The World's Smartest Highway (opened earlier this week)

[nobody@huge.cajones.com (Huge Cajones Remailer)]

The worlds smartest highway opens tomorrow.
   
   So far, Highway 407 runs 36 km between Brampton and Markham, Ontario.
   Eventually it will cover an additional 33 km, and cost a total of
   $929.8 million over $13,000 per meter.
   
   What does that buy for Ontario commuters?
   
   The highway has a series of UHF radio antennae that pick up signals
   from small transponders installed in commuters vehicles. The highway
   measures the distance a vehicle travels, and deducts a per-kilometer
   fee from the owners credit card or prepaid account. The fee is 10
   cents per kilometer in rush hour, 7 cents in off-peak hours, and 4
   cents at night.
   
   Thats not a first a few U.S. toll highways have similar systems. But
   the 407 is the first highway able to send bills to drivers without
   transponders, without stopping them at toll booths. Overhead gantries
   along the highway take video images of license plates as vehicles
   travel the highway. The bill comes in the mail with a $1 premium.
   
   Ontario expects to pull in $40 million a year from Highway 407 tolls
   in theory. The license-plate billing system has never been tested
   under heavy traffic. The highway will be watching but not charging for
   the next 30 days or so, while Hughes Aircraft and Bell Canada, the
   companies who designed the system, hammer out the kinks.
   
   Related links: Canadian Highways International Corporation
   
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   Copyright ) 1997 Convergent Publishing Ltd.
   All rights reserved.
   
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Canadian Highways International Corporation http://www.chichwys.com

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