FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    (For Customers) - LeeWay Service Center, 931-0100;
                (For Media) - Rob Radford, 573-1218

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 15, 2001) – LeeWay customers can now do their transactions online using the Internet – including applying for, renewing and replenishing electronic toll accounts. These "E-Transactions" are the latest improvement to the county’s Electronic Toll Collection and Variable Pricing System (LeeWay).

Just go LeeWay’s home page at www.leewayinfo.com and the new online forms and transactions include:

• Application
• Renewal Form
• Automatic Replenishment
• Continuous Renewal
• Change of Credit Card
• Vehicle Change
• Address Change
• Gift Certificate Purchase, and
• Credit Card Payment

Personal and credit card information submitted is secure from unauthorized access by the county’s use of an encryption program.

LeeWay allows motorists to pay their bridge tolls electronically by using an electronic transponder that is installed on the vehicle’s windshield. As the car passes through the toll plaza, an overhead antenna reads the transponder, calculates the toll due, and automatically deducts the correct toll amount from the motorist’s prepaid toll account.

Prepaid accounts can be established for $30 using credit cards, cash, checks or money orders. For customers using a credit card, when their account balance reaches $10, their credit card will be automatically billed an additional $30 if they choose the automatic replenish option. Using cash, check or money order, when their account balance reaches $20 they will see a yellow traffic light as they pass through the toll plaza. This is the signal that their account needs replenishing.

The prepaid account also makes them eligible for variable pricing on the Midpoint Memorial and Cape Coral bridges. Under the program, motorists receive a 50 percent discount off the $1 toll during selected "off peak" hours as an incentive to change driving habits from peak to off peak times. Those off peak times are Monday through Friday 6:30-to-7 a.m., 9-to-11 a.m., 2-to-4 p.m., and 6:30-to-7 p.m.

In August 2000, the county began using express "transponder" lanes on the Midpoint Memorial Bridge. Express Lanes allow prepaid program customers to navigate the toll plaza without having to come to a stop. The motorist’s transponder is simply read at speeds up to 15 miles per hour and his or her account is deducted.