Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise won two awards from the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA) Virtual 88th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, the organization announced last month.
IBTTA recognized FTE with the President’s Award for Excellence and the 2020 Toll Excellence Award for Technology. IBTTA is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve tolling.
FTE won the President’s Award for the development of SunTrax, a state-of-the-art transportation technology research, development, and testing center being developed by the Florida Department of Transportation and FTE.
IBTTA presented the 2020 Toll Excellence Award to FTE as one of seven awards recognizing projects worldwide that focused on environmental sustainability, the advancement of emerging technologies, easing mobility and alleviating congestion for drivers, and the development of new transportation systems in rapidly growing areas.
“FTE is the winner of this year’s President’s Award for Excellence and Toll Excellence Award for Technology for their SunTrax – Toll Technology Testing Center dedicated to the research, development, and testing of tolling and other emerging transportation technologies in safe and controlled environments,” said Samuel Johnson, CEO of the Transportation Corridor Agencies and President of IBTTA. “FTE, along with the six other 2020 Toll Excellence Award winners, continues to implement systems and strategies that are revolutionizing transportation throughout the globe and helping lead the way in creating transportation systems to keep our customers moving safely and efficiently.”
Situated on 475 acres centrally located between Tampa and Orlando in Polk County, Florida, SunTrax is a 2.25-mile-long oval test track around a 200-acre infield that replicates typical Florida highway conditions. Developed in two phases, SunTrax includes all the infrastructure needed for FTE to perform independent testing of toll technologies. The current completed phase features a multi-lane track that allows FTE and the FL DOT to simultaneously test multiple technologies.
“The testing and research being conducted at the SunTrax facility are critical to providing mobility solutions for a growing Florida,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. “This recognition highlights the department’s dedication to providing the safest, most innovative transportation system in the country.”