The 91 Express Lanes was one of the first electronic only toll roads in the United States.  Built down the center of state route 91 between the Riverside County line and the 55 Freeway intersection in Anaheim, CA, it was also a privately financed project.  The toll revenues were expected to pay for the construction of the road, and provide a profit for its investors.

The specification, design and construction for the electronic systems for this first of its kind toll road was given to MFS Network Technologies and MFS TransTech, spin offs from the Kiewitt construction company.  As there were few existing installations of these technologies, most of them were designed and built from scratch, or integrated from COTS equipment.

The FasTrak electronic toll tags and readers were designed and built under contract from MFS by Texas Instruments.   The Lane Computers to control and record each lane, as well as the information management system to validate and bill the customers were designed by MFS TransTech.  All the sensors and road management equipment was designed and installed by MFS Network Technologies.

At MFS Network Technologies, I started as Senior Sensor Engineer in the Research and Development department.  There I was responsible for video sensor design for the Violation Enforcement System (license plate capture) and electronic design of the Vehicle Separator System. The VSS was needed to provide a precise signal at first the presence, and then the exit of a vehicle from the toll collection zone.  I was also part of testing and evaluating many systems that DIDN'T make it on to the road.

After most of the R&D was completed for the 91 Express Lanes, I moved to the project as the Senior Systems Engineer. I was responsible for the design and installation of many of the systems in the toll plaza, along the road, and in the network control room.  Among these systems:

Road Monitor System  A network of 35 fiber linked cameras strategically placed along the roadway to allow monitoring and surveillance of the entire toll road were linked to a set of monitors in the Network Control Room.  These cameras could also be controlled and view in the CalTrans regional control center.

Toll Plaza Systems All the systems in the toll plazas, including the FasTrak tag readers, the cameras and lighting for the Violation Enforcement Systems, and sensors for the Vehicle Separator Systems, as well as the equipment racks for the Lane Controllers and other operator systems.

Network Control Center Racks and Equipment for the control center, including the fiber receivers and displays for the Road Monitor System, the links to the road system and toll plaza systems, and video tape systems to archive toll operations.

Test Operations at George AFB  I was also responsible for project liason duties at the full sized test and validation operations at George AFB