanes.ÔÇØ All new interchange toll plazas are being constructed as electronic collection only, while the Turnpike continues on its course of converting existing plazas to ORT. ÔÇ£If we were to add more tollbooths in an attempt to ease congestion,ÔÇØ Olson explains, ÔÇ£there would be right-of-way purchases, widening of the road, and the additional cost of building the tollbooth.ÔÇØ There would also be after-construction costs added to regular O&M budgets: wages for the collectors, air conditioning, building upkeep and so on. ÔÇ£Besides,ÔÇØ she adds, ÔÇ£itÔÇÖs a Catch-22. You canÔÇÖt build your way out of congestion at the plazas by adding lanes.ÔÇØ The key to ORT is motoristsÔÇÖ participation in the SunPass program, FDOTÔÇÖs prepaid toll program. Patrons can either purchase a transponder for their vehicle for $25 or choose the more affordable option of a SunPass Mini window sticker for $4.99. As an added incentive to help customers make the switch from old to new technology, the Turnpike offers that $4.99 back as a rebate amount added to the prepaid account. Other current incentives to jump to SunPass include a 25 percent rebate at most toll plazas across the Turnpike system. Most rental car companies offer customers the option of signing up for a program that will automatically debit their credit card for tolls. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs a great program,ÔÇØ notes Olson. ÔÇ£Tourists are usually heavy on credit cards and travelerÔÇÖs checks, not cash. ItÔÇÖs just another service option we offer customers.ÔÇØUsing SunPass, motorists can have the tolls debited from their bank account. According to Olson, the Turnpike is also looking into other options to open the prepay toll program to more users. ÔÇ£There is also the SunCash option. ItÔÇÖs in development, but when we launch it, customers can go to retail stores and load their SunPass account with cash,ÔÇØ she adds. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre also looking into video tolling, where a camera image of the license plate is used for billing. ItÔÇÖs similar to the technology we use to verify ticket violators, and weÔÇÖre conducting a pilot test on a non-connected road in the Tampa Bay area. If we go with video tolling as a new option, every agency in the state will have to adopt it or it wonÔÇÖt work.ÔÇØIn addition to tolls, FloridaÔÇÖs Turnpike earns revenue from food and fuel sales at the eight service plazas located along the 312-mile mainline. The service plazas are spaced approximately 40 miles apart and offer a selection of fast food restaurants and travel sundries, managed by HMS Host. ÔÇ£The biggest challenge is consistent customer service, especially in rural areas. HMS Host deploys a van that will bring employees to work at more rural service plazas,ÔÇØ says Olson.The Turnpike also partners with all its concessionaires and consultants for a customer service training program called ÔÇ£We Drive Smiles,ÔÇØ which emphasizes safety, courtesy, efficiency and presentation to the customer. ÔÇ£The program focuses on how they present themselves as the face of the Turnpike and how they respond to customers. ItÔÇÖs important to motorists that every person they encounter on the Turnpike treats them the same way. The Turnpike may be their first contact with a Floridian. We want to make sure we provide a professional and friendly welcome. Tourism is still our foremost industry; we want them to come back,ÔÇØ says Olson.The Turnpike, which doesnÔÇÖt receive any revenue from the stateÔÇÖs gas tax, often uses creative public/private partnerships and innovative ways to work with developers, private industry, and county government to achieve success on roadway projects. Olson points out that the Walt Disney Company donated 200 acres to build the Western Beltway, also known as SR429. ÔÇ£This last step completed the interim beltway, which reduces traffic on I-4, offers an alternate way into the Disney complex, and takes employees off the tourist corridor,ÔÇØ she explains. ÔÇ£Our projects must pass the feasibility test and be self-sufficient,ÔÇØ she adds, ÔÇ£but most important, they must provide a solution for a real transportation need.ÔÇØ┬á