Electronic Transaction Consultants to Deliver and Operate the EZIOP Hub for E-ZPass

Electronic Transaction Consultants has been awarded a contract to deliver the next-generation centralized interoperability hub to support E-ZPass member agencies

TORONTO, April 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Quarterhill Inc. ("Quarterhill") (TSX: QTRH) (OTCQX: QTRHF) announces that Electronic Transaction Consultants, LLC (ETC), a Quarterhill company, and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) have signed a contract for the implementation and operations of the E-ZPass Interoperability (EZIOP) Hub. TBTA oversees the procurement and implementation of the EZIOP Hub project on behalf of the E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) member agencies. The initial term of the contract is ten (10) years with one (1) 3-year option. The contract is subject to customary terms and conditions and valued at ~US$21.5 million.

The EZIOP Hub will enable a streamlined exchange of transaction data via a centralized interoperability hub between E-ZPass member agencies, third parties, and other Regional Hubs. The project accommodates a flexible phased adoption of national interoperability (NIOP) standards via the Enhanced Interface Control Document (ICD) and paves the way for multimodal interoperability expansion to support member agencies' future integrated mobility initiatives.

The IAG consists of member agencies in multiple states, servicing more than 32 million accounts, 49 million tags and the collection of over $12.1 billion dollars in electronic toll revenues. According to IAG, it is the largest toll interoperability network in the world. The EZIOP Hub will facilitate and manage interoperability between existing member agencies and states and support the ongoing geographic expansion of the Interagency Group as it continues to add states and members. The Hub will help E-ZPass member agencies provide a seamless tolling experience for their constituents across interstate lines, with less time and effort than before. The Hub will provide all reports used for settlement between member agencies and other Regional Hubs, as well as support other required IAG reporting.

"This is an important step that brings us closer to nationwide toll interoperability," explained PJ Wilkins, Executive Director at E-ZPass Group and IAG Service Corporation. "This partnership with ETC and the implementation of the EZIOP Hub is another example of our continued commitment to a seamless E-ZPass customer experience."

"We are honored and excited to be the technology and operations partner for the EZIOP Hub," stated ETC's Chief Executive Officer Kevin Holbert. "We fully appreciate the criticality of this program for all E-ZPass agencies and their customers, the strategic significance of EZIOP for the mobility industry, and the confidence placed in ETC by the member agencies. ETC brings over 15 years of interoperability experience, award-winning technology and a passionate and dedicated team committed to our customers' success. The new EZIOP Hub will give member agencies powerful new capabilities to meet financial, operational and customer service goals for decades to come. ETC is ready to launch the project and looking forward to getting started in the coming weeks."

The project's stated objective is to "take advantage of advances in the industry to revise the present IAG Toll Reciprocity architecture and processes, provide a robust, flexible, and easily scalable platform upon which evolving IAG business needs can be addressed, and facilitate National Toll Interoperability." The proposed EZIOP Hub system is built on a flexible architecture, with evergreen enabling technologies in place to support dynamic future layering of functionalities, protocols, and services over the course of a decade, driven by on-going changes and expansions in the demand for new mobility services and member agency needs. 

The Interagency Group (IAG), also known as E‑ZPass Group, is comprised of toll entities stretching across 19 states that operate the extremely successful E‑ZPass electronic toll collection program. It is the world leader in toll interoperability, with over 49 million E‑ZPass devices in circulation. For more information, visit www.e-zpassiag.com.

ETC is a leading U.S. intelligent transportation systems provider, developing and delivering best in class solutions for tolling, congestion management, smart mobility, and multimodal transportation initiatives.  ETC's passionate and innovative team has been driving the future of mobility since 1999, with a number of industry firsts, including all electronic tolling (AET), dynamic pricing, agency interoperability, hosted mobility solutions and machine learning.

For over two decades, ETC has delivered sophisticated solutions to many of the U.S.'s largest toll authorities, including state-wide programs, county networks and tolling-specific authorities. ETC's solutions process over two billion transactions annually totaling over $3 billion in revenues for our customers, incorporating the latest in evergreen open-source and SaaS technologies and Big Data architecture through our innovative riteSuite™ products.

Quarterhill is a leading provider of tolling and enforcement solutions in the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) industry, as well as, through its Wi-LAN Inc. subsidiary, a leader in Intellectual Property licensing. Our goal is global leadership in ITS, via organic growth of the Electronic Transaction Consultants, LLC (ETC) and International Road Dynamics, Inc. (IRD) platforms, and by continuing an acquisition-oriented investment strategy that capitalizes on attractive growth opportunities within ITS and its adjacent markets. Quarterhill is listed on the TSX under the symbol QTRH and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol QTRHF. For more information, visit www.quarterhill.com 

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding ETC, Quarterhill and their businesses. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by ETC and/or Quarterhill in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and the expected effects of new business strategies, as well as other factors that ETC and/or Quarterhill believe are appropriate in the circumstances. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed herein may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting ETC and/or Quarterhill, including: potential risks and uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19"); the severity of the disease; the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak; actions that may be taken by governmental authorities to contain the COVID-19 outbreak or to treat its impact; the potential negative impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and financial markets and any resulting impact on ETC and/or Quarterhill and/or their businesses. Other factors include, without limitation, the risks described in Quarterhill's March 21, 2022 annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the "AIF"). Copies of the AIF may be obtained at www.sedar.com. ETC and Quarterhill recommend that readers review and consider all of these risk factors and notes that readers should not place undue reliance on any of ETC's forward-looking statements. ETC has no intention, and undertakes no obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE Quarterhill Inc.