GREAT NECK, N.Y. --- Following almost three years of development and beta testing, Highway Toll Administration LLC (HTA) has made its electronic toll collection services available to the car rental industry.

The company's services involve equipping rental vehicles with electronic toll collection devices --– transponders such as E-ZPass, SunPass, 407ETR and the like. HTA's turnkey program provides rental customers the convenience of electronic toll payment, and generates additional revenue for the rent-a-car company and its counter personnel.

HTA is also offering toll violation processing for car rental companies in North America. HTA's program for this service includes billing, dispute resolution and customer service. The HTA toll violations program is available to any rental company whose customers travel on toll roads, including those without electronic toll payment systems.

Budget Rent A Car of Newark Liberty International Airport, HTA's primary customer during the testing period, recently surpassed its 20,000th transponder rental within 18 months of launch.

Budget of Newark is located within the popular E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. Customers are charged a small daily fee, plus the value of any tolls incurred. All charges are billed by HTA directly to the customer's charge card.

"Customer response has been overwhelmingly positive, with the availability of the E-ZPass transponder a primary consideration among many frequent travelers to the area," said Rick Beal, general manager of Budget Rent A Car of Newark. "Both our business and leisure customers have placed great value on the convenience and time savings provided by the HTA service."