Toll Roads May Hire Agent to Push Agencies Into Fast Lane

Orange County’s toll roads are seeking their own Jerry Maguire--an agent who can show them the money.

And officials say that in the right hands--in the hands of someone who believes it can be done--their FasTrak accounts, message billboards and anything else associated with the 51 miles of road could be worth something to corporate America.

“Think of us as a sports star,” said Wally Kreutzen, chief executive of the Transportation Corridor Agencies. “Think Michael [Jordan]. He made a fair amount of money as a basketball player and then he made a whole lot more doing commercials.”

If board members give the go-ahead at next week’s meeting, toll road officials plan to put the proposition out to bid, dangling the chance at a potentially hefty cut of the pie for an entrepreneur ready to make things happen.

“I have an intuitive belief that we have value to companies,” said Kreutzen, who cited in particular the 250,000 FasTrak transponders currently on the road. “Now we’re looking for someone to go find out.”

The move comes the same week McDonald’s restaurants kick off a streamlined drive-through, allowing FasTrak customers to charge meals to their prearranged toll road accounts at four area outlets. Officials from the fast-food giant, which announced the program in February, are using Orange County as a test site for the concept.

“It was a validation that we do have some value to offer when McDonald’s came to us when they were looking for a way to improve their drive-through service,” said Lisa Telles, a toll roads spokeswoman.

But Telles said the idea to look for other ways to generate revenue on the road came from the deal Huntington Beach struck last year with Coca Cola--which for $300,000 a year is now the city’s “official beverage.”

Finding an agent for the roads was warmly embraced Tuesday at a finance and marketing committee meeting for the agencies, where committee members unanimously recommended that the measure be approved by the full board. The agencies--particularly that of the troubled San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, whose ridership has been far lower than projected--have been searching for ways to boost revenue beyond what is collected in tolls.

San Juan Capistrano Mayor Collene Campbell, who has a family background in the sponsor-crazy race care driving world, said she knows the value of corporate backing.

“Being in the auto racing world for so many years and seeing how much money can be guaranteed, I know it’s contingent on getting the right people working for you,” Campbell said.

Kreutzen told board members they plan to cast a wide net.

So are Orange County’s toll road ready for their close-up?

At the Newport Beach offices of well-known agent Leigh Steinberg--who represents some of the nations top sports stars--the idea of having a toll road as a client was called “pretty far out there.”

The comment from someone who answered the phone at Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn: “I haven’t fielded any calls from anything close to that.”