Kapsch TrafficCom USA will integrate services for design, installation and operation of 91 Express Lanes and 405 Express Lanes
ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority has selected Kapsch TrafficCom USA to design, install, operate and maintain the electronic tolling and traffic management systems for the 405 Express Lanes and 91 Express Lanes in Orange County.
Kapsch, headquartered in Virginia, was selected from among four bidding and two short-listed firms interviewed to provide toll lanes system integrator services for the two separate express lanes facilities.
Kapsch, which has been in business for 125 years and has worldwide experience in the tolling and transportation industries, won the contract for $42.3 million – a savings of more than $10 million compared to the other qualified bidder.
“The integration of services for toll systems on the 91 and 405 Express Lanes will provide cost efficiency and ensure that drivers who choose to travel the facilities get the best level of service as they speed up their commutes through these two vital stretches of Orange County highway,” said OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson.
The contract includes design, development, testing, and installation of a complete electronic toll and traffic management system for both toll facilities. That will include state-of-the-art lasers, transponder antennas and cameras to monitor and enforce tolls in the express lanes.
The contract for services on the 91 and 405 Express Lanes is for an initial term of 10 years.
The 91 Express Lanes has been in operations for 22 years. In 2003, OCTA purchased the facility, consisting of two tolled lanes for 10 miles in each direction at the median of State Route 91, between SR-55 and the border with Riverside County. In 2017, another eight miles was added, extending the 91 Express Lanes to I-15 in Riverside County.
Since taking over operations, the 91 Express Lanes has become an international model for effective congestion management pricing.
Construction of the I-405 Improvement Project, including the 405 Express Lanes, began in January and is expected to open in 2023. The 405 Express Lanes will consist of two lanes in each direction at the center of I-405, between Costa Mesa and the border with Los Angeles County.
Estimates indicate that drivers that choose to travel in the 405 Express Lanes can drive that 16-mile stretch of I-405 in about 15 minutes, compared to about 30 minutes in regular lanes when the improvement project is finished.
Kapsch was selected through a procurement process that weighted several factors, including qualifications, staffing and project organization, work plan, technical approach, and price.
The firm will provide and maintain closed-circuit television cameras for both express lanes facilities and will provide and maintain roadside systems, including nine changeable message signs for the 405 Express Lanes.
A traffic operations system also will be built and staff provided to monitor traffic incidents and conditions along the 405 Express Lanes, similar to what exists on the 91 Express Lanes.
After the final contracts are signed, Kapsch will begin replacing the existing tolling equipment on the 91 Express Lanes and will work closely with the design-builder of the 405 Improvement Project to plan the installation of tolling equipment for the 405 Express Lanes.
