Some tolls go up as booths come down
Pike going fully electronic
The Mass Pike’s all-electronic tolling system being rolled out Oct. 28 will hike fees for many without an E-ZPass and kick off a year-plus of construction as workers tear down toll booths and reconfigure the roads.
MassDOT officials emphasized that the switch to open-road tolling is not a fare hike. But according to data shared yesterday with the MassDOT board, nearly half of the trips along the 138-mile artery will actually increase under proposed rates it will have to approve ahead of the planned launch.
The move to an all-electronic tolling system on the Pike replaces 26 toll booths with 16 gantries that will automatically charge motorists as they drive under them and, officials say, save about $5 million a year in operating costs. That includes cutting more than 500 toll workers, though while some will retire, others will move into different roles.
State officials said cost savings weren’t the driving force in the move, which was launched under the Patrick administration, and instead pointed to improving congestion, reducing accidents and cutting down on emissions.
But some are leery of promised benefits. Mary Connaughton, a former Turnpike Authority board member now at the Pioneer Institute, said that many drivers hitting the roads during the morning and afternoon rush hour are likely those who already have E-ZPass transponders, meaning that without additional infrastructure, drivers should likely still expect the similar crawl in and out of the Hub during the peak times.
“But during off-peak hours, when many drivers are cashpaying drivers (such as holiday weekends) that would be somewhat alleviated,” Connaughton said. “They’ve created some free rides and they eliminated other free rides. ... But what impact will it have on traffic patterns? And the big question is, what impact this will have on congestion, if any? And who is looking at that?”
The project, which includes at least $461 million in construction and other contracts, is also spawning questions of security, as officials have already begun collecting a plethora of data while they formulate a formal policy to handle it.
A so-called “Hot List” of license plates has already been created that will ping officials when they are picked up by a gantry, though state officials say its use will be limited to a “very narrow” set of circumstances, such as during an Amber Alert.
Day-to-day, however, drivers would see immediate changes in where tolls are collected and how.
“This is not a toll increase,” Stephanie Pollack, the state’s transportation secretary, told reporters. She pointed to projections that on the Western Turnpike and the state’s Metropolitan Highway System — made up of the Tobin Bridge, Boston tunnels and Pike east of Weston — the state expects to collect roughly the same $128 million and $225 million in revenue, respectively, as it does now.
Officials warn the construction along Interstate 90 will result in a series of lane closures as toll booths are demolished, including work zones they admit will be “choppy” over the first month. Road work connected to the project is expected to last until the end of 2017.