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PA Turnpike News

Started by mightyace, February 16, 2009, 05:29:14 PM

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cpzilliacus

TOLLROADSnews (from one of its correspondents):  Road work signs bonanza on Penn Pike

Quote- from a correspondent:

QuoteThe wealthiest entrepreneur in Pennsylvania has to be the producer of "Road Work"  signs.  I have just driven from western Maryland to New Jersey — most of this along the Penna turnpike — and there are thousands of them.

Quote"Roadwork in 2 miles"  "Roadwork in 1 mile"  "Form One Lane"  "Prepare to Stop"  "Trucks entering"  "Fines doubled in Work Area"  and on and on. These are all in an aggressive black sans-serif type on a showy orange background, and some even have little lights flashing on and off.

QuoteVery impressive.

QuoteThere were many opportunities to be impressed on the turnpike for no sooner did you leave one Work Zone, than you entered another.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.


MASTERNC

Maybe this is something I've never noticed, but does anyone know if the E-ZPass lanes on the Turnpike photograph everyone's license plates?  The reason I asked is I used the new PA 29 all-ETC interchange last night.  As I went under the gantry, I noticed the LED floodlights flashed after I went through.  The same thing happened to the car behind me.  I have E-ZPass and know it is in working order.

mtantillo

Quote from: MASTERNC on April 01, 2013, 10:37:01 PM
Maybe this is something I've never noticed, but does anyone know if the E-ZPass lanes on the Turnpike photograph everyone's license plates?  The reason I asked is I used the new PA 29 all-ETC interchange last night.  As I went under the gantry, I noticed the LED floodlights flashed after I went through.  The same thing happened to the car behind me.  I have E-ZPass and know it is in working order.

Yes, they do photograph everyone.  This because if you have a valid E-ZPass tag, the transaction can still fail (if you don't have enough money, etc.).  So they know who to send the bill to if that happens.  Allegedly, toll agencies delete the images after a successful E-ZPass transaction is processed. 

cpzilliacus

Quote from: mtantillo on April 01, 2013, 10:41:16 PM
Yes, they do photograph everyone.  This because if you have a valid E-ZPass tag, the transaction can still fail (if you don't have enough money, etc.).  So they know who to send the bill to if that happens.  Allegedly, toll agencies delete the images after a successful E-ZPass transaction is processed. 

I would think that for PTC-issued E-ZPass transponders, that would presumably be a pretty instant transaction. 

For non-PTC E-ZPass tags, don't they do a "settlement" on a daily basis?  At least that's how I have been told that E-ZPass works when it comes to "foreign" transponders (there are at least two other E-ZPass Group members in Pennsylvania (DRJTBC and DRPA), though I don't know if those issue their own tags (and run their own back office operations) or not).
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

hbelkins

Quote from: mtantillo on April 01, 2013, 10:41:16 PM
Quote from: MASTERNC on April 01, 2013, 10:37:01 PM
Maybe this is something I've never noticed, but does anyone know if the E-ZPass lanes on the Turnpike photograph everyone's license plates?  The reason I asked is I used the new PA 29 all-ETC interchange last night.  As I went under the gantry, I noticed the LED floodlights flashed after I went through.  The same thing happened to the car behind me.  I have E-ZPass and know it is in working order.

Yes, they do photograph everyone.  This because if you have a valid E-ZPass tag, the transaction can still fail (if you don't have enough money, etc.).  So they know who to send the bill to if that happens.  Allegedly, toll agencies delete the images after a successful E-ZPass transaction is processed.

It's been about three years ago, but I had two E-ZPass transactions fail in Pennsylvania. Instead of a bill, I got a threatening letter that I had improperly used an E-ZPass only exit lane. They got my Kentucky registration information off my license plate and tracked me down. I printed out a copy of my West Virginia E-ZPass statement and mailed to them, and that settled the matter.

At the time, I had a standard-issue Kentucky passenger vehicle license plate. Now I have one of the special-issue plates (Spay/Neuter) and I'm not sure how well an out-of-state agency could read and decipher the plate number (since it has small letters stacked on top of one another) to get the information to send out a bill.

And I'm still waiting on my bill from the Bush Turnpike in Texas in from a few years ago.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Flyer78

Noticed the northbound (original) Lehigh Tunnel Tube has what appear to be four LED fixtures at the mid-point that are replacing the standard (fluorescent?) lighting... I wonder if this is a pilot? The southbound tube has no such change.

There is a noticeable change going through that segment, though it can't represent more than 25-50 feet of length...

Alps

Quote from: hbelkins on April 02, 2013, 10:55:21 AM
At the time, I had a standard-issue Kentucky passenger vehicle license plate. Now I have one of the special-issue plates (Spay/Neuter) and I'm not sure how well an out-of-state agency could read and decipher the plate number (since it has small letters stacked on top of one another) to get the information to send out a bill.

All 50 states' license plate variations and fonts are kept updated within the system, so it would be able to recognize your Spay/Neuter plate as Kentucky and read the digits accordingly. Because of the small digits, it would probably kick over to a manual operator for verification, who would then zoom in to confirm. Each state's use of O, D, 0; B, 8; I, 1; etc. are all documented, so the manual operator can verify what possible digits are in which position.

(On a side note, if you want to really fuck with toll operators, get a custom license plate that looks like a typical issue from your state, but drop a 0 in a letter spot and an I in a number spot.)

1995hoo

Quote from: Steve on April 08, 2013, 05:40:51 PM
....

(On a side note, if you want to really fuck with toll operators, get a custom license plate that looks like a typical issue from your state, but drop a 0 in a letter spot and an I in a number spot.)

Or do like a high school friend of mine did and get a license-plate frame that obscures part of one digit (in his case, an "E" looked like an "F" unless you saw the unobstructed front plate). The legality of doing that is obviously suspect, but he never complained about getting a ticket (and he was the sort of person who would have complained).
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

TOLLROADSnews: A Penn Pike 'WORKER' is angry with our "road signs bonanza" piece + our response on MPT

QuoteAn angry Penn Pike worker writes - You have nothing nice to say ever about the PA Turnpike. You didn't find it newsworthy that one of my coworkers was KILLED in the line of duty in October 2012. And you print an article from a motorist who said we stand around and do nothing. You are truly clueless. You didn't think this was newsworthy on your site?

QuoteYou sir are a total (profanity.)

Quote1,000 toll collectors are going to lose their jobs and you are all for it. These are people who have families to support.

QuoteYou only publish news that is detrimental to the PA Turnpike. Not that the maintenance WORKERS have a very dangerous job. You just publish that we stand around and do nothing. You have no idea that personnel are NEEDED to provide MPT to our WORKERS. I'll bet you don't know what MPT means. You sit at a desk all day and publish things you know NOTHING about.

QuoteHave you ever worked on a highway? Where people don't abide by the work zone speed limits and put my life in danger every day? Yet you publish an article to make PA Turnpike workers look lazy, standing around doing nothing.

QuoteYou are a clueless idiot. You had no rebuttal to this article
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: Steve on April 08, 2013, 05:40:51 PM
(On a side note, if you want to really fuck with toll operators, get a custom license plate that looks like a typical issue from your state, but drop a 0 in a letter spot and an I in a number spot.)

My own experience with  LPR hardware and software leads me to think that swapping a "1" for an "I" (or vice versa - and not every state issues "regular" series of tags with the letter "I") would cause similar problems in some cases.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

TOLLROADSnews: Moody's follows other raters in downgrading Penn Pike bonds

QuoteMoody's is lowering the rating on senior revenue bonds from Aa3 to A1, citing ballooning debt being incurred to subsidize transit and free roads in the state along with traffic and revenue "underperformance" despite higher than assumed toll increases. The Turnpike is required by a state law (Act 44)  it proposed  in 2007 to head off privatization to contribute $450m/year in grants to lossmaking transit and untolled roads. The state's auditor general has said repeatedly that unless Act 44 is  repealed it will force the Turnpike to become insolvent and renege on its debts.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

agentsteel53

Quote from: Steve on April 08, 2013, 05:40:51 PM
(On a side note, if you want to really fuck with toll operators, get a custom license plate that looks like a typical issue from your state, but drop a 0 in a letter spot and an I in a number spot.)

I believe California strictly prohibits this.  if I wanted, say, 6T0C591, where that is a zero instead of the O, then they would note that it too closely resembles an issued, potentially issued, planned to be issued, etc plate.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

agentsteel53

Quote from: cpzilliacus on April 08, 2013, 06:25:34 PM
TOLLROADSnews: A Penn Pike 'WORKER' is angry with our "road signs bonanza" piece + our response on MPT


what is MPT?  is it a variant of the Pennsylvania Turnpike which has sexual relations with one's immediate female ancestor?
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

PHLBOS

Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 12, 2013, 03:05:43 PMwhat is MPT?
Acronym for Maintenance and Protection of Traffic.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

agentsteel53

#514
QuoteYou sir are a total (profanity.)

I really wish I weren't a total zounds.  but, some days it's just how it goes.

(that dude really needs to learn how to write.  he reminds me of such erstwhile forum brilliants as Ethan Man and SR-641.)
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Alps

Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 12, 2013, 04:13:25 PM
QuoteYou sir are a total (profanity.)

I really wish I weren't a total zounds.  but, some days it's just how it goes.

(that dude really needs to learn how to write.  he reminds me of such erstwhile forum brilliants as Ethan Man and SR-641.)
Some days you feel like an (Almond Joy), some days you (zounds)

yakra

"A cat can say 'Zounds', or 'Hubba hubba', or 'Veet-o-voutee!'"
-Geetz Romo
"Officer, I'm always careful to drive the speed limit no matter where I am and that's what I was doin'." Said "No, you weren't," she said, "Yes, I was." He said, "Madam, I just clocked you at 22 MPH," and she said "That's the speed limit," he said "No ma'am, that's the route numbah!"  - Gary Crocker

ARMOURERERIC

There is a new widening/reconstruction segment site listing at the PA Pike website.  I am too lazy to post the link, but it is in Harrisburg from I-83 to the Susquehanna Bridge.  When complete, it will give you 6 lanes with widened median from 83 to 283.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: ARMOURERERIC on April 13, 2013, 04:28:19 PM
There is a new widening/reconstruction segment site listing at the PA Pike website.  I am too lazy to post the link, but it is in Harrisburg from I-83 to the Susquehanna Bridge.  When complete, it will give you 6 lanes with widened median from 83 to 283.

This sounds like it: Milepost 242-245: Project Overview
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

PAHighways

Plan Would Eliminate Pa. Turnpike Commission

Governor Thornburgh tried to do just that back in the mid-80s.

vdeane

Given all the breezewoods and Act 44, PennDOT controlling the PTC could only be a good thing, even if it is PennDOT.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Compulov

I wonder what would happen to ACT44 if they merged operations? Would the fact that there's no more PTC mean that any obligations to the state by the PTC are null and void? My biggest concern would be that they'd be raiding the toll dollars even more heavily than they are now to fund other projects. Toll roads should pay for themselves, not for the entire road system of the state. If you don't have enough money to fund the state's other roads, then you need to raise taxes or find another way (such as a higher gas tax) to pay for it.
Of course this also works under the assumption that there's less corruption in the state government than there is/was in the PTC... an idea I find laughable at best.

vdeane

Act 44 would just be a check to themselves, so it would essentially be void (other than the transit subsidies; not sure if those are PennDOT or not); the Turnpike would also get maintenance out of the general fund and not just tolls though.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

ARMOURERERIC

Not that this would be anywhere near a good idea, but would this enable PennDot to toll any limited acccess facilities in PA without fed approval, like say US 219

cpzilliacus

Quote from: ARMOURERERIC on April 18, 2013, 01:15:24 PM
Not that this would be anywhere near a good idea, but would this enable PennDot to toll any limited acccess facilities in PA without fed approval, like say US 219

No, not if PennDOT accepted federal dollars for construction, reconstruction or other activities, then federal approval would still be needed.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.



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