Kapsch TrafficCom awarded $170M contract to streamline two Southern California express lane corridors through 2041
- Kapsch to unify back-office system and customer service operations for the SR-91 and I-15 Express Lanes, ending divided billing and service for drivers who use both corridors
- Contract valued at more than $170 million for fifteen-year, three-party agreement with the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC)
- Agencies expect $33M in operating efficiencies while improving usability with single point of contact for drivers
Atlanta, Georgia, October 1st, 2026 – The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) have awarded Kapsch TrafficCom a three-party agreement to consolidate back-office system (BOS) and customer service center (CSC) operations for the SR-91 and I-15 Express Lanes. The contract is valued at more than $170 million and runs through 2041.
SR-91 is the primary corridor connecting the Inland Empire and Orange County, crossing from RCTC's jurisdiction into OCTA's near the county line. Historically, tolling operations along the corridor were managed by two separate agencies, each operating its own back-office system and customer service center. As a result, customers using toll facilities in both counties often received separate invoices, agencies maintained separate accounts, and interacted with different customer service organizations depending on where their transactions occurred. This back-office consolidation is designed to provide a more seamless customer experience across the entire corridor.
Roughly 35 percent of customer service interactions already involve both the SR-91 and I-15 corridors. Unifying operations under the Kapsch platform, which already manages RCTC's portion of the road, gives OCTA and RCTC a single back-office system and a single customer service contact for drivers using either corridor.
“This partnership reflects what we’ve built together with RCTC over the past years,” said JB Kendrick, President of Kapsch TrafficCom North America. “That kind of trust comes with real responsibility to both the agencies and to the hundred thousand people using these lanes every day. Our job now is to continue to earn that trust every day through 2041.”
A Longstanding Partnership
Kapsch TrafficCom has served as RCTC's trusted back-office and roadside operations partner for the I-15 Express Lanes since 2017, with the partnership expanding in 2025 to include occupancy detection technology on SR-91. Since the launch of the current I-15 platform in 2021, Kapsch has consistently achieved outstanding performance across all 14 contractual key performance indicators, demonstrating operational excellence, reliability, and accountability. This sustained success is further reflected in positive customer satisfaction ratings, underscoring Kapsch's ability to deliver a high-quality customer experience while meeting the agencies' operational objectives.
Agencies expect a 12-month implementation timeline, much shorter than a typical re-procurement which can take five years until go-live. Over that transition, Kapsch will scale CSC operations; hire and train additional customer service representatives; and bring both corridors under one consistent process by summer 2027.
Both the OCTA Board and RCTC Board unanimously approved the award to Kapsch.
Consolidating Operations, Cutting Costs
Partnering with an established SR-91 operator is projected to achieve operating efficiencies of more than $33 million in implementation, operations, and pass-through costs through 2041. Under California's toll structure, savings translate directly into lower operating costs and higher excess revenue, which is reinvested in the corridor to benefit transit and general-purpose transportation initiatives.
The SR-91 Express Lanes serve more than 56,000 and 60,000 users daily in Riverside County and Orange County respectively, according data published by the agencies. Combined, the corridors process more than 6.3 million transactions monthly. The Kapsch platform will extend to incorporate SR-91 into the existing I-15 back-office system, giving both agencies a unified view of the corridor.
Beyond back-office consolidation, Kapsch's existing role on I-15 spans the full range of express lane operations, including roadside infrastructure, dynamic pricing, and day-to-day roadway management through a co-located Traffic Operations Center (TOC) in Corona, California.
A division of Kapsch TrafficCom in Vienna, Kapsch TrafficCom North America is based in Atlanta, Georgia and serves Canada, the United States, and Puerto Rico. The region is home to 700 team members across 25 offices and processes more than one billion customer transactions in the US every year.