CLEVELAND, Ohio – Unlike the neighboring Pennsylvania Turnpike, which recently switched to all electronic toll collections in part because of concerns about the coronavirus, the Ohio Turnpike has no plans to eliminate the option of paying with cash or credit card.
Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission spokesman Brian Newbacher told cleveland.com that the agency intends to continue accepting cash for the “foreseeable future, even with our upcoming toll modernization plan.”
Newbacher said motorists on the Ohio Turnpike don’t use the E-Z Pass electronic payment system at a high enough rate to justify doing away with the ability to pay tolls with cash or credit card, and that doing so would harm revenue collection.
That’s because collecting from a motorist who doesn’t have an E-Z Pass would require taking a photo of the vehicle’s license plate and then mailing an invoice. Based on experiences elsewhere, that could lead to difficulty in collections and result in letters, additional fees and a hold on vehicle registration, Newbacher said.
More than 35 percent of motorists on the Ohio Turnpike in 2019 used cash or a credit card to pay tolls, accounting for nearly $90 million in revenue, according to Newbacher.
A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike said about 20 percent of motorists using the Pennsylvania Turnpike used cash or credit last year.
In November of 2019, a snapshot of the all-electronic tolling sites on the Pennsylvania Turnpike showed 83 percent of motorists paid by E-Z Pass, 9 percent by “Toll by Plate,” with 5 percent having yet to pay and 3 percent being unbillable for a variety of reasons that include an obscured plate or insufficient address, according to the spokeswoman.
Newbacher said the Ohio Turnpike’s modernization plan allows for eventual transformation to an all-electronic system, but that E-Z Pass use is not expected to rise to the point where it makes sense for at least another seven to 12 years.
The commission also believes it has adequately addressed concerns about the coronavirus by installing protective shields in the toll booths, issuing hand sanitizer and gloves to the collectors, and having each toll booth along the turnpike sanitized once a week, he said.
Another reason for continuing to take cash and credit cards is the desire to preserve jobs, Newbacher said. The turnpike employs 159 toll collectors at wages that range from $21.53 to $26.95 and 166 part-time toll collectors that are paid from $18.25 to $20.77 an hour.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has taken heat for laying off nearly 500 employees while switching to all-electronic tolling, which wasn’t planned to occur until October of 2021. The commission said it sped up the timeline out of concern over finances and the spread of the coronavirus among toll collectors and motorists.
The Ohio Turnpike modernization plan, which is to be completed by the end of 2022, will incorporate a hybrid system that accepts cash, credit card and electronic payments, while also offering “open road tolling” in which motorists can travel the entire length of the 241-mile turnpike without slowing down.
The turnpike allows for electronic payments now using an E-Z Pass transponder, but motorists must slow down, access the appropriate lane at the toll plaza, and then emerge once the gate automatically lifts. By the end of 2022, all gates are to be removed from E-Z Pass lanes and those who use them improperly will be billed.
The modernization plan calls for the use of directional aides to help channel traffic in the proper direction. It also calls for building new “mainline” plazas near Toledo to the west and Youngstown to the east and eliminating several little-used toll plazas at exits and entrances at each end of the turnpike where tolls will no longer be collected.
Pennsylvania joined Massachusetts and Colorado as states with all-electronic tolling, while Washington is almost there with four highways all electronic and one toll bridge still accepting cash.
“It’s happening slowly and incrementally across the United States,” said Bill Cramer, spokesman for the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, “but that definitely is the trend.”
But Cramer said no two states are alike and each has its own criteria to consider when setting up its toll system.
The Maine Turnpike for instance maintains cash lanes because they are concerned that motorists from Canada who use the highway without an E-Z Pass won’t pay up when billed to their homes.
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June 26, 2020 at 05:35PM
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Ohio Turnpike not planning for all-electronic tolling because not enough use E-Z Pass - cleveland.com
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