Toll Collectors: A Disappearing Breed

[PHLBOS]

Overall the phase-out/retirement of toll collectors is another example of machines/electronics taking over manual labor.

I always wonder how many people are employed due to electronic tolling.  Those systems don't program, build, maintain, and upgrade themselves.

Wild guess but nowhere near the same number of people required to collect tolls at individual booths. 

Additionally, working with electronic tolling systems (per your description) requires a different set of skills.  Not that existing toll collectors couldn't be trained/retrained for such; but a toll plaza currently requiring (for example) 20 toll collectors does not need 20 people for an all-AET set-up.

[roadman65]

I was noticing though that the Kansas Turnpike hires young girls to collect tolls.  Not high school young, but college young as the girl who collected at the I-135 exit was a girl that most guys I am sure are chasing while in school LOL!  Nonetheless I seen it back in 2001 where the girl who issued my ticket at Emporia was cute, but too young for me as I was 36 at the time and she had to be 23 or something.

I know that their days are numbered with the push to get all ORT on every toll facility nationwide which is why the fad is going to answer the OP.

[jeffandnicole]

At least on the days of me working the NJ Turnpike, they would take nearly anyone who applied to be a part timer or temp worker to collect tolls.  The turnover is awesomely high...most people can't deal with being in a small booth in the middle of a highway dealing with the travelling public.  The ones that stick it out past 2 weeks will generally be there until they decide to give it up; could be months, could be years.

[roadman65]

At least on the days of me working the NJ Turnpike, they would take nearly anyone who applied to be a part timer or temp worker to collect tolls.  The turnover is awesomely high...most people can't deal with being in a small booth in the middle of a highway dealing with the travelling public.  The ones that stick it out past 2 weeks will generally be there until they decide to give it up; could be months, could be years.

Telemarketing is another one.  You have to make x amount of sales to keep you job, and to get those sales you must get hung up on, cursed at, or threatened by people while making phone calls, so many quit or be fired after a few weeks.

Serving in a Restaurant is another one, as most people cannot deal with low tips and hard work these days, so many leave after about two weeks as well.  Department stores that pay you draw verses commission is another as if you do not make enough sales, you cannot cover your salary and therefore the stores charge you for it and you must make it up on future sales. This is also incentive to leave real soon either voluntarily or not.

[jeffandnicole]

At least on the days of me working the NJ Turnpike, they would take nearly anyone who applied to be a part timer or temp worker to collect tolls.  The turnover is awesomely high...most people can't deal with being in a small booth in the middle of a highway dealing with the travelling public.  The ones that stick it out past 2 weeks will generally be there until they decide to give it up; could be months, could be years.

Telemarketing is another one.  You have to make x amount of sales to keep you job, and to get those sales you must get hung up on, cursed at, or threatened by people while making phone calls, so many quit or be fired after a few weeks.

Serving in a Restaurant is another one, as most people cannot deal with low tips and hard work these days, so many leave after about two weeks as well.  Department stores that pay you draw verses commission is another as if you do not make enough sales, you cannot cover your salary and therefore the stores charge you for it and you must make it up on future sales. This is also incentive to leave real soon either voluntarily or not.

It's very common to see Facebook posts from friends talking about their crappy nights or tables that didn't leave a tip.  Yet, they will pay their way thru college, get a car, etc, all while serving tables for years, and never once will I see a story about the good tippers!

[thenetwork]

Let us not forget the other business that had to let go a lot of employees when toll roads either converted to AET or when transponders reduced the need for coin fares:  The armored car business.   I would safely guess that many of the busier toll plazas got more money than most suburban banks in a day.

I wonder how often armored vehicles had to visit every toll plaza to collect all the money dropped in the baskets or how much change they needed to bring for the toll takers.  It's not like Judy in booth #2 could take the day's incoming tolls and place it in a bank bag inside an unmarked paper bag to take to the bank each night. 

[jeffandnicole]

Let us not forget the other business that had to let go a lot of employees when toll roads either converted to AET or when transponders reduced the need for coin fares:  The armored car business.   I would safely guess that many of the busier toll plazas got more money than most suburban banks in a day.

I wonder how often armored vehicles had to visit every toll plaza to collect all the money dropped in the baskets or how much change they needed to bring for the toll takers.  It's not like Judy in booth #2 could take the day's incoming tolls and place it in a bank bag inside an unmarked paper bag to take to the bank each night. 

If it's anything like the NJ Turnpike, it's probably once a day.  (Honestly, I'm not even sure who picked up the money, if it was someone employed by the Turnpike or an armored trucking company).  But as long as there's one cash booth open, they'll still stop by - they wouldn't want that money just sitting there at the building...even if it is a small plaza with minimal cash. 

I'm not sure how many employees would be let go though...we're probably talking a few people per toll road.  And they have other accounts - Service area money would still need to be collected, for example.

[D-Dey65]

The fact that the US is phasing out old style tolling isn't surprising; to me it's always been odd seeing it in this day and age.

Do keep in mind that most toll facilities in the US have been around for decades.  In contrast, E-ZPass or equivalent have only been around since the late 90s/early 2000s(?) and the majority of those installations were retrofitted onto existing facilities.

One also has the issue of the loss of jobs among toll-takers (the premise of this thread).  IMHO, that could be one reason why AET implementation/conversions seems a bit sluggish.  In some instances, many toll-takers are either friends or relatives of prominent politicians and phasing out/retiring those workers alone can be a daunting/politically risky task (but that's another topic for another forum).

Overall the phase-out/retirement of toll collectors is another example of machines/electronics taking over manual labor.

You just started me thinking of this song:
https://youtu.be/uglWkf8fkGo

I just considered getting an E-Z Pass for the first time. I clicked on the page from NYC (https://www.e-zpassny.com/en/signup/facility.shtml), and when they asked about your residency I clicked on Florida and they redirected me to the Virginia DOT's E-Z Pass page. I only hope you don't have to have money in a Virginia bank to get one.

Alaska residents are redirected to the Illinois E-Z Pass page, and so are Alabama residents.

[roadman65]

At least on the days of me working the NJ Turnpike, they would take nearly anyone who applied to be a part timer or temp worker to collect tolls.  The turnover is awesomely high...most people can't deal with being in a small booth in the middle of a highway dealing with the travelling public.  The ones that stick it out past 2 weeks will generally be there until they decide to give it up; could be months, could be years.

Telemarketing is another one.  You have to make x amount of sales to keep you job, and to get those sales you must get hung up on, cursed at, or threatened by people while making phone calls, so many quit or be fired after a few weeks.

Serving in a Restaurant is another one, as most people cannot deal with low tips and hard work these days, so many leave after about two weeks as well.  Department stores that pay you draw verses commission is another as if you do not make enough sales, you cannot cover your salary and therefore the stores charge you for it and you must make it up on future sales. This is also incentive to leave real soon either voluntarily or not.

It's very common to see Facebook posts from friends talking about their crappy nights or tables that didn't leave a tip.  Yet, they will pay their way thru college, get a car, etc, all while serving tables for years, and never once will I see a story about the good tippers!

Oh yes, there are good tippers do not get me wrong.  I was referring to the many who do not stay around to put themselves through college.  I have worked with some who are just plain lazy and not willing to take the bad with the good and they end up quitting before the tough get tougher.

Then you have those who work for years serving tables who complain constantly at the 100 dollar check, who leaves 5 bucks.  That was who I was referring to. 

Just go into Red Lobster or Olive Garden and see how fast turnover is for servers.  Yeah you may get a lot of persons staying a while, but you will get the same amount leaving with new faces coming in each week.

[1995hoo]

....

I just considered getting an E-Z Pass for the first time. I clicked on the page from NYC (https://www.e-zpassny.com/en/signup/facility.shtml), and when they asked about your residency I clicked on Florida and they redirected me to the Virginia DOT's E-Z Pass page. I only hope you don't have to have money in a Virginia bank to get one.

Alaska residents are redirected to the Illinois E-Z Pass page, and so are Alabama residents.

You do not need money in a Virginia bank. I live in Virginia but I didn't give them my bank account information. It charges my American Express card when it's time to replenish the balance.

I have not looked at their terms and conditions in a while, but if you live in Florida and are considering an E-ZPass, you may wish to explore the North Carolina QuickPass. They have a device that's compatible with both E-ZPass and SunPass. Might be more convenient for you. I explored it a while back because I have two E-ZPasses for our three cars and a SunPass Mjni in the car I drive most often, so I thought replacing one E-ZPass and the SunPass with the Quick Pass might be more convenient. I ultimately didn't do it because there was something I disliked about their terms and conditions, but I do not remember what it was. You might not have the same issue, though.

[Pink Jazz]

I thought about this, but what seems to be even more of a disappearing breed than human toll collectors are the automatic toll collection machines where coins are thrown into a basket and counted automatically.  These machines had a disadvantage that most of them only accepted coins and not bills.  For bridges and tunnels these machines were impractical since most drivers don't want to carry such large amounts of change.

[jwolfer]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

[PHLBOS]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

During the '90s and in the days before FastLane/E-ZPass; the toll collectors at the Mass Pike would just wave motorists through the booths during peak holiday travel periods (& not collect tolls).

[Brandon]

I thought about this, but what seems to be even more of a disappearing breed than human toll collectors are the automatic toll collection machines where coins are thrown into a basket and counted automatically.  These machines had a disadvantage that most of them only accepted coins and not bills.  For bridges and tunnels these machines were impractical since most drivers don't want to carry such large amounts of change.

Don't worry, they're on most ramp plazas of the Illinois Tollway system in addition to I-Pass (which is at every ramp plaza on the system).  Only about 15% (or less) of users use these coin baskets.

[briantroutman]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

During the '90s and in the days before FastLane/E-ZPass; the toll collectors at the Mass Pike would just wave motorists through the booths during peak holiday travel periods (& not collect tolls).

Was this sanctioned by management (to prevent backups)–or more along the lines of the lazy fast food workers who turn off the outside lights half an hour early hoping that nobody comes in?

[Duke87]

I always wonder how many people are employed due to electronic tolling.  Those systems don't program, build, maintain, and upgrade themselves.

True, but the number of people needed is fewer than for cash collection. Savings on labor costs are one of the major arguments in favor of electronic toll collection, after all.

At this point in time there are several items which potentially get in the way of toll roads going all-electronic:
1) The fact that it eliminates jobs can make it politically controversial
2) If a large percentage of vehicles using the road do not have a transponder it becomes incredibly cumbersome to handle billing for all the video tolls. This creates a heavy administrative burden by needing to send so many bills in the mail and process their payment.
3) In some jurisdictions there is no reliable legal mechanism in place to enforce payment of video tolls.
4) There is an upfront capital cost associated with the conversion that the responsible agency may not have the cash on hand to do, or they might not consider it a priority compared to more vital repairs.
5) Government agencies (at least in the US) are often slow to embrace change. Never underestimate the power of "we've been doing it this way for 80 years since this bridge was built, why should we change now?".


Many of these problems affect conversions more than new roads. Any completely new toll roads built at this point usually are all-electronic... although there are exceptions. Item number 2 is why the new A-30 bridge in Valleyfield, QC has cash lanes. A lot of non-local traffic and no regional transponder system in place that non-locals will already have.

[jeffandnicole]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

During the '90s and in the days before FastLane/E-ZPass; the toll collectors at the Mass Pike would just wave motorists through the booths during peak holiday travel periods (& not collect tolls).

Was this sanctioned by management (to prevent backups)—or more along the lines of the lazy fast food workers who turn off the outside lights half an hour early hoping that nobody comes in?

This would be more like a lazy fast food worker just handing out food for a half hour, and management wondering where all the food went without any money collected.

It would be noticed real quick, that a busy toll plaza suddenly had a lane (or lanes) where traffic sped thru, axles being counted within the lane, and no money being rung in. 

Whenever cars are waved thru the plaza, it would be sanctioned very high up the totem pole - usually a commissioner or director - and there would be extraordinary circumstances, such as a traffic jam miles or hours long.

[jeffandnicole]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

The NJ Turnpike's Interchange 1 has had express EZ Pass lanes since 2004, and has never experienced a significant backup since.

Whenever there's a backup in the toll plaza area, it has nothing to do with the NJ Turnpike...it's usually an issue with the Delaware Memorial Bridge, or 295 to 95 in Delaware (unless there's an accident, of course).

[hbelkins]

1) The fact that it eliminates jobs can make it politically controversial

I know I've stated this before, but when Kentucky eliminated tolls, all the employees were absorbed into other departments of KYTC or other state agencies. We had one who was a custodian at our office (until she got into trouble and got fired) and another who worked in accounts until she retired. Another got her CDL and became an equipment operator at one of our garages.

5) Government agencies (at least in the US) are often slow to embrace change. Never underestimate the power of "we've been doing it this way for 80 years since this bridge was built, why should we change now?".

This is an area where politics can become involved, especially in Kentucky. I witnessed it firsthand. The Democrats held the governorship in Kentucky from 1971 until 2003. That's 32 years in which the Democrats controlled patronage hiring in state government and built up a bloc of loyalists in administrative positions. When a Republican was elected in 2003, the entrenched bureaucracy was very resistant to the changes the new administration wanted to make -- so much so that someone made up buttons with a slash through the words "but we've always done it this way." Four years later, when the Democrats took back over, many of the changes implemented during the previous four years were reversed and went back to the old way of doing things.

[kphoger]

I was noticing though that the Kansas Turnpike hires young girls to collect tolls.  Not high school young, but college young as the girl who collected at the I-135 exit was a girl that most guys I am sure are chasing while in school LOL!  Nonetheless I seen it back in 2001 where the girl who issued my ticket at Emporia was cute, but too young for me as I was 36 at the time and she had to be 23 or something.

I know that their days are numbered with the push to get all ORT on every toll facility nationwide which is why the fad is going to answer the OP.

Where do they go when I'm using the Turnpike?? I've never once had a cute young gal take my toll, Kansas or anywhere else.

[kphoger]

Overall the phase-out/retirement of toll collectors is another example of machines/electronics taking over manual labor.

I always wonder how many people are employed due to electronic tolling.  Those systems don't program, build, maintain, and upgrade themselves.

Wild guess but nowhere near the same number of people required to collect tolls at individual booths. 

Additionally, working with electronic tolling systems (per your description) requires a different set of skills.  Not that existing toll collectors couldn't be trained/retrained for such; but a toll plaza currently requiring (for example) 20 toll collectors does not need 20 people for an all-AET set-up.

There's peripheral manpower at play, too, that people might not think about. My boss, for example, has to deal with toll violations for company trucks in other states. He's not a toll collector, but his workload affects my company's manpower; add up enough people like him across a region, and the number of man-hours might be significant.

[PHLBOS]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

During the '90s and in the days before FastLane/E-ZPass; the toll collectors at the Mass Pike would just wave motorists through the booths during peak holiday travel periods (& not collect tolls).

Was this sanctioned by management (to prevent backups)–or more along the lines of the lazy fast food workers who turn off the outside lights half an hour early hoping that nobody comes in?

All kidding aside; the reason was indeed the former.

[Big John]

How do they do in in China?:  (Photo by Daily Mail in the UK)

[Rothman]

With electronic tolling there will be much less of a back up thanksgiving weekend at the south end of the NJTP

During the '90s and in the days before FastLane/E-ZPass; the toll collectors at the Mass Pike would just wave motorists through the booths during peak holiday travel periods (& not collect tolls).

Was this sanctioned by management (to prevent backups)–or more along the lines of the lazy fast food workers who turn off the outside lights half an hour early hoping that nobody comes in?

All kidding aside; the reason was indeed the former.

Yep, I was waved through a Pike toll plaza once or twice because of traffic management...but long ago.

[The Nature Boy]

What percentage of people have EZPasses? I still see a ton of NH, Maine and MA plates heading to the cash plazas on the Maine Turnpike and those are states WITH EZPass.