5 days Ago
OKLAHOMA CITY — As of Wednesday, toll booths will be a thing of the past in Oklahoma. Gone will be the days when drivers on state turnpikes had to slow down, change lanes and fish around in pockets or in purses for cash to pay tolls, all while coming to a complete stop as other vehicles continued to speed by in other lanes. The last toll booths in the state, located along the Interstate 44/Will Rogers Turnpike between Claremore and the Missouri state line, will officially be shuttered as of 6:59 a.
m. Wednesday, marking the end of a three-year transition by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to the PlatePay way of collecting tolls from motorists who aren’t PikePass users. OTA Public Information Manager Lisa Shearer-Salim said drivers may encounter temporary lane closures as employees work to replace signage around former toll booth stops in places like Vinita and Miami.
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All of that sudden slowing down and maneuvering in the past made motorists more vulnerable to accidents. Even turnpike toll takers were at risk. According to OTA records, in the past six years alone the turnpike system witnessed more than 500 accidents at or near toll booths.
The OTA began transitioning to cashless tolling in 2021 after first testing the PlatePay system out at the Peoria/Elm interchange exit on the Creek Turnpike in Jenks. OTA officials concluded then that pay roads would be made safer if they were to replace toll booths with cameras that would take pictures of the license plates of passing vehicles. If vehicles were found to be linked to PikePass accounts, nothing would change, and accounts would be billed as usual.
For others, toll bills would be sent to the addresses of registered owners of the vehicles. Since PlatePay rates are higher than PikePass rates, it makes sense for people, especially frequent users of the state’s toll roads, to sign up for PikePass accounts. It’s worth noting that PikePass account holders not only pay lower rates, but they also may travel seamlessly in their PikePass vehicles on turnpikes in Kansas, Texas and on some toll roads in Colorado and Florida.
The John Kilpatrick Turnpike was the first to be converted to PlatePay. That was followed by the transition of the Kickapoo, H.E.
Bailey, Chickasaw, Cimarron and Gilcrease turnpikes in various phases through 2022. In 2023, the Creek, Cherokee and Muskogee turnpikes were converted. The OTA continued the system transition this year by closing out toll booths on the I-44/Turner Turnpike, SH-375/Indian Nation Turnpike and I-44/Will Rogers Turnpike.
Shearer-Salim said that beginning five years ago, in anticipation of the transition to PlatePay, the OTA stopped hiring toll takers as fulltime equivalent employees and started utilizing part-timers. It also offered assistance to those affected by toll booth closures. Some were able to transition into new jobs with the OTA or other state agencies.
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