Officials Rethink Wider Use of FasTrak

After moving briskly into the swipe-and-go business, county transportation officials are having second thoughts about using the ubiquitous FasTrak toll-road transponder for buying everything from groceries to burgers.

The windshield-mounted transponders that allow motorists to tool along county tollways without stopping at toll booths have been used at four McDonald’s restaurants for several months, earning the Transportation Corridor Agencies more than $15,000 in transaction fees.

But on Tuesday, toll-road officials for the first time expressed reservations over the effort to turn the transponders into “electronic wallets,” even as they are studying greater use of transponders, saying they can also be used to pay for dry cleaning, groceries and gasoline.

Among other misgivings, critics worry the plan will invite billing problems, boost customer service headaches and gall motorists who already resent paying to drive the open road. By billing customers for non-toll-road purchases, critics say the TCA is behaving more like a bank than an agency that was created to oversee the payment of millions of dollars in toll-road construction bonds.

“I’m wondering if it’s our job to get involved in banking and financial services,” said Bert Hack, a TCA director and Laguna Woods councilman. “Is that who we are or want to be? Aren’t we getting far from our charge? I’m also worried that there are potential legal problems that can come up and bite us.”

Still others said they feared that use of transponders for retail shopping might actually deter customers from using the toll roads.

“Are people going to be discouraged from using the toll road because they’re going to see it as more of a discretionary expense?” said TCA director and Irvine City Councilwoman Beth Krom. “What if people get stuck with a bill for $300 or $400 a month because they overuse it?”

Despite such reservations, the agency has agreed to push ahead and study other venues for the transponders. Under a preliminary agreement, the agency would expand its association with McDonalds by bringing FasTrak service to as many as 50 restaurants. With each purchase, the TCA would receive a 23-cent transaction fee. The agency will also consider a contract with Sirit Technologies Inc., the manufacturer of FasTrak transponders, for tie-ins to other businesses.

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FasTrak transponders are wallet-sized devices that allow motorists to drive along county toll roads without stopping at toll booths. The devices trigger a special radio sensor that automatically charges the toll price from a patron’s credit card.

The devices are gaining popularity among toll-road authorities throughout the country, but the TCA is one of the first to allow their use for non-toll-road transactions.

Roughly 200,000 toll-road drivers use the transponders. Peter Buffa, the agency’s acting director of external affairs, has championed the expanded use of transponders. Although officials say they cannot predict how much revenue the agency will see, any income will aid in the payment of construction bonds and, hopefully, hasten the day when the roads are paid for and the tolls removed.

Buffa has described the potential income as “a dependable and possibly quite sizable revenue stream.”

Other proponents say they believe the agency will benefit in other ways as well.

“I’m looking to how much we’ll be out in the public eye,” said TCA director and Laguna Hills City Councilman Joel Lautenschleger. “That’s as much a benefit as anything.”