Resulting from a strong team effort among the State of Indiana, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Kapsch TrafficCom and other supporting organisations, the RiverLink tolling system officially opened its doors for business on 21 July 2016. RiverLink is the new, all-electronic tolling system for the three bridges also known as the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges.
With the new RiverLink system, there are no toll booths, or cash or coin machines, which eliminates the need to stop and pay a cash toll in a traditional tolling plaza to use any of the three bridges crossing the Ohio River between Louisville, KY and Jeffersonville, IN.
Drivers can open their personal or commercial RiverLink accounts by phone, online, or at the two new service centres in Louisville and Jeffersonville. Upon opening an account, customers can choose to receive either a RiverLink local transponder free of charge, which can be used on the RiverLink tolled bridges, or a RiverLink E-ZPass® transponder that costs $15 and works on toll roads in all 16 E-ZPass® member states.
The RiverLink local transponders are available now, while drivers who choose a RiverLink E-ZPass® transponder will receive it later in 2016, before the RiverLink bridges go into revenue service.
Kapsch won the contract to supply toll collection equipment and transponders to the Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges in January 2014. Under the contract, Kapsch supplies both E-ZPass®-compatible TDM transponders, and ISO 18000 6C sticker transponders, along with the Kapsch JANUS multi-protocol reader, which reads both kinds of tags.
Kapsch also won the $41 million toll services provider contract, which comprises delivery of the entire roadside tolling system, including operational and commercial back office systems, and all commercial operations. As part of its responsibility as toll services provider, Kapsch provides online access, walk-up centres, telephone call centre access, and a mobile events van.
"This important project is truly a team effort that spans over 24 months in detailed design, planning and execution," said Chris Murray, President of Kapsch TrafficCom North America. "We look forward to operating this system for the next seven years, and also to providing continuous improvement and optimisation for drivers within this busy transportation corridor."
The RiverLink system includes the new Abraham Lincoln Bridge in downtown Louisville (I65), the revamped Kennedy Bridge in downtown Louisville (also I65), a new East End Bridge connecting the extension of the Snyder Freeway (I265) with Southern Indiana (state road 265), and the rebuilding of the I-65, I64 and I-71 interchanges.
