Toll Collectors: A Disappearing Breed

[cpzilliacus]

PewTrusts.org: Toll Collectors: A Disappearing Breed

Remember when drivers would pull up to a toll booth, hand cash to a toll collector and wait for the gate to rise so they could pass?

Those days are fast becoming a thing of the past as a growing number of states demolish toll booths and switch to electronic, cashless tolling systems, such as E-ZPass. And so are the jobs of many of the men and women who collect tolls.

States and quasi-governmental road authorities, which increasingly are turning to tolls for some highway and bridge repair and maintenance, have followed the lead of private industry and replaced people with new technology in search of greater efficiency, better customer service and more cost savings.

Transportation officials say electronic tolling improves driver safety and traffic flow, saves taxpayer dollars and reduces pollution by cutting fuel consumption. Critics say it invades people's privacy, discriminates against low-income drivers and sometimes results in motorists being erroneously charged hefty fees and penalties.

[rschen7754]

Reminds me of this story I saw recently: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/07/20/toll-booth-worker-florida-sam-samsonov/30405051/

[brad2971]

I'm torn about this. Yeah, it was a decent paying job that took little to no effort to master (and secure with a pension to boot). OTOH, think of the toll on one's health, sitting in that toll booth, breathing in considerable amounts of car, truck, and bus exhaust.

This may be one of those jobs that hardly anyone will truly miss.

[jeffandnicole]

I'm torn about this. Yeah, it was a decent paying job that took little to no effort to master (and secure with a pension to boot). OTOH, think of the toll on one's health, sitting in that toll booth, breathing in considerable amounts of car, truck, and bus exhaust.

This may be one of those jobs that hardly anyone will truly miss.

Don't forget about hearing loss from when the cars and trucks roared out of the toll plaza, the noises echoing around the metal surroundings into the 3x6 foot booth. 

[PHLBOS]

One thing to keep in mind here.  With many toll facilities out there, the original plans were to eliminate the tolls booths once the bonds that built the facilities were paid off.  More often than not, and for reasons that would be several threads among themselves, such did not happen for many of the facilities.

Long story short, and no disrespect towards anybody that's in the profession, toll collectors have been on borrowed time for quite a while (decades in many instances).  AET conversions may indeed be finally sealing that fate.

[jeffandnicole]

One thing to keep in mind here.  With many toll facilities out there, the original plans were to eliminate the tolls booths once the bonds that built the facilities were paid off.  More often than not, and for reasons that would be several threads among themselves, such did not happen for many of the facilities.

Long story short, and no disrespect towards anybody that's in the profession, toll collectors have been on borrowed time for quite a while (decades in many instances).  AET conversions may indeed be finally sealing that fate.

The NJ Turnpike Authority has been very gracious in allowing the toll collectors to stick around, albeit at greatly reduced salaries.  The DRPA has talked about removing the collectors at the CBB & BRB and going AET, but they are so inept that even the relatively simple chore of installing Express EZ Pass that they haven't done that yet, after years of talking about doing it.

[hbelkins]

One benefit to KYTC running Kentucky's toll roads was that the toll collectors had a place to land as the tolls came off our parkways. We had two former toll collectors from the old Daniel Boone Parkway in our office (one retired, and the other got fired after she went to a local store and got caught shoplifting while she was supposed to be at work). One got her CDL and is working as an equipment operator in one of our counties. The PIO in the Somerset office is a former toll collector on the Cumberland Parkway.

[ET21]

Classic Illinois toll signs before the Open Road system. We still have a couple of manuals around with the updated system.

[SectorZ]

http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Employment/SeasonalTollCollectorInternshipProgram.aspx

MassDOT still has an internship program for toll collectors. Definitely need to ensure that the future tolls collectors of the world have a place they can get started at.

[spooky]

http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Employment/SeasonalTollCollectorInternshipProgram.aspx

MassDOT still has an internship program for toll collectors. Definitely need to ensure that the future tolls collectors of the world have a place they can get started at.

and with union dues included, so they can learn how to call in sick on busy days!

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/massachusetts_turnpike_changes.html

[US 41]

Most interstates and int'l bridges seem to still have toll booths with collectors. It seems to me like the newer tolled state highways are the ones that do everything electronically. In Canada I know that 407 in Toronto collects tolls electronically. I don't know about the rest of the toll roads and bridges in Canada. In Mexico I think it might be a law that all toll roads have toll collectors.

[Ace10]

^ The new Port Mann Bridge near Vancouver BC uses all-electronic tolling.

The Selmon Crosstown Expressway (FL 618) was converted from cash collecting to all-electronic tolling, and I believe the express lanes were constructed with only all-electronic tolling. Also, lots of toll roads in southeast Florida have had cash collection eliminated. I think it still exists on the Sawgrass Expressway (FL 869) but it's been a while since I've been in the area.

[xcellntbuy]

^ The new Port Mann Bridge near Vancouver BC uses all-electronic tolling.

The Selmon Crosstown Expressway (FL 618) was converted from cash collecting to all-electronic tolling, and I believe the express lanes were constructed with only all-electronic tolling. Also, lots of toll roads in southeast Florida have had cash collection eliminated. I think it still exists on the Sawgrass Expressway (FL 869) but it's been a while since I've been in the area.

The Sawgrass Expressway converted to AET just before I moved away in August 2014.

[Bruce]

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge (eastbound span, built 2007) has the only toll booth in the state. I don't get why WSDOT even bothered including one when their other toll projects are all electronic/mail.

[txstateends]

The only toll collectors the NTTA uses now are the customer service reps at their HQ in Plano to collect after the fact (or to sell you a TollTag beforehand), since all their tollroads are electronic now.  There are still non-TollTag lanes at both ends of DFW Airport, though.

[SidS1045]

http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Employment/SeasonalTollCollectorInternshipProgram.aspx

MassDOT still has an internship program for toll collectors. Definitely need to ensure that the future tolls collectors of the world have a place they can get started at.

Er, no they don't.  Look at the dates.

[noelbotevera]

PA Turnpike still has toll booth collectors, but that's due to how slow the replacement process is going. For me, it would be really hard to get used to those new toll gantries. Where I was born (Southern North Carolina, Lumberton), there was no toll road. Even my present place? It's still hard to grasp the news (PA Turnpike is about 25-26 miles away).

[PHLBOS]

(PA Turnpike is about 52-53 miles away).

Assuming Chambersburg is your current location; the PA Turnpike's roughly 30-35 miles away via I-81 and roughly 25 miles away via PA 997.

[jeffandnicole]

(PA Turnpike is about 52-53 miles away).

Assuming Chambersburg is your current location; the PA Turnpike's roughly 30-35 miles away via I-81 and roughly 25 miles away via PA 997.

Have you seen his suggestions of alternate routes?   

[noelbotevera]

(PA Turnpike is about 52-53 miles away).

Assuming Chambersburg is your current location; the PA Turnpike's roughly 30-35 miles away via I-81 and roughly 25 miles away via PA 997.

Oops! I measured from the MD state line instead of Chambersburg 

[SignGeek101]

PA Turnpike still has toll booth collectors, but that's due to how slow the replacement process is going. For me, it would be really hard to get used to those new toll gantries. Where I was born (Southern North Carolina, Lumberton), there was no toll road. Even my present place? It's still hard to grasp the news (PA Turnpike is about 25-26 miles away).

Honestly, the concept of tolling while having to stop at a booth was quite odd to me when I first experienced it back in 2008/9. Before then, I lived near the very first electronic tolling highway in the world (ON 407) and was quite used to electronic tolling by then. I remember my parents sticking a "transponder" through the sun roof in our car, so that the little gizmo on the gantry could "read it". We would get our bill in the mail, and that was that.

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.

[cpzilliacus]

One benefit to KYTC running Kentucky's toll roads was that the toll collectors had a place to land as the tolls came off our parkways. We had two former toll collectors from the old Daniel Boone Parkway in our office (one retired, and the other got fired after she went to a local store and got caught shoplifting while she was supposed to be at work). One got her CDL and is working as an equipment operator in one of our counties. The PIO in the Somerset office is a former toll collector on the Cumberland Parkway.

Any new tolls involving Kentucky now (Ohio River crossings) will be all-electronic, right?

[PHLBOS]

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.

[jeffandnicole]

PA Turnpike still has toll booth collectors, but that's due to how slow the replacement process is going. For me, it would be really hard to get used to those new toll gantries. Where I was born (Southern North Carolina, Lumberton), there was no toll road. Even my present place? It's still hard to grasp the news (PA Turnpike is about 25-26 miles away).

Honestly, the concept of tolling while having to stop at a booth was quite odd to me when I first experienced it back in 2008/9. Before then, I lived near the very first electronic tolling highway in the world (ON 407) and was quite used to electronic tolling by then. I remember my parents sticking a "transponder" through the sun roof in our car, so that the little gizmo on the gantry could "read it". We would get our bill in the mail, and that was that.

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.

Change takes time.  (much of this is what PHLBOS posted while I was typing!)

In areas and states that haven't used toll plazas in the past, they almost build new toll roads with all electronic tolling.  But in states where cash was king, they are very slow in removing them.  Some of it has to deal with unions and such, but another part of it deals with the public, many of whom refuse to get an EZ Pass (or other electronic toll payment device).  Most agencies have done a good job in installing Express Lanes where feasible, although some, such as MDTA, are lagging wayyyy behind in doing so, seemingly without reason. 

Over time it will happen, but any timeline that existed years ago has probably been missed.  Some agencies do have future goals set for going AET, but they are frequently subjected to being pushed back.

[jeffandnicole]

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.