Who will become the next generation of leaders?

In the latest episode of Toll Talk Podcast, hosts Kalie Jakovics and Alex Fakeri welcome Carley McClintock, Chair of the IBTTA Young Professionals Council (YPC), and Sophia Currier, PMP, Career Growth Chair for YPC and UX Design & Project Manager at Rideflag Technologies, to discuss how the council is helping prepare young professionals for successful careers in tolling and transportation.

Their conversation highlights why organizations like the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) are investing in workforce development and why building a strong professional community is more important than ever.

What Is the IBTTA Young Professionals Council?

The IBTTA Young Professionals Council (YPC) is a community within IBTTA dedicated to supporting professionals early in their transportation careers.

Rather than focusing on a single technical discipline, YPC brings together professionals from every corner of the industry—including engineering, operations, communications, technology, customer experience, marketing, finance, and business development.

Its mission is simple:

• Build meaningful professional relationships

• Develop future industry leaders

• Create opportunities for networking and mentorship

• Help young professionals navigate careers in tolling and mobility

As the conversation explains, YPC has grown into much more than a networking group—it’s become a supportive community that helps members gain confidence, build leadership skills, and contribute to the future of transportation.

There Is a Place for Everyone in Tolling

One of the most powerful moments from the episode comes from Sophia Currier, who reflects on a recent YPC leadership webinar.

The panel featured professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, reinforcing an important message:

There is a place for everyone in the tolling industry.

Whether your experience is in:

• User Experience (UX)

• Engineering

• Marketing

• Communications

• Government Relations

• Technology

• Project Management

• Customer Experience

• Finance

• Operations

…the transportation industry needs diverse perspectives to solve today’s mobility challenges.

For professionals considering a career in transportation, this message is encouraging: you don’t need a traditional engineering background to make a meaningful impact.

Why Networking Matters Early in Your Career

Both guests shared stories about attending their first IBTTA conferences and feeling overwhelmed walking into rooms filled with experienced industry professionals.

YPC helped change that experience.

Through conference meetups, online communities, committee participation, and leadership opportunities, members quickly find peers facing similar challenges while also building relationships with seasoned professionals willing to mentor and support them.

Those connections often lead to:

• Professional mentorship

• Leadership opportunities

• Speaking engagements

• Conference moderator roles

• Committee participation

• Expanded industry networks

• Long-term career growth

In an industry built on collaboration, relationships are one of the most valuable assets a professional can develop.

Leadership Development Beyond Your Day Job

One of the biggest benefits of joining YPC is the opportunity to gain leadership experience outside of your primary role.

Members regularly volunteer to:

• Lead committees

• Organize webinars

• Moderate conference sessions

• Plan networking events

• Develop educational programming

• Support workforce development initiatives

These experiences help members strengthen skills they can immediately bring back to their own organizations.

Leadership isn’t something that starts after years of experience—it begins by saying “yes” to opportunities.

The Future of Workforce Development in Transportation

Like many industries, tolling is experiencing a generational transition.

As experienced professionals retire, organizations need to attract, develop, and retain new talent.

The episode explores how YPC is helping address this challenge through initiatives such as:

• Career development webinars

• Leadership programming

• University outreach

• Increased student participation

• Mentorship opportunities

• Greater accessibility to IBTTA conferences

These efforts are helping build a stronger pipeline of future transportation leaders while ensuring knowledge is passed from one generation to the next.

Advice for Young Professionals

For anyone beginning a career in transportation or tolling, Carley and Sophia offer a consistent message:

Get involved.

Attend conferences.

Join conversations.

Volunteer.

Ask questions.

Build relationships.

You don’t need decades of experience to contribute—you simply need the willingness to learn and participate.

The connections you make today can shape your career for years to come.

Listen to the Full Episode

If you’re interested in transportation, infrastructure, mobility, or professional development, this episode offers valuable insight into one of the industry’s fastest-growing communities.

Learn how the IBTTA Young Professionals Council is empowering emerging leaders, strengthening workforce development, and helping shape the future of tolling.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode of Toll Talk Podcast and discover why there’s truly a place for everyone in this industry.

Learn More

IBTTA Young Professionals Council (YPC)
https://ypcouncil.com/

Connect with Our Guests

Carley McClintock
Communications Manager, Elizabeth River Crossings
Chair, IBTTA Young Professionals Council
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carleybrierre/

Sophia Currier, PMP
UX Design & Project Manager, Rideflag Technologies
Career Growth Chair, IBTTA Young Professionals Council
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiacurrier/

This episode of Toll Talk Podcast is proudly supported by CSG. We appreciate their continued partnership and commitment to advancing innovation in customer engagement and payment experiences across the transportation industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

The post Inside the IBTTA Young Professionals Council (YPC): Building the Future of Tolling | Toll Talk Podcast appeared first on Toll Talk.

For over three decades, the conversation surrounding federal infrastructure funding has been caught in a loop of short-term extensions, partisan gridlock, and an over-reliance on a dwindling revenue stream: the federal gas tax. The BUILD America 250 Act shatters that gridlock. By injecting the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) with its first major new funding structures in thirty years, Congress is fundamentally shifting its expectations.

“I believe the BUILD America 250 Act is the most important surface transportation bill since President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System.” – Rep. Sam Graves

The message coming from Capitol Hill is crystal clear: The federal government will no longer cut blank checks to states based on outdated allocation formulas. Instead, this sweeping surface transportation reauthorization hinges on two massive pillars—unprecedented operational accountability and technological innovation.

For tolling authorities, departments of transportation (DOTs), concessionaires, and fintech providers, the BUILD America 250 Act is a catalyst for the rapid acceleration of digital transformation, public-private partnerships (P3s), and next-generation road-user charging ecosystems.

The Highway Trust Fund Crisis: Why June 2026 Became the Tipping Point

To understand why the BUILD America 250 Act is being hailed as a landmark legislative achievement, we have to look closely at the systemic rot it is designed to fix.

The Highway Trust Fund was established in 1956 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower to fund the construction of the Interstate Highway System. For decades, its primary engine was the federal fuel tax—set at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel. The glaring flaw in this design? Those rates were last raised in 1993.

Over the last 33 years, inflation has drastically eroded the purchasing power of those exact same cents. Compounding the issue is the massive shift toward vehicle electrification and fuel efficiency. A highly efficient hybrid or a fully electric vehicle (EV) inflicts virtually the same wear-and-tear on a concrete highway as a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, yet contributes little to nothing to the fuel tax fund. For years, Congress kicked the can down the road via multi-billion-dollar General Fund bailouts just to keep the HTF solvent.

By mid-2026, the mathematical reality became completely undeniable. The intersection of rapid EV adoption, heavy-vehicle supply chain demands, and skyrocketing material costs pushed the trust fund toward a cliff.

The BUILD America 250 Act directly confronts this insolvency by decoupling long-term revenue health from pure fuel consumption. While the bill establishes diversified, multi-tiered funding mechanics to stabilize the fund’s baseline, it introduces intense performance-based stipulations. Federal dollars are now explicitly tied to systemic efficiency, carbon reduction targets, and structural longevity. This structural shift moves our industry from a “build-first” mentality to a highly sophisticated “optimize-and-manage” framework.

Decoding the Legislation: The Tolling and Managed Lanes Perspective

When you filter the dense text of the BUILD America 250 Act through the lens of modern tolling and road-user charging, several high-impact components emerge. The legislation actively rewards states that embrace user-fee models and intelligent transportation systems (ITS).

1. Accelerated Lifting of Toll Restrictions on Existing Interstates

Historically, federal law has strictly guarded the expansion of tolling on existing, federally funded Interstate lanes. While programs like the Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program (ISRRPP) existed, the bureaucratic red tape was immense.

The BUILD America 250 Act drastically streamlines this process. Under the new guidelines, states can fast-track applications to implement tolling or managed lanes on existing corridors, provided the revenue generated is directly reinvested into that specific corridor’s modernization, structural integrity, and local transit alternatives.

2. Standardization and Incentives for Road-User Charging (RUC)

The act shifts national Road User Charging (RUC) and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) pilots from disjointed regional trials into an integrated national operational blueprint. The legislation mandates that within the next 24 months, the U.S. Department of Transportation must establish unified technical, data-privacy, and interoperability standards for VMT frameworks.

More importantly, it creates an innovation grant pool that rewards states willing to transition their commercial fleet networks to weight-and-distance digital tolling systems.

3. The Digital Congestion Management Mandate

Any metropolitan area with a population exceeding one million that experiences severe, recurring peak-hour bottlenecks will now be heavily incentivized—and in some cases required—to submit a Digital Congestion Management Plan to access discretionary BUILD grant buckets.

The law views dynamic tolling, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, and real-time congestion pricing not merely as funding tools, but as critical regulatory mechanisms to curb emissions and flatten peak travel demand curves.

The Great P3 Acceleration: A Bull Market for Private Infrastructure Capital

One of the most consequential side effects of the BUILD America 250 Act is the massive doors it opens for public-private partnerships. With the federal government conditioning large chunks of capital on strict cost certainty and fast deployment schedules, public agencies are realizing they cannot shoulder the risk profiles of these complex, tech-heavy megaprojects entirely on their own.

Enter the private sector. The act drastically lifts the cap on Private Activity Bonds (PABs) for surface transportation projects, unlocking billions in private equity and institutional capital.

By shifting the risk of design, construction, technology obsolescence, and long-term asset management to private concessionaires, public entities can deliver complex corridors years ahead of schedule.

Under the BUILD America 250 framework, the “Availability Payment” and “Toll Concession” P3 models will shift from luxury procurement methods to baseline standards. Investors are no longer just looking at asphalt and concrete; they are actively underwriting the long-term data monetization, digital tolling compliance, and EV-charging integration potential of these corridors.

For toll operators, this means partnering with highly agile tech firms to ensure that the physical infrastructure laid down today remains deeply compatible with the connected and automated vehicle (CAV) ecosystems of tomorrow.

Forcing the Issue: The Mandate for Smarter Tolling Technologies

Perhaps the most exciting element of this bill for fintech and tolling technologists is the death blow it deals to legacy, slow-moving procurement models. To secure maximum matching funds under the new BUILD framework, agencies must actively prove operational efficiency.

You cannot prove efficiency using 15-year-old transponder arrays, rigid back-office software, and sluggish, paper-heavy billing cycles that result in massive leakage. The legislation effectively forces tolling agencies to modernize across three distinct areas:

Multi-Sensor Fusion and Deep Learning at the Gantry

The act provides dedicated funding for the deployment of advanced edge-computing roadside infrastructure. Legacy systems that rely entirely on basic overhead cameras and pavement loops are being replaced by multi-sensor fusion arrays combining LiDAR, high-definition thermal imaging, and AI-driven video analytics.

These setups allow for instantaneous vehicle classification, axle-counting validation, and multi-jurisdictional plate reading under extreme weather conditions. This drastically reduces the volume of unbillable images and manual reviews sent to back-office staff.

Next-Gen Customer Experience (CX) and Fintech Back-Offices

The bill stresses “equitable, accessible payment gateways.” In 2026, this translates directly to open-banking solutions, instant digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Wallet), and real-time settlement interfaces.

Agencies can no longer afford to let invoices sit in limbo for weeks. The back-office of a modern tolling authority must look and feel like a highly polished fintech app, utilizing automated text-to-pay networks, Rich Communication Services (RCS) to bypass spam folders, and predictive analytics to offer flexible payment restructuring before a customer lapses into heavy delinquency.

Interoperability and Cross-Border Clearing

As national VMT and regional tolling networks expand under this bill, the pressure to achieve complete, frictionless national transponder and billing interoperability hits critical mass.

The BUILD America 250 Act introduces strict timelines for cross-state transaction clearing clearinghouses, ensuring that an E-ZPass, SunPass, FasTrak, or TxTag user can navigate any user-fee facility nationwide with a single, unified ledger account.

The Toll Talk Takeaway: Why Leadership Starts Now

The passage of the BUILD America 250 Act proves a concept that the Toll Talk Podcast has championed from day one: Tolling and user-fee models are no longer peripheral funding tools reserved for isolated bridges and turnpikes—they are the foundational architecture of modern infrastructure policy.

This legislation marks the definitive end of the “set-it-and-forget-it” tolling era. It ushers in a highly dynamic environment where policy, finance, customer care, and cutting-edge technology are permanently intertwined.

The agencies, concessionaires, and technology vendors who thrive in this new landscape will be those who proactively step away from the old, rigid, lowest-bid procurement habits of the past. Success now demands embracing the speed and agility of the private markets, treating motorists as valued digital retail customers, and deploying automated, data-driven systems that stand up to rigorous federal oversight.

The BUILD America 250 Act isn’t just an infrastructure investment bill. It is an open invitation to completely reinvent how the world moves. The industry leaders who read this moment correctly won’t just be building roads—they will be programming the future of mobility.

SRC Quote on BUILD American 250 Act

Frequently Asked Questions

The post The BUILD America 250 Act: A New Era for the Highway Trust Fund and Tolling Innovation appeared first on Toll Talk.

In this episode of the Toll Talk Podcast, hosts Alex Fakeri and Kalie Jakovics welcome Saida Williams, Commercial Director of Traffic & Infrastructure at Indra, for an engaging conversation that explores both the evolution of tolling technology and the collaborative community shaping its future.

From artificial intelligence and connected vehicles to smarter infrastructure and the changing perception of toll roads, Saida shares insights from more than a decade in the industry while discussing where transportation is headed next. Whether you’re a transportation professional or simply interested in emerging mobility technologies, this episode provides an exciting look at what’s ahead. 

“What gets you into tolling is one thing. What keeps you in tolling is the people.”
— Saida Williams

A Career Built on Innovation—and Relationships

Like many professionals in transportation, Saida didn’t set out planning a career in tolling. After working in defense and energy, a recruiter introduced her to the industry—an opportunity that would ultimately shape the next chapter of her career. More than a decade later, she has held leadership roles with several major technology providers before joining Indra as Commercial Director of Traffic & Infrastructure. 

One of the themes that resonates throughout the episode is the unique culture within the tolling industry. Saida describes it as a close-knit community where conferences often feel more like reunions than networking events. While companies may compete in the marketplace, industry professionals regularly collaborate, exchange ideas, and work together to solve challenges that ultimately improve transportation for everyone.

It’s a refreshing reminder that innovation isn’t driven by technology alone—it’s driven by the people behind it.

Helping Shape the Industry Through IBTTA

In addition to her role at Indra, Saida currently serves as Chair of the IBTTA Council of Platinum Sponsors, helping support the association’s strategic initiatives while strengthening collaboration between agencies, consultants, and technology providers. 

Organizations like the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) play an important role in advancing the industry by creating opportunities for education, collaboration, and the exchange of best practices. As transportation technologies continue to evolve, partnerships between the public and private sectors are becoming more important than ever.

Learn more about IBTTA: https://www.ibtta.org

Changing the Perception of Toll Roads

One of the most interesting discussions during the episode isn’t about technology at all—it’s about perception.

Saida explains that many people immediately associate tolling with paying a fee, but that view overlooks the broader value toll roads provide. Modern toll facilities help reduce congestion, improve travel reliability, fund critical infrastructure, and give drivers more choices about how they travel. 

According to IBTTA, user-funded transportation remains one of the most sustainable ways to finance transportation improvements while allowing agencies to invest directly back into the roads and bridges drivers use every day. As cities continue to grow and travel demand increases, helping the public better understand these benefits will become increasingly important.

The Evolution of Tolling Technology

One of the biggest shifts discussed during the episode is how tolling infrastructure itself has evolved.

Historically, toll roads relied on significant roadside infrastructure, including sensors embedded in pavement, roadside cabinets, and extensive civil construction.

Today, systems are becoming dramatically simpler.

Saida explains how Indra has helped pioneer all-overhead tolling systems, reducing infrastructure installed within the roadway while lowering construction costs, maintenance requirements, and future disruptions. 

This evolution isn’t just about reducing hardware—it’s about creating infrastructure that’s easier to maintain and upgrade over time. By moving more equipment overhead, agencies can often perform maintenance with fewer lane closures, reducing disruptions for motorists while improving worker safety.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has long recognized the benefits of electronic toll collection and open-road tolling, noting that these technologies help improve traffic flow, reduce delays, and lower vehicle emissions compared to traditional toll plazas.

As agencies continue modernizing their roadways, all-overhead systems are becoming an increasingly attractive solution for delivering reliable, scalable transportation infrastructure.

Learn more: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov

AI Is Already Running Behind the Scenes

Artificial intelligence often feels like a technology of tomorrow.

In reality, it’s already powering many of the tolling systems drivers use every day.

During the episode, Saida explains that AI supports everything from license plate recognition and axle counting to occupancy detection, fraud prevention, and customer service automation. 

Computer vision has become one of the industry’s most significant advancements. Instead of relying solely on physical sensors, AI-powered cameras can classify vehicles, verify occupancy for express lanes, and process millions of images with remarkable speed and accuracy. These technologies help agencies improve operational efficiency while reducing the need for manual review.

While much of this technology operates behind the scenes, drivers experience the benefits every day through faster toll processing, improved billing accuracy, and a more seamless travel experience.

One of the lighter moments during the episode comes when Saida shares some of the creative ways drivers have tried to fool occupancy detection systems—including mannequins and printed faces placed inside vehicles. While humorous, these examples highlight just how sophisticated today’s AI systems have become.

Learn more:

• https://www.transportation.gov
• https://www.indragroup.com

Connected Vehicles Are Closer Than You Think

Another major topic of discussion is Connected Vehicle-to-Everything (CV2X) technology.

Rather than relying entirely on roadside infrastructure, connected vehicles communicate directly with transportation infrastructure—and eventually with other connected vehicles—to improve safety, mobility, and efficiency.

This creates exciting opportunities including:

• In-vehicle toll payments
• Real-time roadway alerts
• Improved traffic management
• Faster incident notifications
• Enhanced driver safety
• Better traveler information

During the conversation, Saida discusses how CV2X technology is moving beyond pilot programs and into real-world deployments, including projects that combine toll payments with connected safety applications. 

Looking even further ahead, the same connected infrastructure being deployed today will help support tomorrow’s autonomous vehicles. As connected and automated technologies continue to mature, agencies are laying the foundation for transportation systems that communicate seamlessly with both drivers and vehicles.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has identified connected vehicle technology as a key component of the future transportation ecosystem, helping improve roadway safety while creating a more connected travel experience.

Learn more: https://highways.dot.gov

Indra’s Global Impact

While many know Indra for its transportation work, the company is a global technology leader with solutions spanning intelligent transportation systems, transit, rail, air traffic management, and defense.

With more than 30 years of experience, Indra’s mobility technologies support approximately 78 million daily users while managing more than 110 million transportation transactions every day around the world. Those numbers illustrate the scale at which the company operates and the trust transportation agencies place in its technology.

Within tolling, Indra continues to invest in innovations like AI, connected vehicle technology, and next-generation roadside infrastructure that help agencies prepare for the future of mobility.

Learn more about Indra: https://www.indragroup.com

Key Takeaways

• Artificial intelligence is already transforming tolling through computer vision, automation, and smarter operations.
• Connected vehicle technology is creating new opportunities for safer roads and seamless toll payments.
• Modern all-overhead tolling systems help reduce infrastructure costs while improving maintenance and scalability.
• Organizations like IBTTA continue to foster collaboration that drives innovation across the transportation industry.
• The future of tolling is about more than collecting tolls—it’s about improving mobility, safety, and the overall traveler experience.

Final Thoughts

This conversation is a reminder that the future of transportation isn’t decades away—it’s already taking shape.

From AI-powered roadside systems and connected vehicles to smarter infrastructure and stronger industry collaboration, the technologies discussed throughout the episode are helping agencies create transportation networks that are safer, more efficient, and better prepared for tomorrow’s mobility challenges.

As Saida explains, innovation succeeds when great technology is paired with strong partnerships. It’s that combination of people, ideas, and forward-thinking leadership that continues to move the tolling industry forward. 

Listen to this episode

Ready to hear the full conversation?

Episode 46: Smarter Roads, Smarter Cities: Inside the Next Era of Tolling features Saida Williams, Commercial Director of Traffic & Infrastructure at Indra, discussing artificial intelligence, connected vehicles, open-road tolling, smart infrastructure, and the future of mobility.

Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or explore more episodes at TollTalkPodcast.com.

The post Smarter Roads, Smarter Cities: Inside the Next Era of Tolling appeared first on Toll Talk.

In this episode of the Toll Talk Podcast, hosts Kalie Jakovics and Alex Fakeri welcomed an inspiring panel of transportation leaders for a special Juneteenth roundtable discussion exploring leadership, mentorship, representation, and the responsibility today’s industry leaders have in creating opportunities for future generations.

The conversation featured:

• Robin Bramwell-Stewart, Deputy Director– The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
• Rosa Rountree, National Operations Director – AtkinsRéalis
• Ron Fagan, Vice President – LJA Engineering
• Cassaundra Rouse, Executive Director – Illinois Tollway

Together, the panel shared personal career journeys, reflected on the significance of Juneteenth, and discussed how intentional leadership can help create a stronger, more inclusive transportation industry. 

Leadership Starts with Learning

One of the first themes to emerge during the conversation was that there is no single path into transportation.

Several guests began their careers in accounting, law, finance, military service, or public policy before finding opportunities in tolling and infrastructure. Their stories demonstrate something many young professionals may not realize: transportation is an incredibly diverse industry that benefits from expertise across business, technology, operations, engineering, communications, finance, and public service.

As the industry continues embracing intelligent transportation systems (ITS), connected infrastructure, AI, digital tolling, and advanced analytics, agencies increasingly need professionals with varied skill sets—not just traditional engineering backgrounds.

This demand is being accelerated by historic investments through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which is funding improvements to highways, bridges, transit systems, ports, and freight infrastructure across the United States. The legislation represents one of the largest federal investments in transportation infrastructure in decades and is helping agencies modernize mobility for future generations.

Learn more:

• U.S. Department of Transportation – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:
  https://www.transportation.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law

For anyone considering a career in transportation, the panel offered an encouraging reminder: curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to learn can open doors to opportunities you may never have imagined.

Mentorship Builds Future Leaders

Perhaps the strongest theme throughout the episode was the importance of mentorship.

Cassaundra Rouse reflected on how early leaders at the Illinois Tollway encouraged her to learn every aspect of the organization—not just her own department—and intentionally included her in leadership discussions that expanded both her knowledge and confidence.

Robin Bramwell-Stewart shared a similar experience, explaining how one of her earliest mentors challenged her to become an expert by putting in the work, remaining curious, and never being afraid to learn something completely new.

Those experiences are supported by research.

According to Gallup, employees who have mentors are significantly more engaged at work, more likely to believe they have opportunities for growth, and more likely to recommend their organization as a great place to work. Strong mentoring relationships also improve leadership development and succession planning—something increasingly important as many experienced transportation professionals approach retirement.

Transportation is evolving rapidly, and developing the next generation of leaders requires experienced professionals to intentionally invest in those coming behind them.

Learn more:

• Gallup – Mentors and Sponsors: What’s the Difference?
  https://www.gallup.com/workplace/473999/mentors-sponsors-difference.aspx

Representation Strengthens Transportation

Another powerful discussion centered around representation.

Rosa Rountree reflected on attending her first IBTTA conference years ago and seeing very few women—and even fewer people who looked like her. That experience reinforced why visibility matters.

Representation is not simply about diversity statistics.

It is about ensuring different perspectives help shape decisions that affect millions of travelers every day.

Whether planning a new toll facility, modernizing customer service, implementing all-electronic tolling, or investing in roadway improvements, transportation leaders make decisions that impact communities across every demographic.

Research continues to demonstrate the value of diverse leadership. McKinsey & Company’s Diversity Wins report found that organizations with more diverse executive teams are more likely to outperform financially while fostering greater innovation and stronger decision-making.

Transportation agencies face increasingly complex challenges—from emerging technologies to evolving customer expectations—and diverse leadership helps organizations approach those challenges from multiple perspectives.

Learn more:

• McKinsey & Company – Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters
  https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters

Transportation Connects More Than Roads

One of the most impactful conversations focused on transportation’s broader responsibility.

Infrastructure isn’t simply about moving vehicles efficiently.

It influences where people can work, how businesses grow, whether families can access healthcare, and how communities stay connected.

Cassaundra Rouse discussed how agencies like the Illinois Tollway must consider the communities they serve whenever making infrastructure investments or policy decisions. Equity isn’t separate from infrastructure—it should be considered throughout planning, investment, and long-term decision-making.

Similarly, Robin Bramwell-Stewart emphasized remembering the historical impacts transportation projects have had on some communities while ensuring today’s investments create opportunities rather than barriers.

These conversations closely align with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s focus on improving accessibility, strengthening communities, and ensuring transportation investments benefit everyone.

Learn more:

• U.S. Department of Transportation – Equity Action Plan
  https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity

Juneteenth Reminds Us That Progress Requires Action

As this special episode commemorated Juneteenth, the conversation naturally expanded beyond history.

Rosa Rountree shared one of the episode’s most memorable insights:

Just because something has been declared doesn’t mean it has yet been fully realized.

That perspective became the foundation for a broader discussion about leadership.

The panel agreed that organizations cannot simply state they value inclusion or opportunity—they must intentionally create environments where people are mentored, supported, and given meaningful opportunities to grow.

Ron Fagan built on that message by reminding listeners that today’s leaders have a responsibility to identify future leaders, encourage them, and help them see opportunities they may not yet recognize for themselves.

For transportation professionals at every career stage, that message serves as an important reminder: leadership isn’t simply about holding a title. It’s about helping others succeed.

The Future of Transportation Depends on People

Technology continues transforming transportation through connected infrastructure, digital tolling, artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance, and smarter mobility systems.

But as this episode demonstrates, people remain the industry’s greatest asset.

Innovation only succeeds when organizations develop strong leaders, encourage collaboration, invest in mentorship, and create opportunities for diverse voices to help shape the future.

The experiences shared by Robin Bramwell-Stewart, Rosa Rountree, Ron Fagan, and Cassaundra Rouse illustrate that transportation’s future depends just as much on leadership and relationships as it does on technology and infrastructure.

Listen to Episode 45

Episode 45 is more than a conversation about transportation—it’s a conversation about leadership, mentorship, service, and creating opportunities that strengthen both our industry and our communities.

Whether you’re an experienced transportation professional, just entering the industry, or simply interested in how infrastructure leaders are shaping the future, this episode offers valuable insights from four remarkable leaders whose experiences continue to inspire the next generation.

Watch and listen to Episode 45 of the Toll Talk Podcast:
https://tolltalkpodcast.com/

The post Leadership, Representation & Building the Future of Transportation appeared first on Toll Talk.

We are currently months into this sweeping urban traffic experiment. The initial $9 peak-period toll for passenger vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street is no longer a theoretical debate on a legislative floor; it is a live daily transaction hitting hundreds of thousands of digital commuter accounts.

For the tolling industry, international transit authorities, and fintech providers, Manhattan is the ultimate testing ground. Congestion pricing sits at the volatile intersection of customer experience (CX), bleeding-edge roadside technology, and intense political friction. If the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) pulls this off cleanly, it will write the definitive blueprint for cities across North America—from Boston and Los Angeles to Chicago and San Francisco—who are desperate to fund public transit and unlock their paralyzed downtown grids. If it stumbles under data errors or public backlash, it could freeze urban road-user pricing initiatives for a generation.

This deep dive examines the operational data, financial clearinghouses, and on-the-ground engineering realities emerging from NYC’s historic deployment.

The Revenue Mechanics: Anatomy of the $9 Toll Structure

At the core of the Congestion Relief Zone is a complex pricing matrix designed to achieve two diametrically opposed goals: maximizing traffic diversion out of the dense core while minimizing administrative confusion for the average commuter.

The $9 daytime rate for passenger vehicles with a valid E-ZPass represents a careful political compromise, designed to ease the transition while still establishing a meaningful price signal to change driver behavior. However, the system’s operational complexity multiplies rapidly when looking at commercial fleets, non-transponder users, and off-peak travel windows.

The Heavy-Vehicle Burden and Light-Duty Distribution

While passenger vehicles pay the baseline $9 rate during peak hours (5:00 AM to 9:00 PM on weekdays; 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM on weekends), commercial vehicles face significantly higher rates to reflect their greater impact on street congestion and infrastructure wear. Medium trucks are assessed an $18 peak fee, while heavy multi-axle freight haulers are charged $27 per entry.

Crucially, the system charges passenger vehicles only once per day for entering the zone, whereas commercial trucks are billed for every single unique entry throughout the daytime window. This specific rule has forced local logistics providers to completely re-engineer their localized urban routing.

The Non-E-ZPass Penalty and Revenue Leakage Threat

To discourage drivers from hiding or abandoning transponders, the MTA levies a punishing surcharge of up to 50% for vehicles processed via “Tolls by Mail” (license plate scanning). For a standard passenger car, a single peak entry without an E-ZPass jumps the cost significantly.

This creates a massive operational burden for the back-office clearinghouse, which must accurately match high-speed optical character recognition (OCR) images against out-of-state DMV databases—a process historically plagued by high administrative costs and collections leakage.

The Crossing Credit Experiment: Operational Triumphed or Bureaucratic Bottleneck?

The most operationally complex mechanism built into the Manhattan system is the Crossing Credit. Without it, the program would have collapsed under the weight of localized double-taxation lawsuits.

Drivers entering the Manhattan congestion zone via the four existing tolled underwater corridors—the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, or the Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn-Battery) Tunnel—are eligible for a partial credit to offset the congestion toll. This ensures that a driver who has already paid a substantial toll to cross a river isn’t immediately hit with the full, unmitigated $9 fee upon exiting the tunnel into the zone.

On paper, the math is straightforward. In practice, executing this requires a massive, near-real-time data-sharing dance between two completely separate regional giants: the MTA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).

The Multi-Agency Ledger Battle

When a commuter passes through the Lincoln Tunnel (managed by the Port Authority) and immediately passes beneath an MTA congestion pricing gantry on 9th Avenue, two distinct back-office systems must reconcile the transactions. The system must verify that the exact same transponder or license plate was read at both locations within a tight, validated time window.

During the initial weeks, system latencies resulted in “phantom charges,” where commuters were billed the full $9 because the Port Authority’s transaction data hadn’t cleared the regional interoperability hub fast enough to offset the MTA’s instant gantry invoice.

Fintech engineers have resolved this by introducing a delayed-settlement logic window. Instead of posting the congestion charge instantly to the user’s ledger, the transaction is held in a “pending reconciliation” state for up to 48 hours, allowing cross-agency data batches to align perfectly. While this fixed the double-billing error rate, it created a floating balance issue that tolling back-offices are still actively optimizing.

The 75% Overnight Discount: Is Freight Traffic Actually Shifting?

To keep Manhattan’s supply chains moving without choking daytime traffic, the program relies heavily on a 75% overnight discount. Between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM on weekdays, the passenger toll drops to just $2.25, and commercial truck rates drop proportionally.

The policy goal was clear: incentivize heavy freight haulers, food distributors, and waste management fleets to abandon daytime deliveries and operate exclusively under the cover of darkness. Mid-2026 data shows that while the incentive is highly effective for certain specific enterprise sectors, it has exposed deep structural realities in others.

The Nighttime Labor Premium Conflict

Major supermarket chains and large-scale distribution hubs have successfully adapted, shifting heavy tractor-trailer arrivals to 2:00 AM. The $20+ savings per truck per day adds up quickly for a fleet running 50 trucks into the city daily.

However, mid-sized and independent logistics firms are finding that the financial savings of the 75% toll discount are frequently wiped out by the increased cost of nighttime labor premiums. Drivers, warehouse workers, and dock managers command significantly higher wages to work the third shift, meaning the toll reduction must be weighed against a rising corporate payroll.

The Receiver Problem

The greatest roadblock to the success of the overnight shift is what transport economists call “The Receiver Problem.” A delivery truck can easily drive through the Lincoln Tunnel at 3:00 AM for a fraction of the cost, but if the retail storefront, corporate office, or apparel boutique in Midtown Manhattan is locked with no staff on site to sign for the inventory, the trip is useless.

Until commercial landlords and retail tenants adopt secure, automated key-drop boxes or unmanned smart-locker delivery systems, the daytime hours will remain stubbornly crowded with delivery vans willing to pay the peak premium as a cost of doing business.

The Roadside Tech Under Fire: Combating Plate Defacement and Fraud

No infrastructure system can survive if its revenue base actively evades enforcement. In New York City, toll evasion has escalated from a minor nuisance into a highly coordinated illicit market, forcing the MTA’s roadside technology to undergo an aggressive, AI-driven upgrade.

When cashless tolling replaced physical token booths, it created an unintended incentive for bad actors to obscure their vehicle identifiers. By mid-2026, tolling operators on Manhattan’s periphery are encountering an unprecedented variety of evasion techniques:

• Mechanical plate flippers that hide the tag at the press of a button.
• Reflective chemical sprays designed to blind infrared camera flashes.
• Fraudulent temporary paper tags printed from out-of-state DMV templates.
• Physical obstruction, ranging from strategically placed dirt to tinted plastic covers.

To defend the system’s financial integrity, the MTA has deployed advanced Edge-Computing Video Analytics across all sixty entry points along the 60th Street perimeter and highway exits.

Digital Vehicle Fingerprinting

When a vehicle passes under a gantry with a defaced, unreadable license plate, the primary optical character recognition software fails. In a legacy system, that transaction was written off as unbillable leakage.

The 2026 system combats this by instantly passing the image file to an ancillary context engine. This machine learning system evaluates the vehicle’s unique visual profile—extracting its precise color spectrum, roof rack configuration, distinct scratch patterns, and aftermarket wheels.

This creates a digital “vehicle fingerprint.” If this car has a valid E-ZPass associated with it from previous clear reads, the system can retroactively match the transaction to the correct account with a high degree of confidence.

Real-Time Interdiction Links

For completely unidentifiable vehicles operating with illegal or stolen plates, the technology shifts from a billing collection tool to an active law enforcement asset.

The moment a gantry identifies a vehicle with a known fraudulent paper plate or an active “plate flipper” configuration, it drops a high-priority alert into a shared data stream accessible by the New York Police Department (NYPD) and MTA Bridge and Tunnel enforcement units stationed blocks away. By transforming the gantry from a passive camera into an active real-time interdiction sensor, the city has significantly driven down the total percentage of unbillable core crossings.

The Local Micro-Wars: Air Quality, Sixth Avenue, and the Diversion Effect

While the technological and financial systems churn in the background, the physical reality on Manhattan’s pavement has sparked intense localized hyper-local disputes. Congestion pricing does not eliminate traffic; it redistributes it. Managing that redistribution has become a complex civic challenge.

The Sixth Avenue Bottleneck and Bike Infrastructure

With the implementation of the toll, passenger vehicle traffic entering the core dropped by roughly 12% in the opening months. While transit advocates celebrated this as an outright victory, the interior avenues of Manhattan quickly became operational battlegrounds.

The city used the reduced vehicle volume on Sixth Avenue to aggressively expand its protected bike lanes and dedicated pedestrian plazas.

This structural reduction in car lanes meant that the remaining vehicles—predominantly yellow cabs, Ubers, and commercial box trucks—were forced into a narrower corridor. Paradoxically, while there are fewer total cars in Midtown, the localized velocity of those vehicles has occasionally slowed due to the reduced asphalt footprint, highlighting the reality that urban street design must evolve alongside road pricing.

The Outer-Borough Diversion and Air Quality Enforcement

The most intense political friction surrounding the Congestion Relief Zone is happening at its borders. Residents of the Bronx, Staten Island, and the outer edges of Queens have raised alarms regarding the “diversion effect.”

Heavy commercial trucks seeking to completely bypass the Manhattan toll are rerouting around the core, packing onto the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Staten Island Expressway in record numbers.

Community advocates have utilized localized air quality monitors to point out sudden spikes in particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$) along these peripheral expressways. In response, the MTA has been forced to allocate a significant portion of its early congestion revenue directly to outer-borough environmental mitigation funds. This includes financing the electrification of school buses, installing heavy-duty air filtration systems in public schools adjacent to major highways, and expanding green freight distribution hubs outside the urban center.

The Toll Talk Takeaway: What the Rest of the World Must Learn from NYC

As New York City crosses the mid-2026 mark, the narrative surrounding the Congestion Relief Zone is shifting from political theater to objective operational science. The key takeaway for our industry is that urban congestion pricing is fundamentally a data management and customer trust challenge, not an asphalt challenge.

The lessons learned on 60th Street prove that launching a modern tolling system requires focusing intensely on three critical fronts:

1. Dynamic Interoperability is Mandatory: You cannot build an urban toll zone in isolation. If your back-office systems cannot process multi-agency data streams with low latency, your customers will suffer from billing chaos.
2. Fintech is the Front Line of Public Relations: The fastest way to lose public support is through an ambiguous, hard-to-navigate billing interface. Users demand instant transaction clarity, simple digital wallets, and automated dispute channels.
3. Proactive Enforcement Safeguards the Revenue Base: Cashless toll networks must anticipate aggressive evasion. Investing in edge AI video analytics and multi-sensor tracking is an absolute requirement to protect system equity and stop honest commuters from subsidizing bad actors.

Manhattan has proven that congestion pricing is a viable, high-yield tool for financing modern transit and rebuilding urban space. The tech works, the revenue is real, and the gridlock is loosening. The only question left is which global city will have the political will to follow New York’s lead next.

The post The $9 Reality Check: Mid-2026 Lessons from NYC’s Congestion Relief Zone appeared first on Toll Talk.

On paper, this shift represents a triumph for operational efficiency, carbon emission reductions, and driver throughput. In reality, it has triggered a massive, high-stakes crisis in cash flow and collections management: the customer “ghosting” crisis.

With physical barriers removed, tolling agencies are entirely dependent on digital invoices to collect revenue from non-transponder users. Yet, industry data from mid-2026 reveals a deeply concerning trend—drivers are ignoring, blocking, or deleting digital toll invoices, text alerts, and email notifications at record high rates.

Traditional communication channels have collapsed under the weight of consumer fatigue and rampant digital fraud. For tolling authorities, departments of transportation, and collections partners, resolving this disconnect is no longer just a customer service goal; it is a critical revenue recovery mandate.

Building directly upon recent industry discussions with fintech and collections innovators like SWC Group and CSG regarding Smarter Lost Revenue strategies, the conversation is shifting away from lowest-bid procurement habits and moving toward high-trust customer experience management. The most promising solution on the horizon? Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging.

The Messaging Breakdown: Why SMS Has Lost the Public’s Trust

To understand why toll consumers are ghosting digital invoices, we have to evaluate the current state of mobile communication through the lens of psychology and cybersecurity.

For the past decade, Short Message Service (SMS) text alerts and standard emails have been the default tools for toll agencies running “Tolls by Mail” or license-plate-based billing. A camera reads a plate, a database pinpoints an address or mobile number linked to registration, and an automated system texts: “You owe $8.50 for using Expressway X. Click here to pay.”

In 2026, that text is dead on arrival.

The reason for this structural failure is simple: traditional SMS lacks a layer of trust. The consumer’s phone inbox is a warzone of spam, shipping delivery scams, and malicious phishing links. Because standard SMS displays notifications from an unverified, random shortcode or five-digit number, an authentic text from a tolling authority looks identical to a fraudulent attempt to steal credit card data.

Consumers have been conditioned by cybersecurity experts to never click on a link from an unverified source. When a tolling authority sends an unbranded, plain-text link demanding payment, honest drivers frequently delete the message out of an abundance of caution, assuming it is a phishing scam.

The resulting friction causes open rates to plummet, leaving agencies to watch aging receivables pile up while printing and mailing physical paper invoices that cost more to process than the value of the toll itself.

Enter RCS: Transforming Passivity into Verified Engagement

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the modern replacement for traditional SMS, bringing the feature-rich capabilities of standalone messaging apps (like WhatsApp, iMessage, or WeChat) directly into the native texting inbox of every major mobile operating system. Following a massive industry push over the last two years, RCS has reached near-universal compatibility across iOS and Android ecosystems.

For tolling agencies struggling with customer friction, RCS completely alters the relationship by removing anonymity from digital communication.

1. Verified Sender Branding

When an agency triggers an RCS notification, the customer does not see a sketchy shortcode. Instead, the message loads with the agency’s official corporate logo, matching brand color palettes, and a distinct, verified checkmark icon authenticated by global carrier networks. This visual verification instantly communicates legitimacy, immediately defusing the consumer’s defensive “phishing scam” filter.

2. High-Capacity Embedded Interactivity

Unlike a static SMS that caps characters and breaks links, an RCS template supports rich media layouts. An agency can display an image of the vehicle crossing beneath a specific gantry, show an interactive map of the route driven, or lay out a structured grid breaking down the base toll versus administrative fees.

3. Integrated Micro-Transactions

RCS enables users to execute tasks without ever leaving their texting application. Instead of redirecting a user to a slow-loading, external web portal that requires password entry and manual card typing, RCS lets drivers view their statement, select outstanding balances, and complete an encrypted payment via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or integrated open banking rails—all within three taps inside the native message thread.

Smarter Revenue Recovery: Moving Beyond the “Lowest-Bid” Mentality

For decades, public toll procurement has been trapped in a race to the bottom, prioritizing the “lowest-bid vendor” for collections and printing services. This old playbook relies on an aggressive, analog strategy: wait for a bill to hit 90 days past due, slap it with a punitive late fee, print a threatening notice, and ship it to a collections agency.

The mid-2026 financial realities prove that this legacy model is highly inefficient. Punitive, delayed enforcement damages customer relationships and yields incredibly low recovery percentages from casual or out-of-state drivers. High-performing back-offices are utilizing RCS templates to transition toward Early-Stage Conversational Collection.

By communicating through a high-trust, interactive interface within 72 hours of the toll event, agencies give drivers the opportunity to settle their balances long before it escalates into a stressful collections dispute.

If a driver doesn’t have an active transponder, the RCS alert can present a customized call-to-action card: “Pay this $6.00 toll now, or check this box to convert this transaction into a new transponder account with a pre-loaded $20 balance, and we will waive your processing surcharge entirely.” This shifts the communication strategy from a punitive bill-collection mechanism into an active onboarding and customer-retention channel.

Overcoming the Implementation Hurdles: Data Privacy and Carrier Routing

While the operational advantages of Rich Communication Services are undeniable, transitioning a public tolling framework to an RCS-centered communication architecture introduces unique logistical and technical challenges.

1. Data Integrity and Multi-Carrier Provisioning

Unlike standard SMS broadcast engines that blindly blast strings of characters across generic cellular gateways, RCS campaigns require structured data handshakes. Toll back-offices must coordinate with specialized conversational middleware providers—such as Sinch, Twilio, or Infobip—to ensure messages are properly routed across diverse mobile carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) while keeping customer data secure.

The transaction system must dynamically check the status of the recipient’s handset. If a customer is traveling in an area with degraded cellular coverage or uses an older device that cannot read rich media packets, the routing engine must feature an automated, seamless fallback loop that degrades to a secure, standardized SMS script to ensure the invoice legal notification requirement is fulfilled.

2. Safeguarding Consumer Privacy

Tolling records are deeply personal; they represent a detailed historical archive of a consumer’s physical movements across a region. Because public agencies are bound by strict data governance legislation, any rich messaging platform must deploy rigorous end-to-end encryption.

Vehicle identifiers, license plate images, and payment card industry (PCI) tokens cannot float unprotected over public messaging servers. To maintain compliance, the middleware provider must act purely as an encrypted transport layer, processing the information without archiving or caching personal identifying information (PII) on external commercial databases.

The Toll Talk Takeaway: Trust is Your Most Profitable Asset

The “Ghosting” crisis isn’t actually a failure of customer compliance; it’s a structural breakdown in communication technology. When toll authorities broadcast unverified messages that mirror the tactics of bad actors, they cannot blame consumers for hitting the “Delete and Block” button.

The core lesson from mid-2026 is that revenue security is directly tied to customer user experience. By investing in conversational platforms like RCS, tolling organizations can reclaim their identity in the mobile inbox, provide frictionless, transparent payment paths, and completely bypass the expense of traditional paper collections.

In a cashless ecosystem, trust is your most valuable asset. The organizations that step forward to build transparent, secure, and branded digital communication strategies won’t just see their open rates skyrocket—they will safeguard their balance sheets for the highway ahead.

The post The “Ghosting” Crisis: Why Toll Customers Delete Your Alerts (And How RCS Can Fix It) appeared first on Toll Talk.

The glaring flaw in this traditional layout wasn’t a lack of operator dedication; it was human biology. Studies in cognitive fatigue have consistently shown that after staring at a grid of changing video feeds for just twenty minutes, a human operator’s ability to spot an active anomaly drops by more than 50%. For generations, TMCs were inherently reactive hubs—learning about an incident only after a motorist dialed 911 or an operator happened to look at the right monitor at the exact right moment.

As we cross the mid-2026 mark, that old, passive operational model is dead.

Driven by rapid advancements in machine learning and the massive processing power of modern edge-computing hardware, Artificial Intelligence has officially transitioned from a futuristic laboratory pilot program into a mission-critical tool running live in TMCs across North America. Intelligent platforms—including cutting-edge systems like TrafficVision—are fundamentally reshaping the highway management industry.

By pairing computer vision analytics side-by-side with human experience, modern tolling organizations are executing a profound digital transformation. AI-driven video analytics are shifting infrastructure management from a slow, reactive scramble to a highly synchronized, proactive discipline—simultaneously safeguarding highway workers and automatically validating millions of dollars in toll revenue.

The Computer Vision Revolution: Moving Beyond Simple Traffic Counting

To fully grasp why AI is revolutionizing the TMC, we must differentiate between legacy video processing and 2026 computer vision engines. Years ago, “smart cameras” were limited to basic background subtraction models. They could perform simple tasks, like counting vehicles passing over a fixed line or estimating average corridor speeds by tracking blobs of pixels moving from point A to point B. If a heavy storm rolled in, shadows shifted, or night fell, those primitive systems suffered from massive false-alarm spikes.

The 2026 AI engines run on highly sophisticated deep learning architectures. These systems do not just see moving shapes; they understand context. Trained on millions of miles of highway video footage across all imaginable weather and lighting environments, the AI performs real-time semantic segmentation and object classification directly at the camera level or within local edge servers.

When a live feed passes through the AI layer, the software continuously runs vector trajectory analyses on every object within its field of view. It charts the exact speed, path, and classification of every sedan, commercial truck, and motorcycle.

The moment a vehicle’s behavior departs from verified baseline highway parameters—such as a sudden stop on a high-speed shoulder, a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction, or a pedestrian stepping onto an active right-of-way—the AI doesn’t wait for a human to notice. Within milliseconds, it generates a high-priority alert, drops a red bounding box around the hazard on the operator’s console, and automatically brings the relevant camera view to the center of the main display grid.

Saving Lives on the Roadway: Proactive Incident Detection and Work Zone Protection

The most immediate and profound impact of deploying AI inside the TMC is the drastic reduction in emergency response times. In the world of highway safety, traffic incident management is bounded by the “golden hour”—the critical window where rapid medical or mechanical intervention can mean the difference between a minor delay and a fatal secondary collision.

Crushing Incident Detection Latency

Before AI, the average duration between a vehicle stalling in a live lane and a TMC operator dispatching assistance sat between seven and eleven minutes. With AI video analytics running in the background, that detection latency has been crushed to under 15 seconds.

When a car spins out or hits a barrier, the AI recognizes the violent deceleration vector instantly. By alerting operators within seconds, emergency response vehicles, dynamic message signs (DMS), and lane-closure warnings can be deployed before trailing traffic has time to pile into the back of the initial incident. This fast reaction effectively neutralizes secondary crashes, which are historically far more lethal than the initial accident.

Erecting a Digital Shield Over Work Zones

Roadway maintenance crews and emergency responders operate in one of the most hazardous environments in the modern workforce. Despite bright orange barrels, high-visibility vests, and flashing arrow boards, distracted drivers drift into active work zones at terrifying rates.

In 2026, TMCs are using AI video analytics to establish dynamic “digital perimeters” around active maintenance crews and emergency scenes. Cameras mounted upstream from a work zone continually scan approaching traffic trajectories.

If the AI identifies an oncoming vehicle that fails to slow down or change lanes as it approaches the buffer zone—or if its tracking path indicates it is drifting directly toward a maintenance vehicle—the system instantly executes two autonomous safety protocols:

1. It sounds a high-decibel acoustic warning alarm directly at the work zone site, giving highway workers vital seconds to jump behind concrete barriers.
2. It triggers strobe lights on upstream warning gantries to shock the distracted motorist back into focus.

Validating the Ledger: Automated Revenue Safeguards at Cashless Gantries

While the safety improvements of AI analytics make it an absolute necessity for DOT operations, its intersection with tolling fintech is where the technology delivers an incredible return on investment. For cashless, all-electronic toll networks, revenue validation is an ongoing operational struggle.

An Open Road Tolling (ORT) gantry is a complex environment. On a multi-lane highway with cars passing beneath sensors at 70+ miles per hour, thousands of transactions pass through the system every minute. No matter how finely calibrated an automated system is, hardware anomalies occur:

• Heavy road spray, mud, or snow can obscure a physical license plate.
• A transponder may fail to beep due to a dying battery or incorrect windshield placement.
• Tailgating vehicles can pass beneath sensors so closely that standard equipment struggles to log separate transactional boundaries.

Historically, when these read errors occurred, the transactions fell into a costly loop. The system would generate an “unreadable image” flag, routing the file to a massive manual review queue where human workers sat typing plate numbers by hand. If the human couldn’t decipher the plate, the toll was written off as unbillable leakage.

Modern computer vision systems eliminate this manual drag by operating as a secondary, automated audit layer behind the primary billing engine. When a gantry fails to log a clean transponder read or struggles with an obscured plate image, the transaction is instantly analyzed by the AI revenue verification system.

The software runs advanced image restoration algorithms to clean up low-light or weather-degraded video captures. Simultaneously, it maps the vehicle’s specific physical features (make, model, color, axle configuration, and distinct modifications) against historical database signatures.

If a truck with a specific corporate logo and dent pattern passes through a gantry every Tuesday at 8:15 AM, the AI can cross-reference upstream and downstream CCTV views to confidently identify the vehicle and match the missing transaction back to its proper commercial fleet billing account. By automating this visual validation loop, toll authorities have slashed manual back-office processing costs by up to 70% while reclaiming millions in previously unbillable lost revenue.

Navigating the Implementation Matrix: Infrastructure, Edge, and Integration

Deploying a fully automated AI system across a vast regional toll network requires careful technical execution. To make an AI transition viable, infrastructure executives and IT architectures must solve three primary challenges:

1. The Compute Architecture Dilemma: Edge vs. Cloud

Processing high-definition, low-latency video streams from hundreds of highway cameras requires massive computational power. Tolling organizations are faced with a structural architectural choice: do you process the video data in the cloud or directly at the edge?

In 2026, the industry is overwhelmingly moving toward a hybrid edge-computing model. Heavy processing chips (like specialized GPUs or Neural Processing Units) are installed inside weatherized field cabinets right next to the physical highway gantries.

This setup allows the AI to process the raw video stream locally with sub-100 millisecond latency—essential for safety-critical tasks like detecting wrong-way drivers. The edge device then discards the empty, unneeded video frames and transmits only the lightweight metadata, transaction confirmations, and high-priority event alerts back to the central TMC, preserving valuable network bandwidth.

2. Overcoming Legacy Video Degradation

The majority of operating toll networks are not brand-new builds; they are patchwork systems featuring legacy cameras, differing compression codecs, and varying video qualities. An AI engine is only as good as the visual data it consumes.

When fed a low-resolution, heavily compressed video stream from an older analog camera, the AI’s accuracy rates can drop significantly, resulting in false alarms or missed incidents. To scale smoothly, modern software frameworks must feature built-in auto-calibration protocols that dynamically normalize incoming video feeds, optimizing brightness, contrast, and scaling profiles before passing the pixels to the core deep learning model.

The Toll Talk Takeaway: Embracing the Proactive Highway Ecosystem

The integration of Artificial Intelligence inside the Traffic Management Center highlights the core theme of modern digital transformation: technology should never replace human expertise; it should supercharge it.

The old model of infrastructure operations—where human workers spent their shifts manually scanning walls of monitors or sorting through piles of unreadable billing images—is completely obsolete. By delegating the repetitive, high-speed tasks of monitoring, tracking, and image validation to specialized AI algorithms, we unlock the true potential of our human workforces.

TMC operators can step away from passive monitoring and focus their energy entirely on high-level strategic coordination, real-time crisis response, and public safety management. Tolling authorities who proactively deploy these dual-purpose AI frameworks aren’t just protecting their bottom lines from revenue leakage; they are actively building a safer, smarter, and more resilient transportation network for the road ahead.

The post AI in the TMC: How Video Analytics Are Validating Revenue and Saving Lives in 2026 appeared first on Toll Talk.

They think about getting where they’re going.

That’s exactly the point.

The best payment experience is one that fades into the background—fast, secure, and almost invisible. Whether a driver uses a transponder, mobile app, license plate billing, or digital wallet, they expect the transaction to happen effortlessly. The moment payment becomes confusing or inconvenient, it quickly overshadows the entire customer experience.

That shift in consumer expectations is changing how transportation agencies think about payments.

On a recent episode of Toll Talk Podcast, Luis Guzman, Senior Sales Executive of Strategic Partnerships at CSG, shared his perspective on where the payments industry is headed. His vision extends well beyond processing transactions. Instead, he sees a future where artificial intelligence, embedded finance, and strategic partnerships work together to remove friction from every step of the customer journey. 

His perspective aligns with one of the biggest trends occurring across financial services today: payments are no longer simply a back-office function—they’ve become a core part of the customer experience.

From Toll Booths to Invisible Payments

The tolling industry has undergone one of the most dramatic payment transformations of any public infrastructure sector.

Not long ago, drivers stopped at toll plazas, searched for cash, waited in line, and continued on their journey. The introduction of electronic toll collection, transponders, and open-road tolling dramatically improved efficiency. Today, many travelers drive through toll facilities without slowing down.

The next evolution is already underway.

Across retail, hospitality, transportation, and e-commerce, consumers are embracing what payment experts call embedded and invisible payments. Embedded payments integrate transactions directly into an app or digital experience, while invisible payments remove the payment step almost entirely. Think about ordering coffee ahead on your phone or walking out of an Amazon Go store without stopping at a checkout lane. The transaction happens automatically, allowing customers to focus on the experience rather than the payment itself.  https://www.atlantafed.org/research-and-data/publications/take-on-payments/2025/06/16/rise-of-embedded-and-invisible-payments

Luis believes tolling is naturally positioned for this future.

Rather than asking customers to initiate every payment, connected vehicles, digital identities, biometrics, and interoperable systems could eventually communicate directly with transportation infrastructure. Drivers simply travel, while payment happens securely behind the scenes. 

For agencies, this means fewer friction points. For motorists, it creates a simpler, more intuitive travel experience.

Customer Expectations Are Driving Innovation

Transportation agencies aren’t competing only with other toll roads anymore.

They’re competing with every digital experience consumers have.

When someone uses Apple Pay at a grocery store, orders dinner through Uber Eats, or pays a utility bill with a single tap, those experiences shape what they expect everywhere else—including tolling.

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta notes that consumers increasingly expect payment experiences to be integrated into the products and services they use every day. As embedded and invisible payments continue to grow, convenience is becoming the new baseline rather than a premium feature.  https://www.atlantafed.org/research-and-data/publications/take-on-payments/2025/06/16/rise-of-embedded-and-invisible-payments

That means agencies must think beyond simply accepting payments.

They need to create payment experiences that are intuitive, transparent, and flexible.

Customers want options. Some prefer automatic replenishment. Others use digital wallets. Some still rely on traditional ACH or debit cards. Meeting customers where they are has become an essential part of delivering quality public service.

AI Is Making Payments Smarter

Artificial intelligence often dominates conversations around customer service and automation, but its impact on payments may prove even more significant.

During the podcast, Luis described how AI can transform payment orchestration by creating more conversational, personalized experiences while reducing friction throughout the payment journey. Instead of navigating multiple screens or manually completing repetitive tasks, customers may soon interact with intelligent systems that proactively guide them through the process. 

Behind the scenes, AI is already helping financial institutions:

• Detect fraud in real time
• Analyze payment behavior
• Reduce false declines
• Improve payment routing
• Deliver personalized reminders
• Verify account information faster

As payment volumes continue growing, these capabilities become increasingly important.

The Federal Reserve recently reported that noncash payments reached 236.6 billion transactions in 2024, with ACH payments accounting for nearly three-quarters of total payment value. At the same time, check usage continues to decline while digital payment methods continue to expand.  https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/other20260701a.htm

For toll agencies processing millions of transactions each year, automation isn’t simply about convenience—it’s becoming operationally necessary.

Partnerships Are Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Technology alone won’t shape the future of payments.

Partnerships will.

Throughout the episode, Luis repeatedly emphasized that collaboration between agencies, banks, payment providers, fintech companies, and technology vendors creates stronger solutions than organizations can build independently. 

This shift is already visible throughout the payments ecosystem.

Historically, banks and fintech companies were often viewed as competitors. Today, many of those same organizations work together to deliver integrated payment experiences that combine financial expertise, security, and innovation.

For tolling agencies, these partnerships create opportunities to:

• Launch new payment methods faster.
• Improve fraud detection.
• Reduce implementation costs.
• Increase interoperability.
• Deliver better customer experiences.

Rather than asking, “Who owns this technology?” agencies are increasingly asking, “Who can help us build the best experience for our customers?”

That mindset changes everything.

The Future Is About Choice

One of the strongest themes from Luis’s conversation was flexibility.

Not every customer wants to pay the same way.

Some rely on transponders.

Others prefer license plate billing.

Many increasingly expect Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, or other digital wallets.

Businesses are thinking similarly. According to a Federal Reserve Financial Services survey, 66% of businesses say they would likely use instant payments if offered by their financial institution, with growing interest in digital wallet funding, recurring payments, and real-time transactions. https://www.frbservices.org/news/fed360/issues/050125/industry-perspective-faster-payments-survey-business

For transportation agencies, supporting multiple payment methods isn’t just about keeping pace with technology—it’s about serving diverse communities with different financial preferences and accessibility needs.

Choice builds trust.

Rethinking Procurement for a Digital Future

Technology innovation often moves faster than government procurement.

Luis highlighted an important challenge facing many toll agencies: payment services are frequently bundled into larger back-office procurements, limiting competition and preventing agencies from selecting the best available payment technology. 

As digital payments evolve more rapidly, procurement strategies may need to evolve alongside them.

Agencies that prioritize open integrations, interoperability, and flexible technology ecosystems position themselves to adopt new innovations more quickly without replacing entire back-office systems.

In other words, modernization isn’t just about purchasing new software.

It’s about creating an ecosystem that can adapt as technology changes.

The Customer Experience Is the Payment Strategy

Perhaps the most important takeaway from Luis’s conversation is that organizations should begin with the customer—not the technology.

Before evaluating AI platforms, payment gateways, fraud tools, or digital wallets, agencies should ask a simpler question:

What experience do we want our customers to have?

When that vision is clear, technology decisions become much easier.

Customers don’t remember which payment processor handled their transaction.

They remember whether paying was easy.

They remember whether they trusted the system.

They remember whether the experience respected their time.

As digital payments continue evolving, the organizations that succeed won’t necessarily be those with the newest technology.

They’ll be the ones that use technology to make life simpler for the people they serve.

And in transportation, that’s exactly where the future is headed.

The post The Future of Payments in Tolling: How AI, Digital Wallets, and Strategic Partnerships Are Transforming Mobility appeared first on Toll Talk.

Innovation in transportation rarely happens overnight. It happens when agencies, technology providers, automakers, and payment companies come together around a common goal: making travel simpler for the people who use it every day.

In the first episode of the new Toll Talk Mini-Series: Real Talk – Industry Leaders Roundtable, hosts Kalie Jakovics and Alex Ficari welcome JJ Eden, Executive Director of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, and Manish Chourey, Chief Technology Officer, for a conversation about one of the industry’s most exciting developments—frictionless in-vehicle payments and what they mean for the future of mobility. 

North Carolina’s work aligns with broader conversations happening across the transportation industry as organizations like the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) continue exploring connected mobility, customer experience, and next-generation tolling technologies. 

Rethinking the Customer Journey

For years, toll agencies have focused on making payments easier through electronic toll collection, transponders, and license plate recognition. But today’s drivers expect the same seamless experience they receive from mobile apps, digital wallets, and contactless payments.

The discussion centers around one simple question:

How can transportation become nearly invisible for the customer?

Rather than requiring drivers to purchase, install, and manage transponders, the vision is to allow the vehicle itself to become the payment platform. Drivers would securely connect their vehicle to a payment method, allowing tolls—and eventually parking and other mobility services—to happen automatically without additional apps or hardware. 

This vision closely mirrors the North Carolina Turnpike Authority’s In-Vehicle Toll Payment Pilot, developed alongside Volvo Car USA, Mastercard, Microsoft, Red Hat, and Cognizant. 

From Transponders to Connected Vehicles

JJ Eden explains that every major advancement in tolling has been driven by reducing customer pain points—not simply introducing new technology.

North Carolina has previously led industry transitions including:

• All-electronic tolling
• Video tolling
• Multi-protocol interoperability
• Customer-focused payment improvements

Now, the next evolution focuses on eliminating yet another point of friction: the physical transponder.

As modern vehicles become increasingly connected, agencies have an opportunity to integrate toll payments directly into the vehicle ecosystem rather than requiring separate devices. 

Connected vehicle technology is becoming a major focus across the transportation industry as agencies prepare for more integrated Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) ecosystems. 

The Car as Your Digital Wallet

One of the most compelling ideas discussed during the episode is the concept of the vehicle becoming a secure digital wallet.

Instead of thinking about toll payments as a separate process, drivers could simply:

• Register their vehicle once
• Securely connect a payment method
• Drive normally while payments occur automatically

The long-term vision extends beyond toll roads.

The same technology could eventually support parking, mobility services, fuel purchases, and other transportation-related transactions through one connected platform—creating a far more convenient experience for travelers. 

Mastercard describes this approach as transforming the vehicle into a mobile wallet, allowing secure digital payments to happen seamlessly from inside the vehicle. 

Collaboration Across Industries

A major takeaway from the conversation is that innovation at this scale cannot happen in isolation.

The pilot project brings together expertise from multiple industries, including:

• Automotive manufacturers
• Payment technology companies
• Cloud and software providers
• Systems integrators
• Toll agencies

Rather than developing proprietary solutions, the team is focused on creating an open, collaborative ecosystem that allows future partners to participate and innovate together. 

That collaborative approach is one reason IBTTA continues highlighting connected vehicles, interoperability, AI, and digital mobility as key themes for the future of tolling. 

Why Open Standards Matter

Manish Chare emphasizes that technology should simplify—not complicate—the customer experience.

That means avoiding situations where every automaker or toll agency requires its own app or proprietary system.

Instead, the team is designing around:

• Open APIs
• Secure integrations
• Interoperability
• Flexible future enhancements

This approach allows agencies to adopt new technologies faster while reducing the lengthy upgrade cycles that have traditionally challenged transportation systems. 

North Carolina has already demonstrated this philosophy through its cloud-based Back Office System modernization, an award-winning project recognized by IBTTA for its scalable API-driven architecture. 

Security Remains a Top Priority

Convenience cannot come at the expense of security.

The discussion highlights how cybersecurity has been built into the project from the beginning, ensuring:

• Secure payment authentication
• Protected customer information
• Trusted vehicle verification
• Reliable transaction processing

By designing security into the platform rather than adding it later, the initiative aims to create a solution agencies and customers can confidently adopt. 

Preparing for the Next Generation of Customers

Another important theme throughout the episode is changing customer expectations.

Today’s users increasingly expect:

• Instant digital interactions
• Mobile-first experiences
• Self-service options
• Chat support
• Continuous system improvements

Meeting those expectations requires agencies to modernize not only payment technologies but also the underlying systems that support customer service. Open architectures make it easier to add future capabilities without requiring years-long technology replacement projects. 

Innovation Requires Execution

Throughout the conversation, JJ Eden reflects on previous industry transformations that initially faced skepticism—including electronic tolling, video tolling, and interoperability initiatives.

Each was once considered too ambitious.

Today, they’re standard practice across much of the industry.

The lesson is clear: successful innovation isn’t just about having a great idea—it’s about bringing together the right partners, listening to feedback, and executing with the customer always at the center. 

Looking Ahead

As transportation continues to evolve, the industry’s future will depend on creating connected experiences that reduce friction while maintaining security, flexibility, and interoperability.

The first installment of the Real Talk – Industry Leaders Roundtable series offers an inside look at how leaders are working together to shape that future—one where technology fades into the background and the customer experience takes center stage.

If the vision discussed in this episode becomes reality, drivers may soon stop thinking about paying tolls altogether. They’ll simply drive.

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