O.C. TECH BEAT : Tollway Traffic Online

Toll roads appeal to people in a hurry, so it seems only natural that Orange County’s Transportation Corridor Agencies would sell its 250,000th transponder--a device that automatically charges tolls to drivers’ accounts--over the Internet.

The agencies, or TCA, which began accepting applications for transponders through the Web in September, said that in June the Internet accounted for 1,100 of the 4,862 applications received, just behind the 1,500 applications that came by way of the telephone.

So far, about 8,000 people have applied for transponders through the site at https://www.tollroad.com.

The devices allow vehicles to pass through toll plazas without stopping, the toll being automatically deducted from customers’ accounts.

TCA officials said telephone orders tend to be processed more quickly than Internet orders because of the different computer systems used.

A transponder ordered over the Internet usually arrives in three days, while it takes about two to get a unit after a telephone order.

The 250,000th transponder was issued to John Holcomb, an Irvine resident who said he lived in Europe for 13 years and loved the concept of toll roads there. “Now I am enjoying the tranquillity of the toll roads here in Orange County,” he said.