Sirit Awarded $5.9 Million RFID Transponder Contract

Filed in archive News on July 3, 2006

Sirit Inc., a leading provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, announced recently that it has secured an order valued up to $5.9 million from the Bay Area Toll Authority ("Bata") in California. Commencing July 2006, the new contract calls for Sirit to deliver a combination of its traditional sealed and new battery replaceable Title-21 based toll transponders including packaged tags available at retail locations.

The one-year contract, awarded through BATA's competitive bid process, is a follow-on to a deal announced in October 2005, which originally was expected to satisfy BATA's transponder requirements through November of this year. Through recent marketing initiatives and the planned expansion of electronic toll collection lanes at toll plazas in Spring 2007, BATA continues to aggressively promote the use of electronic toll collection by making it easier for new customers to enroll. BATA expects to begin retail distribution of transponders in late August or early September 2006.

"We are working to increase the use of electronic toll collection in the Bay Area," commented Linda Lee, FasTrak® Project Manager for BATA. "Sirit continues to be a partner in that effort. Electronic tolling allows us to maximize vehicle throughput on Bay Area bridges. Approximately 120 million toll-paying vehicles cross the seven state-owned bridges in a year. Of these, approximately 42% currently use a FasTrak® toll transponder during the peak commute period and our goal is to increase that usage rate to approximately 60% to 70% over the next one to two years by making improvements to the system."

"Our win underscores our reputation in California as the supplier of choice for tolling technology," commented John Freund, Vice President, Automatic Vehicle Identification, Sirit Inc. "We are proud that we continue to enjoy a strong relationship with our customers through our focus on reliable product delivery and performance, advanced open architecture tag technology and above all else - exceptional customer service."