Turnpike to lay off 100 toll collectors

September 18, 2008 12:16 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file)

By Andrew Ryan and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority plans to lay off 100 toll collectors over the next 12 to 18 months in a cut that officials estimate will save the struggling agency $10 million.

Alan LeBovidge

The layoffs would reduce the number of toll collectors by roughly 25 percent from the current level of 440. On the eastern portion of the roadway, it would mean removing one manual toll booth per exit. Out west, officials plan to eliminate toll takers from all entrances to the turnpike. However, exits will continue to include manual toll booths.

The goal is to increase the efficiency and use of the automated Fast Lane pass, said Alan LeBovidge, executive director of the Turnpike Authority.

"We're in a big financial hole," said LeBovidge, who estimated that the turnpike authority's annual debt was between $70 million to $100 million.

The layoffs took officials at Teamsters Union Local 127 by surprise because they had previously believed cuts would be achieved mostly through attrition.

“They’ve told me several times they plan on having work reductions, but I didn’t know they were going to be doing it like this,” said Robert Cullinane, the secretary-treasurer of the union, which represents toll collectors.

Cullinane quipped that they "should cut some of the real fat first," complaining that executives from the Big Dig were hired to work in high paying executive jobs at the Turnpike Authority.

Toll collectors are paid an average of roughly $70,000 a year, LeBovidge said, when benefits and overtime are included. Cullinane said salaries of toll collectors have been exaggerated, pointing out that full-time workers max out at $53,000, not including overtime. That does not include 131 part timers, who can only make up to $32,000.

Asked if he would fight the layoffs, Cullinane scoffed. “How can I fight it?” he said. “It’s the governor’s will, and he knows best.”

In a telephone interview this morning, LeBovidge said: "We do have to negotiate the terms with the union. We have already notified them of our intention to do this."

To compensate for the staffing reduction, the turnpike authority is trying to increase the efficiency of Fast Lane, which officials say can process 1,000 more cars an hour than a toll collector.

For example, the turnpike is in the process of moving automated toll lanes to the left side of many exits and segregating manual booths on the right. The move, which has already occurred at the Allston-Brighton tolls, is designed to improve flow by moving faster traffic to the left. Currently, many automated lanes are intermingled with staffed toll booths, leaving Fast Lane users stuck in backups for manual lanes. Turnpike officials are studying each exit to determine where the change is economically feasible.

More signs for Fast Lane are also being added before exits so drivers know which lanes are automated. Increased signage has already had a substantial impact on traffic backups at Exit 9 in Sturbridge, where the turnpike intersects with Interstate 84, LeBovidge said.

The plan does involve the purchase of some new machines for the western portion of the turnpike, where drivers receive tickets and pay at exits. The new technology would pay for itself in six months, LeBovidge said.