The Capital District Transportation Authority is developing a new rail station at Rensselaer for Amtrak service. The Authority plans to establish a fee schedule for those who park at the facility and for passenger vehicles such as taxis and hotel vans accessing the station for pickup and drop off. A separate queuing lane at the entrance to the station would be used for this purpose. As a field operational test, this project will install active transponder readers on one lane on the top deck of the facility to regulate commercial passenger vehicle use. While intended primarily for commercial passenger vehicles, it would eventually be available for all customers enrolled in a regional ETC program during a later phase.
Using this mechanism for vehicle access would ultimately reduce the administrative and compliance cost of collecting the fees. Under this test, the Authority will purchase Mark IV IAG compatible readers for the commercial passenger vehicle lane. Also, the Authority will install a billing system and administer its own commercial passenger program using transponders currently issued by regional toll programs. This will be one of the first applications of this technology at an intermodal transportation facility. |