The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

6 December 2006

Smile, you're on Toll Road Camera

At the beginning of this month, Texas began collecting tolls on a stretch of State Highway 121, from Carrollton to the Denton County line. And no, there aren't any tollbooths:

TxTag® stickers, the Dallas area TollTag, and the Houston area EZ TAG are accepted on the road. Toll charges are deducted automatically from your prepaid toll account when you use the road.

If you don't have a toll tag, you're still welcome to use SH121. There's no need to prepay or register. Just get on, and we'll record your license plate, match the license plate number with the state's vehicle registration file, and send you a monthly bill for your toll charges.

About time they did something useful with a traffic camera. Of course, you'll pay more without the toll tag, but this is pretty much the rule with any toll road these days.

Will we ever get something like that here? Steven Roemerman asked the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority:

I contacted Jack Damrill, public relations for OTA, and asked him if this was in the future for Oklahoma. I got the impression that they were cool on the idea, the official position seems to be "We will watch what happens in Texas."

I'm not sure why we would not want to implement video tolling. Getting rid of toll booths would eliminate the need for the employees to man the booths; it would reduce unnatural congestion points, and would make the toll roads more accessible. But if our official stance is "wait and see," I guess we will wait and see.

I guess he's right.

Posted at 6:20 PM to Driver's Seat , Entirely Too Cool


See this KXAN report, ”Cameras Capturing License Plates On Toll Roads":

[Link]

[Edited to make link clickable]

Posted by: Sal Costello at 10:26 AM on 7 December 2006

After living in Oklahoma most of my life I have been in Dallas for the last 17 years. I have watched them change the Toll System to the electronic thingys and they are great. No slowing down in the express lanes at all, the outermost lanes on the left just keep moving. Also going into DFW where you get charged, the Toll Tags work there too which keeps traffic flowing.

Try it, you'll like it.

Posted by: Former Okie at 10:56 AM on 7 December 2006

Don't be giving the Turnpike Authority ideas, or every road in Oklahoma will be a toll road soon.

BTW hasn't anyone noticed that this system would be disrupted by the insertion of a blank piece of paper over the license plate of the car?

Posted by: Dan B at 2:38 PM on 7 December 2006

In New Jersey, EZ Pass charges customers $1 a month extra, Thus we who save the state labor costs by using EZ Pass have to pay extra for the privilege.

Posted by: Miriam at 8:49 PM on 7 December 2006

This must be the same principle by which you are charged a toll to leave New Jersey, but not to enter.

Posted by: CGHill at 8:56 PM on 7 December 2006

I've never seen traffic significantly backed up on any of the new Bush Tollways, and only rarely on the Dallas Tollway.

I think they just wanted to play with new toys.

And, it's cute that they managed to get this done in time for Christmas season... now the can charge from Grapevine Mills, past Vista Ridge, all the way to that Monstrosity in Frisco.

Damn, there's a lot of malls in Dallas.

Posted by: Veronica at 3:03 PM on 8 December 2006