Oklahoma Pikepass system set to use stickers
TURNPIKESOfficials seek input from public on system
BY JULIE BISBEE
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Published: September 18, 2009
Oklahoma Pikepass users by next summer may be using stickers instead of the hard plastic transponders to get through toll plazas without stopping.
Work crews are changing toll readers to a new system that uses stickers instead of the transponders to charge accounts, said
Jack Damrill, spokesman for the
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. The change is expected to cost about $6.5 million and be complete by August 2010.
The company that makes the transponders will stop making them. The company, one of two large companies that make the equipment, will stop repairing readers the state uses in 2013, Damrill said. Moving to the stickers will save the authority money.
It costs the Turnpike Authority $28 for a new transponder and $26.40 for a refurbished one. That cost is only passed on to customers when they do not return their Pikepass when they end service. Stickers cost the Turnpike Authority about $10 each, Damrill said.
The savings will allow the authority to recoup the cost of upgrading the system in a little more than two years, Damrill said.
At the authority’s board meeting Wednesday, members approved a motion to allow officials to buy 98,000 refurbished transponders with a price tag up to $2.6 million to use during the transition.
The authority plans to buy about 45,000 transponders in January and buy more as needed.
"We’ll see where that gets us,” Damrill said. "We’re not going to buy more unless we sell a bunch. We just need enough to get through next summer.”
There are 377 Pikepass readers across the state.
The new technology will reduce the number of misread tolls and will allow the state’s Turnpike Authority to form agreements with other states that use sticker systems such as
Kansas and
Texas, Damrill said.
He said the authority also plans to survey customers on the best way to meet their needs because many use a single Pikepass for several vehicles.
"We expect to get a lot of feedback. It’s something that we have to transition to. We’re being forced to move in this direction because the technology is changing.”
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Interesting note about burning gas to pay cash. Just last weekend I took a trip that involved travel between OKC and Tulsa. Took the turnpike up there (with pikepass), 66 coming back. My car used less gas on the return trip, even though it is a few miles farther, took an extra 45 minutes, and involves stop and go in the small towns. Nobody likes to hear this, but driving 10mph slower resulted in significant increase in miles per gallon.
It looks like PPass is still a really great bargain for the residents & travelers using the Kilpatrick in the NW OKC/Edmond/Yukon areas.
http://www.pikepass.com/maps/tolls.htm
I've had a PPass for about 15 years & yes the 50% discount was an initial selling point. Over time as more & more people started using PPasses the rates were raised.
Personally, I don't mind paying the same price. I consider the acts of not digging out some change and not slowing to pay a booth or attendant to be sufficient benefits of the PPass system. If they start charging more for PPass tolls, then I'll go back to the inconvenience of paying cash.
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Also, remember the promise of reduced fees if you used a pikepass instead of cash? Another broken promise once a good base of pikepass users were established.