Electronic Tolling Provides Business Diversity Opportunities

As the NTTA continues converting its roads to all-electronic toll collection (all-ETC), an emphasis will be placed on increasing business diversity opportunities through innovative contracting. The NTTA plans to advertise and award multiple contracts for the all-ETC conversion Dallas North Tollway and Addison Airport Toll Tunnel to increase the number and diversity of businesses involved.  By awarding several smaller contracts instead of one large contract for all services, the NTTA hopes to expand the pool of eligible contractors. This effort is expected to increase both competition and diversity opportunities, as smaller construction services companies will be able to compete for the contracts.

The Contract Process
The first three contracts, which were advertised in January and February 2010, include a construction management services contract for Dallas North Tollway (DNT) Segments 2 and 3 (from IH 635 to Sam Rayburn Tollway), advance steel procurement for the new gantries, and a construction services contract for DNT Segments 2 and 3. Although the deadline to submit a bid for the construction manager contract was Feb. 23, 2010, the two other contract submittals are due this month.  The NTTA Board of Directors is expected to consider awarding the construction services contract in April 2010; the notice to proceed would follow in May 2010. Construction activity is expected to begin in late May or early June 2010. Segment 2 will focus on the construction of the DNT main lane gantry just south of Trinity Mills Road and Segment 3 will consist of work on the DNT main lane gantry south of Parker Road.

How will all-ETC Affect You?
The conversion of the DNT and NTTA’s other roads to a TollTag and ZipCash-only facility will take 12-14 months of varying levels of construction.  The NTTA will provide as much information as possible through designated pages on www.ntta.org, special e-mail alerts, and this e-Newsletter, as well as through local media outlets.

Once converted, these facilities will no longer accept cash payments in the toll lanes. Instead, tolls must be paid via a traditional TollTag account or NTTA’s ZipCash program – both of which replace in-lane cash toll collection.  For more information on ZipCash, please visit www.ntta.org.