Automated Toll Systems: FasTrak™

Electronic toll collection (ETC) systems are an example of how to ease commutes throughout the state. ETC eliminates the need for a driver to stop and hand cash to a toll collector. Instead, electronic sensors read small transponders to identify the user and deduct the toll from a special account. The net result is faster commutes, less congestion and improved air quality. California implemented its FasTrak™ system at all its toll bridges in 2000. It took only a few months for public use to increase to 20% of all peak period traffic crossing the seven bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Source: California Department of Transportation

The California Energy Commission's Safe School Bus Demonstration Program

The Safe School Bus Demonstration Program is paving the way to increase the percentage of alternative fuel vehicles in the state's school bus fleet. As a result of the program, 826 school buses built before 1977 have been replaced with cleaner buses. More than half of these buses are alternatively fueled—nearly 270 powered by natural gas and 150 by methanol—and all are equipped with advanced safety features. Partners John Deere, Blue Bird Body Company, Detroit Diesel Corporation, and Crown Coach are working to develop alternative-fuel school buses specifically designed to meet the needs of the School Bus Demonstration Program.