Cashless turnpike system moves into fast lane
The last vestiges of toll booths will begin disappearing from Oklahoma's turnpikes this summer as they begin transitioning to a cashless system, officials said Thursday.
“They're moving toward allelectronic tolling within the next five years,” Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, told the House Transportation committee.
“It's going to be starting in July of this year on the Kilpatrick ( Turnpike),” Pae said.
Pae's remarks came during presentation of his House Bill 1788, which provides the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority with the means of enforcing tolls assessed on vehicles that are not equipped with Pikepasses or similar devices issued by turnpike authorities with which Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has reciprocal agreements.
Authority Director Tim Gatz said the plan is to bill those vehicles by mail using photographs of license plates.
The Creek Turnpike exchange on South Riverside Drive has operated with such a system “with good success” for about five years, Gatz said.
Gatz said Pikepass utilization has reached 80% of transactions systemwide, and is over 90% on urban turnpikes such as Tulsa's Creek and Oklahoma City's Kilpatrick. He said the Gilcrease toll road being built in west Tulsa will be cashless when it opens.
“If you look across the country, most turnpikes are either all electronic or they have an initiative underway much like we do,” said Gatz.
“Driver expectation is powerful,” he said. “One of the biggest complaints I get from our patrons is that we still expect them to have a pocketful of quarters in order to travel.”
Gatz said the automated coin receptacles on some turnpikes have to be custombuilt because they're no longer manufactured.
For the most part, Gatz described a cashless system as safer and more convenient, and said toll booths are among the most dangerous locations on the turnpike system.
Responding to questions, he and Pae said the transition includes plans to retrain toll booth attendants for other jobs within the authority.
Pae's bill, approved Thursday by the committee, would make it illegal for someone with outstanding toll violations to operate a vehicle on an Oklahoma turnpike.
Pae said unpaid tolls would be considered overdue after 30 days, but car owners would have another four months to pay before they're flagged as a violator.
After another 90 days, violators will be blocked from renewing vehicle registrations until the account is settled.
“All we want to do is collect the toll,” said Gatz. “We don't want to damage anybody, but we need strong enforcement.”
Gatz acknowledged some motorists, especially those passing through the state with no intention of returning, will simply not pay the toll invoice. Nevertheless, he said, the system's savings will offset those costs.
“It becomes a collections issue at some point,” Gatz said. “We look at the cost of collecting versus the toll. That's problematic. Like a lot of businesses, we wind up with a write-off.
“That hasn't been a huge issue for us, though,” he said. “This type of tolling system is becoming so common that folks expect it. Most people want to help. They don't want to do something wrong. But you do run into it.”