South Bay Expressway Selects Sirit as its SR-125 Tollway Supplier
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FasTrak(TM) Deployment Expands State Wide Toll System Interoperability
TORONTO, March 13 - Sirit Inc. (TSX: SI), a leading provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, has been selected as a supplier of its Title 21, FasTrak, toll tags and reader hardware to the new South Bay Expressway in San Diego County, California. Sirit was initially contracted to provide readers and antennas and has received a follow-on purchase order for approximately US$1.3 million to provide FasTrak toll tags. This represents a new toll customer for Sirit and incremental revenue commencing in the second half of 2006.
South Bay Expressway is a first class express toll road extending the current SR-125 highway from SR-54 in Spring Valley, through eastern Chula Vista, to SR-905 in Otay Mesa near the International Border. The road fills a 10 mile gap in San Diego County's highway network and will allow commuters to enjoy a scenic drive straight through, from one end to the other, minus the traffic of existing routes.
The continuation of SR-125 has been part of the state's planned freeway system since 1959, but was stalled due to lack of funding. Due to an innovative public/private partnership among Caltrans and California Transportation Ventures, Inc., the long-awaited road is finally being built - many years earlier than was likely without private funding and is one of the first roads of its kind in California and the U.S.
"SR-125 is an excellent example of how private and public agencies can partner to deliver new transportation infrastructures through the use of toll systems," said Norbert Dawalibi, President and CEO, Sirit Inc. "With increasing congestion on existing thoroughfares, SR-125 is able to divert increasing volume thereby improving the efficiency of the state's existing infrastructure and providing a better commute experience for drivers."
"Title 21 continues to be the only proven open architecture available to toll agencies across the U.S.," said John Freund, Vice President, Automatic Vehicle Identification, Sirit Inc. "As more states seek innovative ways to implement tolling solutions it begins to make a compelling case to adopt the Title 21 architecture as a nationally interoperable 915 MHz standard."
When South Bay Expressway debuts in early 2007 two-thirds of its customers will zip past monitoring equipment, courtesy of FasTrak prepaid accounts. In addition, customers can use their FasTrak on any California toll road or bridge that displays the FasTrak symbol.
About South Bay Expressway
South Bay Expressway is a 10-mile express toll road that will run from SR 54 in Spring Valley to SR 905 near the International Border Crossing. With an anticipated opening early 2007, this exciting, new transportation alternative promises a fast, reliable and scenic drive, every time. The new connection will provide convenient access to Downtown, Sorrento Valley, I-8, I-15 North, Otay Mesa and Mexico. The construction of this first class express toll road is being made possible through an innovative public/private partnership, and is one of the first roads of its kind in California and the U.S. For more information, visit www.southbayexpressway.com.
About Sirit Inc.
Sirit Inc. (TSX: SI) is a leading provider of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader technology worldwide. Harnessing the power of Sirit's enabling-RFID technology, customers are able to more rapidly bring high quality RFID solutions to the market with reduced initial engineering costs. Sirit's products are built on more than 12 years of RF domain expertise addressing multiple frequencies (LF/HF/UHF), multiple protocols and are compliant with global standards. Sirit's broad portfolio of products and capabilities are easily customized to address new and traditional RFID market
applications including Supply Chain & Logistics, Cashless Payment (including Electronic Tolling), Access Control, Automatic Vehicle Identification, Inventory Control & Management, Asset Tracking and Product Authentication. For more information, visit www.sirit.com.
