Cashless Tolling coming soon to Oklahoma

[theroadwayone]

The cashless tolls won't be (fully) implemented at the moment in ATS, it looks.
https://blog.scssoft.com/2023/06/oklahoma-turnpike-tolls.html

[Scott5114]

The cashless tolls won't be (fully) implemented at the moment in ATS, it looks.
https://blog.scssoft.com/2023/06/oklahoma-turnpike-tolls.html

Those Will Rogers/Turner toll plazas look practically like the real thing (minus the signs on the gantry that explain the refund system).

[theroadwayone]

The cashless tolls won't be (fully) implemented at the moment in ATS, it looks.
https://blog.scssoft.com/2023/06/oklahoma-turnpike-tolls.html

Those Will Rogers/Turner toll plazas look practically like the real thing (minus the signs on the gantry that explain the refund system).

And from the looks of it, that won't make it in either.

[Bobby5280]

Another observation I noticed about the Walters exit on I-44: the OTA installed toll gantry structures over the I-44 main lanes both North of and South of the I-44/OK-5 interchange. I was kind of surprised to see that. I expected them to build a new gantry structure immediately South of the old toll plaza and then install PikePass/license tag readers on two of the cloverleaf ramps of the re-built interchange to emulate what they used to have there. Instead of placing toll "gates" on the enter/exit ramps they just installed a second gantry over the main lanes just North of the EZ-GO service plaza. I can't recall seeing a pair of toll gantries both North and South of an exit anywhere else on Oklahoma's turnpikes.

[captkirk_4]

So what is someone from out west where they don't have toll roads going to do if they drive I44 along the main trans continental Route 66  artery? Know about his ahead of time and join Oklahoma's tollway program? They should pass a federal law mandating any toll road, toll bridge, etc have cash payment lanes. Same as that scam 6 miles of electronic tolling on I-80. All the people from Wyoming, Nevada, California, etc aren't going to have they government tracker on their windshield. Really, when you get home a month later spend an entire hour searching around on the internet, pulling out credit cards to pay for something that should have been able to take a dollar bill in less than 30 seconds?

[jeffandnicole]

So what is someone from out west where they don't have toll roads going to do if they drive I44 along the main trans continental Route 66  artery? Know about his ahead of time and join Oklahoma's tollway program? They should pass a federal law mandating any toll road, toll bridge, etc have cash payment lanes. Same as that scam 6 miles of electronic tolling on I-80. All the people from Wyoming, Nevada, California, etc aren't going to have they government tracker on their windshield. Really, when you get home a month later spend an entire hour searching around on the internet, pulling out credit cards to pay for something that should have been able to take a dollar bill in less than 30 seconds?

Electronic tolls have been used for more than a decade now.  Comments like yours comes up every time a road is converted.  Hasn't changed anything.  What's funny about your complaint about the people out west having "the government tracker'... Colorado, Washington State, and yes, even California all have electronically tolled roads, and have had them for many years.

The feds fully allow and encourage toll roads, because it minimizes the federal funding required.  They have no interest in mandating cash payments, and have left it up to the states to decide how they want to have users pay for travelling on the roads.

[CtrlAltDel]

So what is someone from out west where they don't have toll roads going to do if they drive I44 along the main trans continental Route 66  artery? Know about his ahead of time and join Oklahoma's tollway program? They should pass a federal law mandating any toll road, toll bridge, etc have cash payment lanes. Same as that scam 6 miles of electronic tolling on I-80. All the people from Wyoming, Nevada, California, etc aren't going to have they government tracker on their windshield. Really, when you get home a month later spend an entire hour searching around on the internet, pulling out credit cards to pay for something that should have been able to take a dollar bill in less than 30 seconds?

One possibility would be to heed the signs and adjust your route as necessary.


That said, I agree with you that there should always be a no-fee way to pay tolls after the fact, but for me, online would be more convenient than cash.

I'm also somewhat surprised to see a downstate person complaining about the Chicago-area tolls. I figured people would be pleased that the tolls lessen the state tax money spent in and near the city, which is a common cause of grumbling.

[Bobby5280]

Electronic tolling isn't going away. If anything, we're going to see a whole lot more of it in the years ahead.

I've had a PikePass account since the late 1990's because using the cash lanes finally pissed me off enough to get a PikePass. Some clown in a pickup truck hauling a trailer, arguing with the toll booth attendant over how many axles he had, causing a traffic backup, is what finally convinced me to get one. I've loved speeding past those cash-only lanes ever since. I convinced my girlfriend to finally get one for her vehicle when we were having to deal with a really crappy bill changer at one toll booth after midnight. The humans weren't in the toll booths 24/7.

It's not difficult to get a PikePass or keep the account maintained. I strongly advise anyone using Oklahoma's turnpikes on any sort of repeat basis to get a PikePass account or compatible toll tag from Texas, Kansas or Florida. PlatePay tolls are often more than double the cost of the PikePass rate. The OTA often lets motorists know this by listing rate comparisons on signs mounted to the toll tag reader gantries.

While it's possible to shun-pike the H.E. Bailey Turnpike between the Red River and Oklahoma City, a motorist will blow a lot more time and maybe even more in gas money staying on the "free" roads. Oklahoma's turnpike tolls are a bargain compared to most other states. At least they are when you pay the PikePass rate.



That is one truly awful big green sign design. And there is a few others like that along those last few miles of I-44 just before reaching the Red River. Some "genius" at ODOT mis-read MUTCD guidelines about letter sizes of highway fonts. The lowercase letters have to be at least 75% the height of the uppercase characters. What do these guys do? They take the lowercase characters in Series Gothic or Clearview Highway and scale them down to 75% of their normal size. Just freaking stupid.

And ODOT has replaced graphics on these signs with the same errors not fixed! JFC!!!

[Plutonic Panda]

It looks like the OTA is being told they are going to lose money with Plate play.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's PlatePay program is on schedule to lose millions of dollars in revenue annually, the agency was told Tuesday.

Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz attributed the projected loss to a variety of reasons.

Oklahoma is eliminating its cash collection sites on its turnpikes and is in the process of switching to PlatePay, through which pictures of vehicles' license plates are taken. The person who holds the registration for a vehicle that does not have a PikePass but passes through a turnpike toll plaza is sent a bill for the toll.

The PlatePay toll is higher than what those with prepaid PikePass accounts pay.

But Gatz said some vehicles' license plates are blocked or altered, while others are from out of the country, so the owner's identity can't be determined for billing.

People are also reading...


Additionally, paper plates from car dealerships and some tribal tags can't be tracked by the state's system, Gatz said.

Joe Echelle, OTA deputy director, said the state is projected to lose about $7 million because of unregistered paper tags, while $10 million will be lost because of the alteration or blocking-from-view of license plates. Another $11 million is projected to be lost due to an inability to track down addresses for those who use tribal plates.

Echelle compared the PlatePay process to self-checkout lines in grocery stores. A person may scan groceries at a self-checkout line, but they still have to pay for the products.

Gatz, who is head of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said the OTA is opening dialogue with the tribes, adding that it is incumbent upon the agency to do the outreach.

Additionally, the state is advertising in some tribal publications, trying to explain the situation, he said.

"We have to pay for maintenance of the road,"  Echelle said. "We have to pay for our bond debt. If we are not collecting revenue from certain individuals, everybody else has to pick that tab up. That means higher tolls for other individuals that do pay."

Echelle said the situation does not involve tribal compacts.

The process is working with some tribes, including the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, which share information with Service Oklahoma, he said.

- https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/platepay-is-a-money-loser-for-oklahoma-turnpike-authority-agency-told/article_1a85330c-3088-11ee-b3ad-b79a243aadad.html

[robbones]

Looks like the Muskogee Turnpike is next for cashless:

Final November Bid List
JobPiece Federal State Other Total
STATEWIDE
35312(04) 9 OTA 0.000 0.00 0.00 4,700,000.00 0.00 4,700,000.00
MONEY ONLY
MUSKOGEE TURNPIKE: ALL ELECTRONIC TOLLING (AET) CONVERSION
OTA PROJECT MU-MC-49

It'll be nice to drive from Webbers Falls to Tulsa and vice versa without having to slow down. As of last week, the gantries and cameras have been installed for the Southern toll booth Near Muskogee.

Edit to update... Cashless tolling beginning August 29th.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://www.news9.com/story/64ee81bb1dd350072c7c73e1/muskogee-turnpike-now-cashless-converted-to-platepay

The Indian Nation, Turner, and Will Rogers Turnpikes will be switched over to cashless tolling within the next year.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Cashless tolling on the Turner Turnpike (I-44) between OKC and Tulsa to go active on May 1st!

The Will Rogers Turnpike will definitely be the next one to go cashless with the Indian Turnpike to be the last one to get converted.

EDIT: Found the date in an OTA newsletter on the widening of the Turnpike to six lanes: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/ota/documents/news-articles/2024/006_24%20Turner%20groundbreaking%20at%20Wellston.pdf?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2Z1lmN2j-B--3dPwVGcnPT-ebhtWuG3VhcdQJUiX5vyq38-QAMoPx9FCo_aem_Aen-1t08D2U0TMLpdfC2majVzPagfA_i8FVO4xTWvcEkPM3uEgIjPtZjaPfTFMwmJPjQuv-JUWFwXL33Vbacs57W

[okroads]

I'm a little surprised that the Turner will not be the last to go cashless as it is the most traveled rural turnpike in the state and believe the plan was for it to convert last. There was an accident at one of the toll booths near Stroud recently, and I wonder if that pushed the Turner Turnpike to convert earlier than originally planned.

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm a little surprised that the Turner will not be the last to go cashless as it is the most traveled rural turnpike in the state and believe the plan was for it to convert last. There was an accident at one of the toll booths near Stroud recently, and I wonder if that pushed the Turner Turnpike to convert earlier than originally planned.

I believe this was always the plan from day one whenever that was.

[swake]

The Turner is now converted to plate pay.

https://www.krmg.com/news/local/turner-turnpike-converted-plate-pay/R6T3IXEPK5DZNAVVPW2LN33M34/

[Great Lakes Roads]

Go to the 31:13 mark on this video to get an update on the cashless tolling conversion.

Indian Nation- partial conversion to cashless tolling on or after August 28th, which includes the SH 3 interchange in Antlers and the SH 9 interchange as well as the mainline near Eufaula. The full conversion will happen a month to a month-and-a-half afterwards (late September-mid October timeframe).

[bugo]

Now to raise the speed limits on the remaining rural turnpikes to 80.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Now to raise the speed limits on the remaining rural turnpikes to 80.

With the exception of the Turner Turnpike that hasn't been reconstructed to six-lanes, this will happen on the other rural turnpikes that has a cable-median barrier and the reconstructed interchanges where the toll booths once stood under the overpasses.

[Plutonic Panda]

Now to raise the speed limits on the remaining rural turnpikes to 80.

They need the raise sections of the free interstates in Oklahoma to 80 or even 85.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://www.okenergytoday.com/2024/08/cashless-tolls-to-begin-wednesday-on-indian-nation-turnpike/

The Indian Nation has been partially converted to cashless tolling... the mainline toll plaza in McAlester will be converted to cashless sometime in November. 11 down, 1 more to go (Will Rogers Turnpike/I-44)!

[Great Lakes Roads]

The Indian Nation will be fully converted to cashless tolling with the McAlester main toll plaza (south of the US 69 junction) on Wednesday, November 6th. 11 down, 1 more to go (Will Rogers Turnpike/I-44)!

https://www.kxii.com/2024/11/04/indian-nation-turnpike-set-go-cashless/

[Great Lakes Roads]

The Will Rogers Turnpike (I-44) between Tulsa and the Missouri state line will go cashless on November 20th! 

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://www.koamnewsnow.com/news/local-news/goodbye-tollbooths-hello-cashless-turnpikes-in-oklahoma/article_3ac8e616-a794-11ef-b671-d719e55becb1.html

The conversion to cashless tolling on the Oklahoma Turnpike system is complete!

[kphoger]

This is today's fun at work:

08/18/2024 — Tech driving company vehicle goes through 'Plate Pay' lane
12/05/2024 — Company sells vehicle
04/10/2025 — Company receives statement for toll, with posting date 03/27/2025

WTF???

[Scott5114]

This is today's fun at work:

08/18/2024 — Tech driving company vehicle goes through 'Plate Pay' lane
12/05/2024 — Company sells vehicle
04/10/2025 — Company receives statement for toll, with posting date 03/27/2025

WTF???

And now you get to see what it's like to deal with the Oklahoma state government to iron that out. Have fun!