Free Republic

The toll booths on Oklahoma’s turnpikes are coming down, but the road isn’t free. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is adopting an all-electronic toll collection system starting this summer. Legislation to authorize collections on the new system are pending before the Oklahoma Legislature. It will mean very little change for drivers who use the PikePass system, which allows them to pay their fare while barely slowing down and at a discounted price. About 80% of Oklahoma turnpike drivers take advantage of that system. OTA cameras will will capture the license tags numbers of other drivers and bill the vehicle’s owner. That’s...

The Maryland Transportation Authority is exploring phasing out all cash toll booths across the state. Today, tolls are collected three ways: by cash, or electronically, by either an E-ZPass transponder or by video tolling — when the state uses a license-plate photo and mails drivers their bill. Transportation officials say that the transition to all-electronic, high-speed toll collection will: save drivers time on their commute, save the state money, reduce accidents at toll plazas, and reduce CO2 emissions as less fuel is being burned, according to a national study by the University of Central Florida. Drivers in Maryland could start...

The Massachusetts Turnpike is in uncharted water as EZ Pass has replaced cash along the state’s turnpike system and many toll collectors have been laid off. In a world where many systems have gone electronic from payment for movies to parking, it was only a matter of time before the personless, electronic system eventually took over toll roads, as well. Along the Massachusetts Turnpike, it happened this weekend with toll collectors working their last shifts and the state moving quickly to tear down the booths where collections happened for decades. According to the Boston Globe, the new cashless collections system...

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine inadvertently sent himself home today, along with the Democrat-dominated legislature, when he ordered non-essential elements of the government shut down during a budget impasse. Without a new budget, the New Jersey constitution says the state lacks the authority to spend money, so government agencies like the lottery, motor vehicles bureau, parks and recreation department and the state gaming commission were all ordered to shut down, along with the executive and legislative branches of state government. Gov. Corzine, who forced the budget fight by proposing an increase in the state’s sales tax, had no comment, since...

Thomas Golisano, the billionaire third party challenger in the governor’s race, wants to eliminate one of New York State’s most familiar institutions: the toll booth. Mr. Golisano, who is running for governor on the Independence Party line, said New York should consider removing tolls on its roads, bridges and tunnels. “By taking away toll booths,” Mr. Golisano told The New York Sun, “we would save a tremendous amount of taxpayer’s dollars by not having the infrastructure to collect all these tolls, and plus we could make people’s lives much more pleasant.” Mr. Golisano’s position at the intersection of tax-cutting and...