entering turnpike illegally

[Scott5114]

That being said, while KTA doesn't legally disallow you from U-turning at service plazas, my understanding from KTA literature is that any sort of "impossible" routing like that would cause your toll to default to the rate charged when entering at South Haven and exiting at Kansas City (i.e. the highest toll possible for your vehicle class).

I may be wrong, however, since I've never attempted it.

[jeffandnicole]

You can get to the Atlantic City Expressway's service plazas without paying a toll either, although it would seem kind of pointless to drive a minimum of 20 miles just to get overpriced gas, food or drink on the Expressway.

[Roadrunner75]

I remember one night my wife was coming back to NJ from her family in PA over the turnpike bridge and called to tell me she was completely stopped in traffic about a half mile east after the Turnpike entry point on then 276/current 95 (interchange 6). There was some kind of major accident on the turnpike in that area (pre-widening) and for some reason both the ramps to NB and SB on the the turnpike mainline were blocked.  People were out of their cars waiting, and I was considering whether to tell her to just cut across the median and go back west on 276 to the toll barrier and use another route.  I wasn't sure what the penalty was for the "U-turn" movement (full distance fare?) so we debated whether it was worth it, although a few other drivers did turn around.  Ultimately there were enough troopers rolling past periodically where we decided it best to just wait it out as the ticket would probably be a lot worse than whatever the turnpike would throw at her.

[Mr_Northside]

I had a friend/acquaintance way back in the day (when some of my friends were over 21, and some (*cough*) weren't - He had land and a trailer right next to the PA Turnpike
One night - this is when the Turnpike was doing a total reconstruction project from New Stanton to ~PA-982 - we were riding around his yard/land, when he headed out to the road, and then stopped at an open maintenance gate.... then proceeded thru.
There was some "Oh, shit!" moments, as we were now driving on the Turnpike, but then he pulled on the shoulder, slowed down, and there was an opening right onto his land.
He obviously knew about the opening, since he agreed (and probably wanted) to take a bunch of dirt/fill from the construction project to help smooth out his land.

Looking back, not a smart thing to do (as I'm sure we were all shitfaced), but it is the only time I've entered the turnpike from a non-interchange ramp.

[kalvado]

Hard to beat this guy!
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/03/30/local-seneca-businessman-really-building-thruway-off-ramp/473904002/

[apeman33]

That being said, while KTA doesn't legally disallow you from U-turning at service plazas, my understanding from KTA literature is that any sort of "impossible" routing like that would cause your toll to default to the rate charged when entering at South Haven and exiting at Kansas City (i.e. the highest toll possible for your vehicle class).

I may be wrong, however, since I've never attempted it.

How does it work for the people who work at the restaurants and service stations in the toll plazas? Do they even have to pay a toll since they work on the turnpike?

If I worked at the Towanda service plaza, I'd hate to have to get on the turnpike at Andover, work, and then go all the way to El Dorado in order to go home so that I could avoid paying the maximum toll.

[Scott5114]

That being said, while KTA doesn't legally disallow you from U-turning at service plazas, my understanding from KTA literature is that any sort of "impossible" routing like that would cause your toll to default to the rate charged when entering at South Haven and exiting at Kansas City (i.e. the highest toll possible for your vehicle class).

I may be wrong, however, since I've never attempted it.

How does it work for the people who work at the restaurants and service stations in the toll plazas? Do they even have to pay a toll since they work on the turnpike?

If I worked at the Towanda service plaza, I'd hate to have to get on the turnpike at Andover, work, and then go all the way to El Dorado in order to go home so that I could avoid paying the maximum toll.

I double checked and it turns out I was misremembering a little bit, but it almost sounds worse than I wrote above. Quoting from the Wikipedia article, which I trust because I wrote it:

If a motorist presents a ticket at the same toll plaza it was issued from, the KTA charges a "per-minute" fare if the trip was more than fifteen minutes. Should the ticket be lost, or should the trip take over eighteen hours to complete, the driver must pay the highest possible toll for that exit.

Given the fact that an 8-hour per-minute toll must be astronomical (I can't find a source for how much per minute it is), I'd have to imagine that KTA has a special K-Tag issued to employees, like New York does, that grants a special rate.

[Joe The Dragon]

 non-revenue tag all tolls cost zero

[kalvado]

non-revenue tag all tolls cost zero

I wonder if those tags can legally be used (and are they actually used) for personal purposes? Some businesses - e.g. airlines - allow employers to use their product as a free perk - as long as that doesn't affect paying customers. For example, airline employees may occupy seats that would otherwise go out empty.

[kphoger]

non-revenue tag all tolls cost zero

I wonder if those tags can legally be used (and are they actually used) for personal purposes?

Considering that it's easy enough to simply move a tag from one vehicle to another*, I'm sure there's at least someone out there doing it.


* If you never affix to your windshield to begin with, choosing instead to just masking-tape it to your windshield as needed.

[hbelkins]

non-revenue tag all tolls cost zero

I wonder if those tags can legally be used (and are they actually used) for personal purposes?

Considering that it's easy enough to simply move a tag from one vehicle to another*, I'm sure there's at least someone out there doing it.


* If you never affix to your windshield to begin with, choosing instead to just masking-tape it to your windshield as needed.

Wouldn't they be able to cross-check tag reads to work schedules to discover abuse? If you're not scheduled to work on a Saturday, and your tag gets read that day, especially at a plaza you normally wouldn't pass through to get to work, it would be a sure sign.

[kphoger]

non-revenue tag all tolls cost zero

I wonder if those tags can legally be used (and are they actually used) for personal purposes?

Considering that it's easy enough to simply move a tag from one vehicle to another*, I'm sure there's at least someone out there doing it.


* If you never affix to your windshield to begin with, choosing instead to just masking-tape it to your windshield as needed.

Wouldn't they be able to cross-check tag reads to work schedules to discover abuse? If you're not scheduled to work on a Saturday, and your tag gets read that day, especially at a plaza you normally wouldn't pass through to get to work, it would be a sure sign.

I was about to post that no agency would likely think it's worth it to pay someone to check for that sort of thing.  But then I realized that my company used to pay me to do almost the exact same thing (checking for company vehicle use when off the clock).

[Scott5114]

non-revenue tag all tolls cost zero

I wonder if those tags can legally be used (and are they actually used) for personal purposes?

Considering that it's easy enough to simply move a tag from one vehicle to another*, I'm sure there's at least someone out there doing it.


* If you never affix to your windshield to begin with, choosing instead to just masking-tape it to your windshield as needed.

Wouldn't they be able to cross-check tag reads to work schedules to discover abuse? If you're not scheduled to work on a Saturday, and your tag gets read that day, especially at a plaza you normally wouldn't pass through to get to work, it would be a sure sign.

I was about to post that no agency would likely think it's worth it to pay someone to check for that sort of thing.  But then I realized that my company used to pay me to do almost the exact same thing (checking for company vehicle use when off the clock).

True, but I think the service center businesses lease from KTA, don't they? I imagine it would be far more trouble to audit those employees' schedules than it would be worth, considering the most they could probably do is assess a toll after the fact, which they may play hell actually collecting on from a McDonald's employee.

I imagine far stricter auditing would take place of actual KTA employees.

[kphoger]

True, but I think the service center businesses lease from KTA, don't they? I imagine it would be far more trouble to audit those employees' schedules than it would be worth, considering the most they could probably do is assess a toll after the fact, which they may play hell actually collecting on from a McDonald's employee.

I imagine far stricter auditing would take place of actual KTA employees.

Exactly right.  In fact, the reason I no longer do this sort of thing at work is that our field techs switched from being employees to being contractors.  For a while, even though there was no longer any time clock to check against, I at least checked for vehicle usage on days off.  But eventually keeping up on vehicle tracking stopped being worth it to the company for field techs who are technically their own individual companies.

[hbelkins]

True, but I think the service center businesses lease from KTA, don't they? I imagine it would be far more trouble to audit those employees' schedules than it would be worth, considering the most they could probably do is assess a toll after the fact, which they may play hell actually collecting on from a McDonald's employee.

I imagine far stricter auditing would take place of actual KTA employees.

Exactly right.  In fact, the reason I no longer do this sort of thing at work is that our field techs switched from being employees to being contractors.  For a while, even though there was no longer any time clock to check against, I at least checked for vehicle usage on days off.  But eventually keeping up on vehicle tracking stopped being worth it to the company for field techs who are technically their own individual companies.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has installed GPS units in its vehicles. They track both vehicle location and speed. If you drive a certain amount over the speed limit, it automatically flags a notification to a supervisor. This system was used to discipline a state employee who drove his work vehicle out of the assigned service area (to another county outside his highway district) to visit a female other than his wife.

[kphoger]

True, but I think the service center businesses lease from KTA, don't they? I imagine it would be far more trouble to audit those employees' schedules than it would be worth, considering the most they could probably do is assess a toll after the fact, which they may play hell actually collecting on from a McDonald's employee.

I imagine far stricter auditing would take place of actual KTA employees.

Exactly right.  In fact, the reason I no longer do this sort of thing at work is that our field techs switched from being employees to being contractors.  For a while, even though there was no longer any time clock to check against, I at least checked for vehicle usage on days off.  But eventually keeping up on vehicle tracking stopped being worth it to the company for field techs who are technically their own individual companies.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has installed GPS units in its vehicles. They track both vehicle location and speed. If you drive a certain amount over the speed limit, it automatically flags a notification to a supervisor. This system was used to discipline a state employee who drove his work vehicle out of the assigned service area (to another county outside his highway district) to visit a female other than his wife.

My favorite incident was when I caught an OKC tech having gone home, grabbed his fishing gear, and headed to the lake for an hour and a half–all using his company vehicle, clocked in, and statused at a customer's house.

[vdeane]

True, but I think the service center businesses lease from KTA, don't they? I imagine it would be far more trouble to audit those employees' schedules than it would be worth, considering the most they could probably do is assess a toll after the fact, which they may play hell actually collecting on from a McDonald's employee.

I imagine far stricter auditing would take place of actual KTA employees.

Exactly right.  In fact, the reason I no longer do this sort of thing at work is that our field techs switched from being employees to being contractors.  For a while, even though there was no longer any time clock to check against, I at least checked for vehicle usage on days off.  But eventually keeping up on vehicle tracking stopped being worth it to the company for field techs who are technically their own individual companies.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has installed GPS units in its vehicles. They track both vehicle location and speed. If you drive a certain amount over the speed limit, it automatically flags a notification to a supervisor. This system was used to discipline a state employee who drove his work vehicle out of the assigned service area (to another county outside his highway district) to visit a female other than his wife.

NYSDOT does the same.  Someone once got a call asking why they hadn't turned in the keys and paperwork yet because they could see from the GPS that the vehicle had been in the parking lot for a while.