Pike technology lag costs money, time

Massachusetts Turnpike tollbooths at Weston. Increased automation could eventually save millions for the Turnpike Authority. (DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF)

Red barns and artisan cheese shops are not the only quaint aspects of a trip to Western Massachusetts. Drivers along the turnpike also get to see real-life workers standing in tollbooths, handing out ticket stubs without collecting money, a task relegated to machines more than 40 years ago in some states.

The new turnpike chief, Alan LeBovidge, said last week that he wants to replace more human toll collectors with Fast Lane booths, part of a push toward increased automation that could eventually save millions of dollars for the struggling Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

But, as he moves in that direction, LeBovidge may consider how far behind the state's roadway technology is. The old ways are not only costing the state money. They are also costing drivers time and aggravation. Think about it the next time you are stacked up in a snaking toll line, where the cash and Fast Lane booths seem so haphazardly placed that drivers around you are swerving from lane to lane as they count their change.

Other states have made dramatic improvements in everything from the speed of toll collection to the cost and convenience of using transponders.

Start with the people handing out those ticket stubs that look something like Florida's punch-card ballots. LeBovidge's plan to add more Fast Lane tollbooths will not affect this practice, one of the oddest on the turnpike.

Yes, drivers need the ticket stubs to prove where they entered the turnpike so they can pay the right toll when they exit. But even drivers without a Fast Lane transponder could get the stub from a machine, designed in the 1960s.

"God, that is primitive; that is very primitive," said Peter Samuel, editor of TollRoadsnews (yes, there is a tollroadsnews.com website). "Most places do have a ticket-dispensing machine these days."

Turnpike spokesman Mac Daniel said the old ticket stub machines are so hard for truckers to reach that people can do the job faster. The authority still owns some machines, but managers have to buy used parts in Ohio to repair them, because they are no longer manufactured.

Then there is the Fast Lane pass, introduced in Massachusetts 10 years ago. Though it lets drivers through without stopping, they must still slow to 10 to 15 miles per hour when they pass through a booth. Other states - New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and California, to name a few - have wide toll lanes that let drivers with transponders through at highway speeds without slowing or stopping.

How does that affect traffic? A human toll collector processes about 300 to 400 cars per hour. A low-speed electronic tollbooth, like Fast Lane, processes 1,000 to 1,200 cars per hour. An open-road tollbooth can handle about 2,000 cars per hour.

"We're behind in technology; there's no doubt about it," said Mary Connaughton, a member of the authority board.

The board has been soliciting bids from private contractors to update its toll system technology. But the schedule has been delayed for months, in part because of turnover in leadership. Proposals from potential new Fast Lane providers are due at the end of next month.

Even if Massachusetts gets better technology, it may be hard to let drivers drive through booths at highway speeds. The Turnpike would have to widen some lanes, done much more easily in Sun Belt states with lots of land available. Daniel said there are some curves and lane merges near existing toll booths that could make high speeds dangerous.

All these changes would cost money, something in short supply these days. But if LeBovidge can get more people to use Fast Lane, he could save millions of dollars. About 60 percent of toll payments come through Fast Lane, but only 50 percent of lanes are equipped to handle the transponders. The price of a transponder dropped $4.90 in December, to $25.95.

Some states sell them cheaper or even give them away to encourage more users. Florida is about to join a handful of states that use stickers instead of the bulky boxes. They are so much cheaper to manufacture that the state plans to give them away free, Samuel said.

Robert F. Cullinane, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Union Local 127, said LeBovidge is trying to force people to buy Fast Lane passes by taking away the cash option. He argues that drivers should have a choice.

"It's always easier to, more or less, make sport of the face of toll collection, which are the toll collectors," Cullinane said. "But there's many people behind them who make much more money."

Can't get there...

I-93 south Exit 20B to Interstate 90 west and Albany Street will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, and Thursday.

A section of I-93 south at Exit 20B will close from 1 to 5 a.m. Saturday.

The Haymarket onramp to I-93 south and the Callahan Tunnel will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. today through Thursday.

I-93 south Exit 23 to Purchase Street will close from 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday.

The Essex Street onramp to I-93 south will close from 1 to 5 a.m. Saturday.

The Herald Street onramp to I-93 south will close from 1 to 5 a.m. Saturday.

Two to three lanes of I-93 north through downtown and Charlestown will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday.

The underpass from Storrow Drive eastbound to I-93 north and the Tobin Bridge will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

The Sumner Tunnel onramp to I-93 north will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. today through Thursday.

I-93 north Exit 23 to Government Center will close from 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday.

The Atlantic Avenue onramp to I-93 north will close from 11:30 p.m. tomorrow to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The ramp at I-93 north Exit 20 to I-90 east will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Wednesday. Access to Kneeland Street/South Station will remain open.

The Essex Street onramp to I-93 north will close from 11:30 p.m. tomorrow to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Lanes on I-90 east near the Prudential Tunnel will close from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. today through Thursday.

The ramp at I-90 east Exit 24B and Exit 24C to I-93 north and south will close from 11:59 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. Access to Kneeland Street/South Station will remain open.

Access from South Boston to I-90 east and Logan Airport will close from 11:30 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. tomorrow.

One lane of I-90 east in the Ted Williams Tunnel will close from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday through Friday.

The onramp from Congress Street to I-93 in South Boston and I-90 west Exit 24 to I-93 will close from 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday and 11:59 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.

A lane of I-90 west in the Ted Williams Tunnel will close from 11 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

The Congress Street onramp to I-93 south and I-90 west will close from 1 to 5 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The Sumner Tunnel onramp to Government Center and Haymarket area will close from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tonight through Tuesday.

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