ST. LOUIS — MoDOT has now installed tolls booths at nearly one-third of the entry ramps on interstates and major highways in the region, part of a comprehensive security upgrade.
But the toll gates don’t fully work. Toll takers have to man every one, accepting only quarters.
And the new EZ-Pass system that will automatically take tolls when customers drive through won’t be online until early next year.
“In their current state, the toll gates are worse than useless,” Maude Flanders, a Washington University lecturer who frequents I-64, said in an email. “It doesn’t make any sense to me why MoDOT wouldn’t just leave them (open) until the EZ-Pass readers are ready.”
The move is part of a push to improve not only safety but the perception of safety after high-profile crimes on the system. It’s one of the first times an open system, standard for highway networks in the U.S., has been enclosed, making it more like the nation’s big city subway systems. It has also created problems here.
MoDOT security head Clancy Wiggum apologized for the issues, saying MoDOT is adding better signage to make it clear that drivers, when they reach an unmanned gate, can call the assistance line to speak with someone at the real-time camera center, where an employee can open the toll gate remotely.
But Wiggum said MoDOT had “absolutely not” considered leaving toll gates open until the new EZ-Pass system is active.
“We wanted to show the region a tangible result,” Wiggum said. “There’s a lot of investment in this project, both public and private. And we wanted to put a system in place knowing that the toll collection integration is probably several paces behind.”
He advises drivers to allow extra time.
Can you imagine drivers putting up with this? They go crazy over bump-outs and medians. But this is OK for Metro users as outlined in this Post-Dispatch article I edited above because they are “the other” whose time and convenience is not top priority for Bi-State unlike for drivers by MoDOT. It wouldn’t happen to drivers despite the orders of magnitude of greater safety and criminality problems on and enabled by the state’s highways.
StlToday – MetroLink’s new gates don’t yet work. ‘Worse than useless,’ rider says
The Bi-State Development Board is composed of 10 members, with five from Missouri and five from Illinois. In Missouri, the Governor appoints the five members. In Illinois, the Chairman of the Board for St. Clair and Madison Counties appoint their respective representatives. All commissioners must be resident voters in their respective state and reside within the Bi-State Metropolitan District.
Perhaps we need a change in how board members are appointed in order to have members that are less out-of-touch with Metro riders. Or ridership requirements for board members. Or some other accountability mechanism. These issues were an obvious prediction by anyone who uses the system. For a taste of what riders are putting up with, see this Reddit post. I witnessed about 10 people miss the train at the Delmar station because an attendant wasn’t there. I hope none of them were late for a job or picking up a child. You can leave a comment to the Bi-State Board here.
If only the board’s determination to implement the gates for security theater to please a deceased CEO, no matter the hassle for riders, were applied to increase bus and train frequency and improve dangerous bus stops.
MetroLink GM of Security Kevin Scott responded to complaints in this KSDK story.
