|
Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced the
innovative agreement between the Illinois Tollway and Jewel-Osco to
sell I-PASS transponders at 188 area Jewel-Osco Stores, and about
1,300 new transponders were sold on Sunday (Nov. 23), the first day
they were available.
This new initiative allows the Illinois
Tollway to do more with less and to expand I-PASS sales by
leveraging the reach of well-known retail stores. In addition to
being available throughout northern Illinois, I-PASS is also on sale
at the Jewel-Osco stores in northwest Indiana and Kenosha, Wis.
"Drivers who use I-PASS can spend less
time in their cars and more time with their families. Making I-PASS
available at Jewel-Osco is the type of customer service that is
central to my reform agenda at the Illinois Tollway," said Gov.
Blagojevich. "We want to increase the use of I-PASS because it
reduces congestion and gets traffic moving on our state's busiest
roadways."
Jewel-Osco customers now can add an
I-PASS transponder to their grocery shopping list for themselves or
as a holiday gift for others. The I-PASS transponders are sold for
$50, which includes the $10 transponder deposit and $40 in prepaid
tolls; no additional markup by Jewel-Osco will be added. New I-PASS
customers are required to call 1 (800) 926-6500 to register their
personal vehicle information and to activate the new account.
"I-PASS makes a great holiday gift for
friends and family," said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Jack
Hartman. "Our new agreement with Jewel-Osco makes getting I-PASS as
easy as using I-PASS."
I-PASS allows more than 1 million
Illinois Tollway customers to pay tolls without having to stop at
mainline toll plazas and designated ramp locations. Currently, 84
dedicated "I-PASS Only" lanes are available for I-PASS customers,
who also can use their transponders at all manual or automatic toll
collection lanes, which reduces congestion for all of the tollway
customers.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
In August, Gov. Blagojevich announced
the I-PASS Expansion Program, which will allow drivers to further
reduce their travel times through the addition of 37 new I-PASS
lanes at 22 locations throughout the system by spring of next year.
Currently, 34 of these new lanes are complete, and one additional
lane will be completed by year's end.
"At Jewel-Osco, our focus is always on
finding ways to make life easier for our customers," said Pete Van
Helden, president of Jewel-Osco. "Through this partnership with the
Illinois Tollway that allows for the sale of I-PASS transponders in
188 of our stores, we have developed yet another time-saving measure
for our customers that lets them do their grocery shopping and
purchase a transponder at one convenient location."
About
Jewel-Osco
Jewel-Osco is the only Midwest retailer
operating both combination food and drug stores and free-standing
drug stores. Of the retailer's 288 locations, 203 are combination
Jewel-Osco stores and 82 are free-standing Osco drug stores. Jewel
Express Fuel Centers are located at 19 Jewel-Osco locations.
Jewel-Osco is the Midwest Division of Albertson's Inc., which is
headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Albertson's is one of the world's
largest food and drug chains and currently operates approximately
2,300 stores in 31 states.
About the
Illinois Tollway
The Illinois State Toll Highway
Authority maintains and operates 274 miles of interstate tollways in
12 counties in northern Illinois, including the East-West Tollway
(I-88), the North-South Tollway (I-355), the Northwest Tollway
(I-90) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-94, I-294, I-80/I-294). The
Illinois Tollway offers customers I-PASS electronic toll collection
for congestion relief and ease of travel.
To sign up for I-PASS go to
www.illinoistollway.com,
or you can now buy a transponder at Jewel-Osco.
As the
slogan says, "Get I-PASS and get going!"
[News release from the
governor's office]
 |
