Raytheon: Automakers could begin installing special computer chips for tolling in newly manufactured cars as soon as 2010.

The next generation of Toll Tag technology

Windshield transponders revolutionized the toll-road industry.

9/05/05

By Gordon Dickson

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2005

By attaching the wallet-sized cards to their windshield -- in North Texas, it's known as a TollTag -- drivers can zoom past toll booths without stopping to pay. Their tolls are deducted from an electronic account, usually backed by a credit card.

But if you think TollTags are high-tech, wait until you hear about what's coming next.

Automakers could begin installing special computer chips in newly manufactured cars as soon as 2010, according to Brian Patno, vice president of business development for Raytheon Highway Transportation Management Systems.

Patno's firm was selected last month to design an open toll-road electronic payment system for the Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's vision to crisscross the state with high-speed toll roads and rail lines.

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