The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Now that all the North Texas tollways have switched over to cashless, what does that mean to Oklahomans? I know I've gone through once or twice without paying. If I do that a few more times, will I eventually get a bill in the mail?

Or do they even have the means to look up Oklahoma license plate info? Anybody gotten a bill in the mail?

I'm waiting to see if I get one from the Colorado DOT for using the toll road which by-passes the central I-25 corridor and goes out to the DIA area.  That was the first time I'd seen something like that.  It's been three weeks ago, I have no idea when to expect a bill.

I doubt it, it costs like $2-$3 to just print and mail a bill

That's why there will be a $5 administrative fee tacked on.
Those bureaucrats think of everything.

I've not received bills from last December.  That doesn't mean I don't have a bench warrant though.  I've wondered the same thing.

I wonder if OTA will ever get with the program and implement interoperability..

I'd be pretty pleased if they became interoperable with Sunpass. I'd bin the Pikepasses. The Sunpass transponder is cheaper, the recharge amount is lower, and so is the minimum balance. And they sell the RFID version of the portable tag in addition to the RFID sticker.

I hope the OTA comes up with a better solution for occasional trailer towing than the proposed phone call method for the new windshield stickers.  I like the concept of taking off the 2 axle pikepass and installing the 3 axle pikepass and vs.  The one not in use can be kept in the glovebox wrapped in the anti-static bag to prevent its activation when going through a toll station. Providing a half hour notice before I pick up or drop off my trailer is not going to be reliable in my opinion.

I think the whole idea behind the sticker was to eventually be interoperable with K-Tag and the two Toll Agencies in Texas (EZTag for Houston; they had just started those when I moved back to Tulsa in 1994, and TollTag in Dallas) because all three are now using the sticker based system.  I know I'd use it for my infrequent trips to Wichita.

I can't see a reason for them to roll out interoperability with SunPass simply because of geography.  At least not in the short term.  They'd need to start local and work their way out.

Per axle could work out badly for me when I've got four bikes in the back of the truck.  That would be 10 axles  ;)

Hoss, the old Transcore transponders were the same was what most toll agencies were using also. The sticker doesn't really give them anything new on that front.

I agree that Sunpass interoperability is unlikely, I'm just saying it would be nice, since they're both customer-friendly and have the portable RFID tag (I actually own one) in addition to the sticker. It baffles me as to why OTA doesn't just buy some portable tags to go with their window stickers. Of course, it also baffled me that they didn't spend the extra 5c per tag to get the Transcore tag with the user-replaceable battery. If I could get OTA to activate it, I'd never have to switch to the RFID tag. :P

They would smile all the way to the bank.  You should be paying the 10 axle rate regardless of the pike pass.  Maybe you can talk them into a 6 axle rate since the bikes only have one wheel per axle.

 ;D

Easy on me please.  Two bottles of Avery quadruple and now I have to figure out the difference in axles with only one wheel.  Oh the humanity!!!  :D

Two bottles of Avery Mephistopheles' (15.92%)or The Beast Grand Cru (16.31%) and you wouldn't care.

I need to start drinking up on the Avery while I can still get it in Oklahoma. I assume they're still at stores??? They were supposed to stop shipments in April.

As for the original topic, I know I've done it twice for sure, once about six months ago and once a year ago. I guess I'll continue driving on Texas tollways on the assumption they're free for Oklahomans.

Ted, you are correct at least according to the Ranch Acres guys.

I think when we last looked at the stickers, all that was required was for them to be affixed to some glass about the thickness of a windshield to complete the circuit and operate properly.

Yeah, but it's much handier to just spend the $20 and not have to deal with cutting the glass and affixing suction cups to it.

Might be an answer of sorts for occasional trailer towing.  I would hope the OTA could package it.  Then if I was towing a trailer, I could suction cup it to the windshield and take it down when I took the trailer off.

They can. The portable RFID tags are compatible with the windshield stickers. OTA is just being stupid for some reason.

My solution is that they can figure it out if they want....heck if I am gonna call them to tell them anything! Since most trailers don't need tags in Oklahoma how are they gonna know anyway? I have no sympathy for the toll owners in this state.

It would be very easy to visually I.D. my trailer.

I called OTA yesterday and asked about the trailer situation.  They will have portable pikepasses for $25 each that do not have batteries. It would be a one time charge.  They will be temporarily attached to the windshield like the present ones.  When towing a trailer, take off the regular portable one and install the 3 axle portable one just like now.  This will take 2 passes so for $50, you won't have to do the telephone call a half hour before.  If you want to do this, tell OTA you want portable passes when they recall your present battery powered one.

I also asked if there is any plan to tie into the Texas network.  The lady said it had been discussed but nothing is planned for at least a year.

Oh, good to hear that they finally got their heads out of their butts on this. Hopefully they're more distinctive than the old ones. It was easy to confuse the different portable tags. If the Pikepass is also gray and white, I'll have a hell of a time telling which one is my sunpass and which one is my pikepass.  :P

The OTA frowns upon writing on the pass directly with a Sharpie (also known as a Bluntie after a while.)  They do seem to accept a stick-on paper tag like a return address sticker.  The last time I got a new 3 axle pass, they labeled it as such with a stick on label.  I used a label from one of those sheets of labels you can use in a printer to label the regular pass. 

A friend at work showed me his new decal pikepass; he just attached it to a piece of rectangular plexiglas and says it works fine.

That's mildly surprising.

I've driven 121 several times now since my parents moved to Dallas and my sister has too since she lives in Norman.  Neither of us have received a bill from Texas.  They told us that out of state drivers are not charged for the tollway.

Sweet. I know I've driven various Dallas-area tollways for free and not been charged. Sounds like a good reason for Texans to register their cars in other states.

The Governor would force them to get a sexually transmitted virus.

He has since added that it works as long as the back of the pikepass is pressed up against the windshield, so apparently it doesnt matter which side capacitively couples with glass as long as it's actually in contact with glass.

Bringing this back from the dead because it has come to my attention that MAP-21 (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/summaryinfo.cfm) requires that all electronic toll collection systems in the US be interoperable by July, 2016. Sad that it takes federal law to get any real forward movement on this.

Maybe it will also force OTA to drop the minimum balance requirement somewhat.

Is $15 a serious hardship for people with a Pike Pass?  At least I think that's when mine auto-charges. 

Mine shows that a refill happens at $10.  Probably the bigger issue is that it will pull $40 at time.

It mentions that you have to call if you want to change anything besides the CC on the website, so I wonder if you can change the amount that it bills.

The charge happens when you're at $10 and they bill $40 at a time, minimum. And the minimum opening balance is $40 as well. It's less a problem than just annoying. If you pay by cash or check, they start haraunging you when your balance reaches $15. If you don't want to/can't give them as much as they want, they charge you $2 per transponder for having the gall to pay them less than $40 at a time. With SunPass you can set the recharge amount in increments of $5 from $10 up to whatever and set their rebill to happen as low as $5. FTA does not require that you deposit any amount at all to open an account, just pay for the tag (which you have to do here in Oklahoma as well). The stickers are effectively free there, as you get $5 in your account when you activate the sticker you pay $5 for. You also get $5 when you buy a portable transponder, IIRC, so the effective cost of those is only $20.

Oh, and they don't screw you if the tag fails to read. If the vehicle is on your account, you pay the same rate regardless of whether the tag reads successfully or not. And they still haven't deactivated the old transponders they had a replacement campaign over some years back, nor did they make people pay for their replacements. And when they do deactivate a transponder, they don't also remove the vehicle from your account and open you up to a nice $200 toll evasion ticket without bothering to give you a date on which the transponder will be deactivated. Basically, they're more customer friendly in almost every way.

Before SunPass, E-Pass, and the other Florida toll authorities had interoperability, they all were more like OTA with high fees and general customer unfriendliness. Competition in toll collection is apparently a good thing.

The minimum balance on PikePass is a lie.

My auto funding source expired so I called to put a new one on. Their computer system was down. I went online but you can't set up a new renewal source, only make one-time payments. So I've just been making one-time payments for the last 3-4 years. I only do like $20 at a time, and I usually wait until it's empty to put anything in. The tag still works, even if you're in the negative.

Yep, same way for me.  I don't even have an auto-funding source on file.  Back when I first signed up they didn't require it.

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Good to know they aren't quite as bad as they claim to be. ;)

Customers are expected to be able to start using their Pikepass tags in Kansas by the end of the year.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has a similar agreement with the North Texas Tollway Authority, which operates three tolls roads: the Dallas North Tollway, the George Bush Turnpike and the Sam Rayburn Tollway.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/oklahoma-kansas-agree-to-toll-tag-pact/article_b68a25dc-6c64-5dd9-8867-20e005c3f342.html

Err, what about those of us that have both?

Get rid of one?

Get to pay twice.

So apparently they can find you. I just got a bill for several visits from October 2012 through April 2013. And they found me even though I've moved twice since then.

Awfully strange that I'm just getting billed for this now.

Late fees?

That's likely a credit check..not really a check, but the agencies have products to find you by address without it showing as a hit on your CR.

Nope. No late fees (though late fees are promised if I don't pay by the end of the month).

This is just a regular bill, sent more than a year after the most recent charges.

I got a bill two weeks ago too.

Pikepass announced this weekend they will not integrate with DFW tollways.  If you have a Pikepass that is probably how they found you.

Are you sure about that?  I just got an email this morning from Pikepass that directly contradicts that.

Here's the press release I got in the email.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26442998/NTTA%20Details.pdf

http://m.newson6.com/Story.aspx?story=26013272&catId=112042

"Beginning on August 10, drivers with PikePasses will be able to ravel, unimpeded on toll roads, bridges and tunnels in the Dallas metroplex. Texas drivers with TollTags will also be able to use their passes on Oklahoma’s turnpikes."

TYPO!  I mean "now" rather than "not".  Ha!

I sort of thought that might be the case... ;)

I'm against it there are too many toll roads.

*derp*

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Must have been posting in the middle of a tatur race. With a tatur sack over his head.

Welcome to the Ho-Chi Minh Trail.