No more Tolls on the Pike ! But... (Worcester, Bourne: credit card, tech jobs)

[Cape Cod Todd]

Have you heard that the toll booths on the Mass Pike are coming down but that does not mean that it will be a free drive.
For weeks now I have been hearing ads for the transponders which are free to get and attached to your cars windshield so the toll will be automatically deducted from your account.

In another vein what will all those folks do that just lost their good paying good benefit state jobs as toll collectors?


Since we rarely travel on the Pike I'm not about to get a transponder so what happens when we do take the Pike. Will they send us a bill?

[wolfgang239]

They will send you a bill in the mail, and it will include a surcharge for not having a transponder. If you only take the pike one or two times per year I would say it isn't worth it. If you take other roads with the ez-pass system yearly in addition to the pike I would consider getting one. This includes Maine, NH, NY, NJ, IN, IL, and many others. If you think you will use any of these more than a few times per year I would definitely get one just to make life easy. I have probably saved hours of my life by not having to wait in line to get a ticket or pay with cash.

Protip: You don't need to get a windshield transponder, you can get one that screws in with your front plate. I had issues in my old Jeep Wrangler with the windshield transponder not getting a good signal due to the angle of the windshield. The license plate transponder works much better in a variety of locations, so if you have a motorcycle or other unconventional vehicle this pass will be more useful.

As to the toll collectors, best of luck to them. Hopefully their union has reassigned them to another position.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by Cape Cod Todd

Have you heard that the toll booths on the Mass Pike are coming down but that does not mean that it will be a free drive.
For weeks now I have been hearing ads for the transponders which are free to get and attached to your cars windshield so the toll will be automatically deducted from your account.

In another vein what will all those folks do that just lost their good paying good benefit state jobs as toll collectors?


Since we rarely travel on the Pike I'm not about to get a transponder so what happens when we do take the Pike. Will they send us a bill?

Yes, I've been hearing that they'll have cameras that will take a picture of your car and you'll get a bill. They'll have to do that anyway for out of staters, I think. Unless there's some universal transponder that works throughout the country.

I use the MassPike about once a year. I'll probably be taking a trip back to WMass next month and my car with be photographed. But when I'm out there I'll be close enough to a RMV to pick up a transponder for the trip back. I think you pay when you get it and they just keep deducting but not sure about that. OH--I heard you get a cheaper rate if you have the transponder but for a while those of use who don't have transponders will be granted the "cheap" rate too. How generous.

[CaseyB]

The transponders are good for 95 all up and down the east coast - EZ Pass. You go on their site and register your credit card with them and they send you one for free. If you go through a toll booth without paying you will get a bill in the mail with a picture of your vehicle and your license plate. One of my kids makes a habit of doing this, LOL.

[Amontillado]

Anyone who wishes to reduce hassle in their life will have had a transponder for years. Yes, they do deduct from your bank or credit card; I think the system wants to keep $20 in your account. Now they're going to take a picture of your license plate and use it to bill you if you haven't got the transponder; there are reciprocal agreements with some other states to allow them to collect across state lines.

Of course this technology makes it very easy to add tolls to a road where there haven't been tolls so far. Like the Big Dig tunnel, a north-south road currently being paid for by drivers on the Mass Pike, an east-west road! But apparently it's not easy for a state to just declare that a free road will have tolls, so that probably isn't going to happen soon.

[robr2]

I have had a transponder for about a decade. Of course I regularly travel from ME to NY so having one makes sense.

Gantries have been installed across the Pike at various locations with cameras to photograph plates and receivers to read the transponders. There aren't any on the on and off ramps. You will be scanned at the first gantry approximately 1 mile from the on ramp and the system will charge you based on the last gantry you go under. In Worcester, they eliminated tolls on a short span as the exits are close together.

Transponders are available online at E-ZPass MA Program - Highway Division - MassDOT

You do have to tie a credit card or bank account to it and when you get below $10, it will charge an appropriate amount based on your usage. In my case, it brings me up to $50 but for casual users, it will be $20.

The toll collectors have been preparing for this changeover for about 3 years. The 200 with the most seniority were offered early retirement. About 100 were offered other jobs within DOT. The last 100 were laid off.

[Cape Cod Todd]

What is odd or I should say typical is that the toll booths were supposed to come down once the pike was paid for but the state saw it as such a money maker that of course that didn't happen.

I live down Cape and they have been talking for years about charging a toll to go over the Bourne or Sagamore bridges. Toll booths would have made bad traffic in the Summer an absolute nightmare but with this new technology of taking a photo and sending a bill is something they could use. Yikes.

Mass. already has one of the highest cost per mile rates for roads so instead of reducing the costs/waste they will increase the tax/fees/tolls to pay.

I foresee problems with this system of photos and bills being mailed where the bills don't make it to the driver and when he goes to the registry to renew a license or reg he is denied until the toll plus fines/interest are paid.
It's only money right? What can't be solved by throwing money at it.. Right Massachusetts?

[TAM88]

MassDOT has reciprocity agreements with Maine and New Hampshire. So say you're from Maine and go through the tolls on the Pike without a transponder and get billed via pay by plate and neglect to pay your tolls, you will not be able to renew your drivers license or registration in Maine until they're paid. MassDOT has sent agreements out to Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.

As far as the toll collectors go, it's unfortunate that they're going to lose their jobs (I am sure they'll get reassigned) but this needs to happen for progress. Think of your everyday life and moves you've made that have lead to job losses in other areas. I am sure a lot of people rarely have any form of human contact with their bank - they have direct deposit, go to the ATM when they need to get cash, use mobile deposit for checks, etc.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by TAM88

As far as the toll collectors go, it's unfortunate that they're going to lose their jobs (I am sure they'll get reassigned) but this needs to happen for progress. Think of your everyday life and moves you've made that have lead to job losses in other areas.

Kinda shows you where this country is headed.

Low skill jobs are being phased out, and replaced with high tech jobs. Being a toll collector certainly didn't require any formal education beyond making change and knowing the procedures, but the elimimation of their jobs, opens the door to creation of jobs to maintain, upgrade, troubleshoot, and install the sort of technology that replaced them. Problem is the people phased out typically aren't the people who backfill the high tech jobs created.




As an aside, I tend to prefer paying for things with cash. SO I'm a little bummed that option has been taken away. I've had a transponder for a while, and love the convienence, but I still prefer cash over electronic.

[Urban Peasant]

I try to avoid toll roads if at all possible. I travel on the Masspike maybe once a year so I'm not worried about having no transponder. I believe in paying taxes but not tolls .