Some still slow to make the move to Fast Lane
1 in 3 tollpayers paying at booth
Every commuter and Sunday driver has seen the Soviet-style lines at the Turnpike tollbooths. Many get stuck in them. The waits - almost always in the cash lanes - can last 15 minutes or longer during the summer travel season, while the drivers with the white plastic Fast Lane boxes whiz by.
Why would people willingly put themselves through the excruciating wait, even after an Easter traffic standstill triggered a transponder giveaway? This is, after all, a world that has become instant, electronic, and cashless, even on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
One motorist at the Framingham tolls last week used his Blackberry as he waited to hand over his cash - relying on a 21st-century device to kill time in a 20th-century line.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has made strides in signing people up to use Fast Lane, with 66 percent of tolls now paid electronically, up from 62 percent in January. But the 34 percent who use cash, and pay higher tolls at booths inside Greater Boston to do so, remain a bit of a mystery.
“You should call a psychiatrist, not me,’’ said Turnpike board member Michael P. Angelini. “I can’t think of any reason in the world why anyone would not have a Fast Lane pass. I can’t think of anything else the authority can do to induce people to get them.’’
Cash-paying drivers offer a host of reasons: They didn’t know the transponders are free; they haven’t gotten around to getting one; they don’t know how to get one; waiting in line isn’t so bad.
“I’ve thought about it,’’ said Katie Hawkins, a 33-year-old teacher from Lincoln, who was making her way to Belchertown Tuesday, without a Fast Lane transponder. “I don’t go often enough.’’
But, she says, she uses the Turnpike three times a month, and concedes she has been stranded in “awful’’ lines.
“I’ve waited, probably, a half hour,’’ she said.
The authority has spent thousands on surveys over the years, trying to decipher the inner workings of the cash-paying commuter’s mind. The question confounded former Turnpike director Alan LeBovidge to near obsession, driving him to wander the cash lanes during rush hour to quiz drivers on a choice that, to him, seemed utterly irrational.
But not everyone gets as worked up about it.
“A couple of times, I’ve waited in line in excess of 15 minutes,’’ shrugged Timothy Bradley, 39, who lately has driven his Chevy Trailblazer between Boston and his home in Sutton three times a week. “Little things like that don’t bother me. Usually, I leave early anyway.’’
Herb Weinberg, 47, a tax lawyer from Newton, said he had previously been dissuaded by the $25.95 initiation fee, combined with a $20 opening balance.
But the long lines do occasionally give him pause.
“Of course, you see it and say ‘I wish I had one,’ ’’ he said. “But, if you’re an occasionally user, A. Is it worth the time? B. Is it worth the money? And is it convenient?’’
The Turnpike Authority has tried to answer these questions. The transponders are available online, in person along the Turnpike, at tourist attractions, and at several Registry of Motor Vehicles offices. They became free in February, with plans to charge a monthly fee abandoned after the Easter gridlock.
Digital signs along the road, flashing desperately with a website address, and poster board signs at rest stops with screaming yellow backgrounds attempt to reinforce this message. Even the soda machines at the Turnpike’s rest stops encourage a cashless society, offering drivers the chance to spend $1.50 for a Diet Coke with the credit card of their choice.
The survey LeBovidge conducted found that the biggest hurdle to signing up more people used to be cost, accounting for about 75 percent of the abstainers. About 7 percent worried about handing personal data to the Turnpike Authority or having their movements tracked. Some remaining drivers - not reflected in the survey - come from out of state and might not have an E-Z Pass account usable in Massachusetts. Other commuters do not have a checking account or credit card.
“There’s some people that just won’t do it,’’ said Jeffrey B. Mullan, executive director of the authority. “Most of our regular customers have transponders. I think a fair bit of our casual customers don’t, and that’s where we need to make progress.’’
If they wait in cash lanes enough times, most technophobes get converted. Fast Lane usage at the Allston-Brighton booths rises to 86 percent during morning rush hour into Boston. Massive traffic jams also do the trick: The Easter backup helped drive signups to 45,905 in May, compared with 10,875 during the same month last year.
Turnpike board members Mary Connaughton and Judy Pagliuca have urged the authority to look at adding Fast Lane technology to more lanes, worried that some Fast Lane drivers during rush hour could be delayed unnecessarily by the growing number of converts.
Kevin Carr, 55, of Upton, travels to Logan International Airport two or three times a week, and has done so for about six months without a transponder. A few weeks ago, he was driving his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren to the airport for their flight home to Phoenix. The line at the Weston toll lasted 15 or 20 minutes, and Carr started sweating.
“I was nervous that he was going to miss his plane,’’ Carr said. “I said, as soon as I get some time, I’m going to do it.’’
Last week, he was filling out paperwork at the eastbound Framingham exit. Ten minutes later, he had a transponder.
Noah Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com. 