EZ Pass or EZ Toll Increase?
The Blade has long been an advocate of Electronic Tolling on the Ohio Turnpike, collaring every politician that they could. As yet, the only reason that I have seen put forward by your newspaper is that it will make it less difficult to exit and that “all of the other toll roads have it”. Yes, but most of those toll roads pass through major metropolitan areas, and Ohio’s turnpike does not.
Here are some points that have not been addressed:
1. The E-Z Pass program is run by an organization named E-ZPass Interagency Group, an organization which is based in New Jersey. A search of the internet for information about the individuals who run this organization can find only adds for E-Z Pass. This organization has a cloak of secrecy about it that even the CIA doesn’t enjoy. It is my understanding that this organization receives a payment for each vehicle that enters and each that leaves a toll road/bridge that using it’s equipment; how much is this charge and how much does it drain from the overall budget of the Turnpike?
2. Recently the Blade stated that the cost of installation would be $27-30 million, but the Turnpikes web site originally stated that the cost would be $40 million and a former board member stated that no one actually knows how much it will cost. Who will pay for this? The answer to that question is that the end users will ultimately have this cost passed on to them, probably in the form of higher tolls. A study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Amy Finklestein shows that states with Electronic Tolling installed on a toll road/bridge have rates 20 to 40 percent higher than states with manual toll collection.
3. In a recent Blade article it was stated that there has been a reduction of traffic on
the Ohio Turnpike, but a turnpike director says that he believes that E-Z Pass will increase usage of the turnpike because “we’re going to make it easier”. If the Ohio Turnpike was set up like the West Virginia Turnpike or the Chicago Turnpike with toll booths every few miles, it might well make it “easier”, but you only have to make two stops on the Ohio Turnpike, when you get on and when you get off. Further, with all lanes being E-Z Pass lanes, if you get in a line behind someone who does not use E-Z Pass and does not have money or looses their ticket, you still have to wait. The real problem with the reduction of traffic on the turnpike is not speed in exiting, but that as the economy worsens, people have less money to spend on travel and when people loose their jobs, the last thing they want is to have to pay to use the road.
4. The MIT study referred to in #2 above concluded that it takes 14 years for
Electronic Tolling reach 60% “penetration”. So in 14 years 4 out of 10 drivers will still not be using this technology and if you are one of the 6 who has E-Z Pass you may rest assured that one of those four will be in line in front of you.
5. The Director of the Turnpike has stated that E-Z Pass will not reduce the number
of Turnpike employees as there will be increases of jobs in customer service. This is good news for Berea but bad news for Toledo since the people who will loose their jobs are the ones who live in the Toledo area, and the jobs created will be in Cleveland. This does little for the tax base in a city that is already losing more than it’s share of jobs. A small price to pay for not having to reach into your pocket and pull out your 50 cent fare!
The money that will be spent on E-Z Pass would better serve the people using the Turnpike by rebuilding a service plaza in Williams County and by extending the 3rd lane from Toledo to the Indiana State line, something that would benefit all drivers on the Turnpike.
Here are some points that have not been addressed:
1. The E-Z Pass program is run by an organization named E-ZPass Interagency Group, an organization which is based in New Jersey. A search of the internet for information about the individuals who run this organization can find only adds for E-Z Pass. This organization has a cloak of secrecy about it that even the CIA doesn’t enjoy. It is my understanding that this organization receives a payment for each vehicle that enters and each that leaves a toll road/bridge that using it’s equipment; how much is this charge and how much does it drain from the overall budget of the Turnpike?
2. Recently the Blade stated that the cost of installation would be $27-30 million, but the Turnpikes web site originally stated that the cost would be $40 million and a former board member stated that no one actually knows how much it will cost. Who will pay for this? The answer to that question is that the end users will ultimately have this cost passed on to them, probably in the form of higher tolls. A study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Amy Finklestein shows that states with Electronic Tolling installed on a toll road/bridge have rates 20 to 40 percent higher than states with manual toll collection.
3. In a recent Blade article it was stated that there has been a reduction of traffic on
the Ohio Turnpike, but a turnpike director says that he believes that E-Z Pass will increase usage of the turnpike because “we’re going to make it easier”. If the Ohio Turnpike was set up like the West Virginia Turnpike or the Chicago Turnpike with toll booths every few miles, it might well make it “easier”, but you only have to make two stops on the Ohio Turnpike, when you get on and when you get off. Further, with all lanes being E-Z Pass lanes, if you get in a line behind someone who does not use E-Z Pass and does not have money or looses their ticket, you still have to wait. The real problem with the reduction of traffic on the turnpike is not speed in exiting, but that as the economy worsens, people have less money to spend on travel and when people loose their jobs, the last thing they want is to have to pay to use the road.
4. The MIT study referred to in #2 above concluded that it takes 14 years for
Electronic Tolling reach 60% “penetration”. So in 14 years 4 out of 10 drivers will still not be using this technology and if you are one of the 6 who has E-Z Pass you may rest assured that one of those four will be in line in front of you.
5. The Director of the Turnpike has stated that E-Z Pass will not reduce the number
of Turnpike employees as there will be increases of jobs in customer service. This is good news for Berea but bad news for Toledo since the people who will loose their jobs are the ones who live in the Toledo area, and the jobs created will be in Cleveland. This does little for the tax base in a city that is already losing more than it’s share of jobs. A small price to pay for not having to reach into your pocket and pull out your 50 cent fare!
The money that will be spent on E-Z Pass would better serve the people using the Turnpike by rebuilding a service plaza in Williams County and by extending the 3rd lane from Toledo to the Indiana State line, something that would benefit all drivers on the Turnpike.
posted by Tollies at 11:34 AM
2 Comments:
Ummmm you searched the internet for info on the EZ-Pass IAG???
Try Google? The first hit is http://www.e-zpassiag.com/INDEX/home.html This is the IAG web site. Amoung other items it has info on all the IAG Executive Committee, directors and staff.
I eally do not understand where you are trying to go with your comments.
The equipment does not belong to the IAG but to the home Toll Authority. The only time the IAG is involved is when a visiting Tag is used on a toll system.
There is NO financial information on the ez pass web site, and YES, the IAG does get a cut of the "profits". Who are they and were does that money go? Maybe you can enlighten me. Also, what makes you think that EZ Pass will benefit anyone - you still have to wait until the gate goes up before you can exit the lane.
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