Well seasoned: I-90 becomes a market for local produce

Yes, it's that time of year again. Local farmers near Charlton, Ludlow, Natick, and other communities along the Pike have been invited to bring their wares to rest areas to set up shop next to Honey Dew Donuts, McDonald's, and Citgo.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has allowed farmers and craft sellers to set up at the service centers, gratis, for more than a decade. They sell pumpkins, honey, cheese, spices, dip mixes, handmade crafts. The new season began last weekend and will continue into late fall from Thursday through Sunday, as well as some holiday Mondays.

Charlton is the biggest, with six vendors at the rest stop. The others are more modest and may not have more than a bar of soap or two for sale. This weekend only Charlton had vendors; other rest stops will get busier as the summer progresses.

Jeffrey Mullan, Turnpike Authority executive director, concedes that it is not the classic farmer's market atmosphere.

"The environment is what it is; there's an interstate highway right next to the service plazas," Mullan said. "If you're looking for the different experience, then you take the ride in the country. That's not what we're offering."

But it is a nice deal for farmers. If you have local produce and want to get it to the people, then you go where people are, and lots drive on the turnpike.

"I think that the availability of this service for people that are commuting or even just using the turnpike on a Saturday is a good thing to do," Mullan said.

There's no data to back it up yet, two weeks after the policy took effect, but managers say they are seeing behavior that could lead to better on-time performance, according to Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

That's because bus drivers have been accustomed to making personal calls between scheduled trips, sometimes leaving late for their bus runs as they finish up a conversation, Pesaturo said. Under the new policy, which has faced resistance from some employees, drivers have to leave their phones at home, in lockers, anywhere but in their vehicle.

Without a phone on hand, drivers are remaining in their seats, ready to go when their break ends, Pesaturo said.

By late Friday afternoon, the T had not caught anyone violating the new policy. General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas said when he announced it that all that is needed to enforce the ban are the threat of a severe penalty and the likelihood that violators will be seen by supervisors or riders, who have been known to snap a picture or shoot a video with their cellphones.

The T has not sent transit police or managers on special details to root out cellphone users, Pesaturo said.

The T received four complaints of bus drivers using phones since the policy took effect. None could be substantiated. One turned out to involve a bus driver using an onboard radio to discuss a schedule change with dispatchers, said Pesaturo. A fifth report about a subway operator is still under investigation.

Does the lack of violations mean drivers are following the policy? E-mail your observations to the address at left.

The incorrect tickets had been printed earlier this year in anticipation of a 25-cent toll hike that never took effect. In a decision that mixed the principles of thrift with utter indifference to driver bewilderment, the authority decided in April to use the erroneous tickets when the old ones ran out.

Mullan said drivers were never overcharged because the magnetic tape on the tickets continued to charge the correct rates.

But the story of the land of misfit toll tickets does not end yet. The Turnpike Authority remains uncertain about a July 1 toll hike. The board has approved the hike, but has promised to rescind it if the Legislature follows through on a pledge to rescue the authority with a $100 million subsidy.

That uncertainty has forced Mullan to spend $30,000 to order yet another set of tickets, with another set of toll rates printed on them. The order, about 3 million tickets, is enough to last a month. But Mullan promises not to use these tickets if they become obsolete.

Who knows? Maybe they will be worth something on eBay, sort of like a newspaper with a "Dewey Beats Truman" headline, only less exciting.

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