HALIFAX—Macpass is getting a new look.

Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) is planning to phase out the small windshield-mounted device that lets commuters pay their bridge tolls electronically to replace them with stickers.

Versions of the Macpass have been in use for the Macdonald and Mackay bridges since 1998 and the latest technology was installed in 2007 — technology that’s now reaching the end of its productive life.

The Macpass update will lay the groundwork for going entirely cash-free at the toll booths, although HHB spokesperson Alison Macdonald said that change is still tentative and would be at least a couple of years away.

“We have to do this anyway and if we’re going electronic, this fits with that direction,” Macdonald said in an interview.

For now, HHB has put out a tender for toll-readers that would be compatible with existing Macpasses and the future sticker versions.

Toll booths that accept cash will remain in place while HHB considers other options.

“It is a more efficient way to collect tolls, and it is a much safer way for our staff,” she said of cash-free systems.

It’s also safer for customers, she added, because it would reduce the need for multiple lane changes across traffic.

The current plastic Macpasses come with a detachable mounting system that allows users to transfer the passes between different vehicles. It won’t be possible to remove the new stickers without damaging the technology, but Macdonald said users shouldn’t be worried about that, as a single account can have multiple Macpasses — all at no charge.

Macdonald said HHB sometimes receives complaints from drivers about getting stuck at a toll booth that won’t read their Macpass, and the new technology should reduce that problem. The tender says the Macpass readers must have 99.95 per cent accuracy.

The stickers will also be much cheaper for the bridge operators. Macpasses currently cost HHB about $21 each, and the new ones will cost $1.50.

“It’s not a cost that goes to the customer, but it is a cost to us and the cost is significant,” Macdonald said.

The bridge operators have been toying with a new tolling system for at least two years — floating the possibility of taking down existing tolling plazas and instead photographing licence plates that crosses the bridges and sending invoices.

Macdonald said HHB is still moving in the direction of cash-free bridges, but hasn’t applied to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB), which would have to approve any major change to the tolling system.

“Hopefully we’ll be doing that in the not-too-distant future,” Macdonald said.

She added that after submitting an application, she expected the review process to take several months. If approved, it could take HHB a couple of years to change its infrastructure.

One of the reasons that HHB hasn’t made its proposal to the NSUARB is that it’s waiting for the final report of a review of the tolling system.

Last summer, HHB contracted American engineering firm AECOM to conduct the review.

Macdonald said the review considered keeping a cash system and simply improving the current toll booths, including possibly making them bigger. Larger concrete structures with a higher clearance could prevent transport trucks from wedging themselves in, as drivers have occasionally done in the past.

It weighed that option against an entirely electronic system.

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“And that’s where we are right now — still making some decisions around that,” said Macdonald.

She said AECOM’s final report is due later this year.

The current tender for the Macpass upgrade closes Aug. 20.

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