My daily commute is made slightly more satisfying at the Allston/Cambridge onramp, as I buzz by the long lines of Mass Pike toll payers and cruise on through the automated "Fast Lane". I'm one of those who just can't comprehend why some would choose to queue up for manual payment rather than get a little transponder and be on their way.

Then again, I'm one of the lucky ones who didn't have to fork over almost $30 for the windshield-mounted gadget... I ordered one online from the Jersey Turnpike Authority back when they were free, yet worked just fine on Mass tolls. Unfortunately, that little loophole has since been closed so the MTA can get their chunk of the cash... the NJ ordering site directs any MA residents straight over to the MTA site, even though their transponders will still work here.

So why bring this up now and come dangerously close to boring the hell out of you? Read this, from today's Boston Globe...

"(Mass Pike) Authority officials said they are replacing the (exact change) baskets with toll collectors to stop motorists from changing lanes at toll plazas after getting into the wrong line, but they acknowledged that the move is also likely to prompt some motorists now accustomed to using exact change lanes to buy the transponders, rather than waiting to hand their tolls to collectors.

Yesterday morning, coming around the curve towards the on-ramp tollboth, I was confronted with the longest line I'd ever seen there. I assumed there was some sort of accident or mechanical failure, but no... the exact change lanes were just plain gone. Disappeared and replaced with "Cash Only" lanes manned by newly employed toll-takers. Behold the mass confusion clusterfuck. Even the Fast Lane was blocked by the buildup.

Seems the MTA got tired of their marketing campaign, which oddly tried to use logic to convince people to sign up for Fast Lane. As I can attest, not enough people were listening ... the pay lanes are still packed. So now the MTA is resorting to the old strongarm technique... piss people off, make 'em sit in long lines in late-August heat, watching the fastlaners blow by them. Make 'em jealous, rile 'em up. By Labor Day weekend, one of the most travelled days of the year, all exact change lanes will be gone, and the waits will be massive. Beware.

Sure, I can understand them making this change under the guise of "commuter safety"... I've been the victim of last minute lane switches, when people realize they don't have quite enough quarters and start sliding on over, heading for that lone 'cash only' isle, blocking the fast lane hard. It's annoying, dumb, and dangerous. However, given what I saw yesterday, with dozens of cars backed up down the on-ramp, fastlaners trying to squeeze on by them... it's tough to say if this change is really going to make things safer.

Not that it matters. "Public Safety" was a clearly a smokescreen. "Automate or Else" would never have survived policy makers and public opinion.

Ironic that this new setup employs fresh tolltakers in an attempt to increase enrollment in a program that could eventually lead to them becoming entirely obsolete. Y'know what else will happen when everyone has Fast Lane? I won't have anyone else to laugh at as I fly on by.

posted by brad at 9:38 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |