ETC wins 2019 Toll Excellence Award for Central United States Interoperability Hub
The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) has announced Richardson-based ETC has been awarded the 2019 Toll Excellence Private Sector Award for the development of a central United States interoperability hub across seven participating toll agencies in three states (Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas), meeting National Interoperability Standards and paving the way for a national interoperability system.
The 2019 Toll Excellence Awards will formally be presented during IBTTA’s 87th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, Sept. 15-17, 2019 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. One recipient will be honored with the prestigious President’s Award for Excellence during the awards ceremony.
ETC was selected for private sector award for development of a hub providing efficient and effective flow between seven participating toll agencies, the organization said in a news release.
IBTTA is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve tolling. Founded in 1932, IBTTA has members in 23 countries on six continents.
“ETC’s development of a central United States interoperability hub helps move our industry forward, one step closer to national interoperability giving drivers a seamless mobility experience. ETC has taken on a tough transportation challenge and worked with toll agencies to find a practical solution,” Patrick Jones, Executive Director and CEO of IBTTA, said in the release.
“Our teams put a lot of thought, a lot of creativity and many, many hours to deliver a high-performance, future-proof product for the member agencies, and it is very rewarding to see our drive for innovation and our hard work recognized in the industry,” said ETC, Executive Vice President Kevin Holbert.
Background on the 2019 Toll Excellence Private Sector Award
The charge to Electronic Transaction Consultants Corporation (ETC) from the Central United States Interoperability (CUSIOP) Hub project was to design, develop, test and implement a new interoperability hub system that complied with U.S. national interoperability standards and facilitated transaction processing, reporting and reconciliation for the seven participating agencies in the CUSIOP coalition in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
CUSIOP member agencies include Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority (FBCTRA), Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA), Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA), Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA), North Texas Toll Authority (NTTA), and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The project replaced the existing Team TX Interoperability Hub, which had also been previously developed by ETC. The CUSIOP Hub will be processing transactions from other regional hubs in the very near future in the run up to achieve nationwide interoperability, using standardized protocols for file transfer and transaction processing.
It is the very first multi-state hub that meets the new standards set for National Interoperability (NIOP), paving the way for the rest of the nation to follow suit. Furthermore, CUSIOP is the foundation underlying and enabling the region’s multimodal future, as the platform could be expanded to process data from non-tolling agencies and services, such as transit, ride-share and commercial parking.
Thanks to IBTTA’s Interoperability Committee that developed the national standards in collaboration with stakeholders across the nation, CUSIOP’s member agencies’ leadership and ETC’s innovative design, the seven member agencies are currently at 95% compliance with the national standard, and the system is expected to achieve 100% compliance in late 2019. To date, CUSIOP has processed nearly 1 billion transactions and more than $1 billion in revenue.
– FWBP Staff