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Talking Transportation: The Secrets of E-ZPass

By Jim Cameron

Special to WestportNow

As a college student in the early 1970s, I had a summer job as a toll collector on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

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Boring job but great pay. But it was clear, even then, that toll collection would become automated, at first with special lanes with those baskets you’d throw your change into (assuming you had the correct change).

By the early ‘80s, New York and Pennsylvania toll authorities (which between them make up two-thirds of the nation’s $3 billion a year tolling industry) began experimenting with electronic toll tags, as much to reduce congestion at booths as to replace human collectors.

But it was Oklahoma that introduced the first electronic toll system, The Pikepass in 1991.

WestportNow Teardown of the Day: 11 Old Mill Road

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An application for a permit to demolish the house at Westport’s 11 Old Mill Road, in the Old Mill section of Compo Beach, is in process. Built in 1962, the two-story conventional has 1,436-square feet and is situated on a .1-acre property. It changed hands in June for $910,000. Because the house was built more than 50 years ago, the application will be reviewed by the Westport Historic District Commission. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Malloy: New Haven Line Now Has All New Cars

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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today used the platform of Union Station in New Haven to announce that the New Haven Line has totally replaced its old rail cars with the new modern M8 cars. The $1.2 billion project began in 2006 and 405 cars have been delivered, he said. Westporter John Hartwell (l), vice chair of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, joined the governor for the announcement. “We are thrilled with these cars and that there is a major transformation of the system under way,” he said. Contributed photo

Town to Establish Commission for Disabled

Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said today that he is working to establish a establish a Commission on People with Disabilities, “which will move beyond the requirements of the ADA and help those with disabilities participate more fully in community life.”

An estimated 10 to 15 percent of the town’s population reports having a disability, he said.

Marpe made the announcement on the today’s 25th anniversary of the signing of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

He said the planned commission aims to ensure that Westport “is a town where people with disabilities have the opportunity to enjoy full and equal access to lives of independence, productivity, inclusion and self-determination.”

Monday, July 27, 2015


9:30 a.m. – Town Hall Room 309 – Board of Finance Audit Subcommittee
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Westport Historical Society – “Howard Munce at 100: A Centennial Celebration”
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Westport Arts Center – “Eric Fischl”
10 a.m. – Westport Library – Level Up Village: Global Villagers TinkerShop

See more events:  Celebrate Westport Calendar

12U Wreckers Blue Wins FCFSL Tournament

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The Westport 12-under Wreckers Blue Travel Team won the Fairfield County fastpitch softball tournament in Southbury today, defeating the 12U Shepaug Storm 7-6. This tournament had 20 teams, an A bracket and B Bracket, the 12U Wreckers Blue was seeded in the A Bracket, top 10.  They won two out of three games in the pool play Saturday, and they won 3-1 in the semi-finals against the CT Rockets and Winning 7-6 in the finals in a nail biter. Pictured (l-r) Charlotte Porzio, Ellie Doran, Lucy Kaplan, Kathryn Zanvettor, Coach Rob Moskowitz, Rosali Pirone, Reilly Caldwell, Julia Grimes, Aydan Moskowitz, Manager Louis Alfero, Sophia Alfero, Coach Alan Doran, Milei Wyatt and Coach Nikki Bukovsky. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Incendio Entertains at Levitt

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The veteran Los Angeles-based songwriter/musicians collectively known as Incendio returned to the Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts tonight. It was the fifth appearance at the Levitt for the group, which plays what has been described as Latin guitar fusion music, combing polyrhythmic swirl of multiple Latin American music forms (boleros, cumbias, salsa, tango, mambo and the indigenous Peruvian valses criollos) with Indian, Arabic and Celtic flavors and a touch of jazz. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo