Oklahoma Turnpike Authority

[Edmond Hausfrau]

Is there more to Pay by Plate in Oklahoma than just the Jenks exit on the Creek Turnpike?

None that I have seen except that one, which is too bad. Pay by plate works well as an inducement to use, especially for visitors. Having to get a pikepass account in an unnecessary hurdle. I'm guessing that states with plate tracking have a nice little revenue stream.

[BoulderSooner]

None that I have seen except that one, which is too bad. Pay by plate works well as an inducement to use, especially for visitors. Having to get a pikepass account in an unnecessary hurdle. I'm guessing that states with plate tracking have a nice little revenue stream.

they have continued to fund plate pay infrastructure the last couple of years it is still in the plan to roll it out system wide at some point

[Plutonic Panda]

The new 5 year plan(2021-25) has been released. Nothing new really for OKC metro just a project dealing with a ramp at the Broadway Ext/Kilpatrick interchange. It’s only a couple million dollar project so likely it will deal with an existing ramp. I hope we’ll see a new bond package passed before 2025 for new tollway projects and I really hope we see interchange fixes.

https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/...tal%20Plan.pdf

[BoulderSooner]

None that I have seen except that one, which is too bad. Pay by plate works well as an inducement to use, especially for visitors. Having to get a pikepass account in an unnecessary hurdle. I'm guessing that states with plate tracking have a nice little revenue stream.

AET/ETC project on the 5 year capital plan (AET = All Electric tolling ETC = Electronic toll collection)
2021
Chickasaw AET Conversion Chickasaw Tpk 2021 $40,000 $10,000 $50,000
H. E. Bailey AET Conversion H. E. Bailey Tpk 2021 $5,400,000 $240,000 $240,000 $5,880,000
Kickapoo AET Conversion Kickapoo Tpk 2021 $200,000 $0 $40,000 $240,000
Toll Toll equipment upgrade to prepare for AET Various Locations 2021 $6,716,773 $0 $0 $6,716,773
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC Various Locations 2021 $2,049,923 $0 $0 $2,049,923
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC & Cash Various Locations 2021 $1,932,946 $0 $0 $1,932,946
2022
Cimarron AET Conversion (C-MC-29) SH-99 / US-177 / Spur 2022 $9,500,000 $340,000 $300,000 $10,140,000
Creek AET Conversion Creek Tpk 2022 $900,000 $0 $240,000 $1,140,000
Indian Nation AET Conversion North SH-9 2022 $800,000 $0 $30,000 $830,000
Muskogee AET Conversion Muskogee Tpk 2022 $4,700,000 $288,000 $160,000 $5,148,000
Toll Toll equipment upgrade to prepare for AET Various Locations 2022 $10,691,097 $0 $0 $10,691,097
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC Various Locations 2022 $962,210 $0 $0 $962,210
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC & Cash Various Locations 2022 $1,441,181 $0 $0 $1,441,181
Marketing Marketing AET/Driving Forward Various Locations 2022 $500,000 $0 $0 $500,000
2023
Cherokee AET Conversion Cherokee Tpk 2023 $160,000 $3,000 $163,000
Indian Nation AET Conversion South McAlester, Antlers 2023 $7,000,000 $288,000 $300,000 $7,588,000
Toll Toll equipment upgrade to prepare for AET Various Locations 2023 $10,338,583 $0 $0 $10,338,583
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC Various Locations 2023 $11,074,035 $0 $0 $11,074,035
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC & Cash Various Locations 2023 $1,392,865 $0 $0 $1,392,865
Marketing Marketing AET/Driving Forward Various Locations 2023 $500,000 $0 $0 $500,000
2024
Turner AET Conversion Turner Tpk 2024 $1,300,000 $0 $50,000 $1,350,000
Will Rogers AET Conversion Will Rogers Tpk 2024 $1,300,000 $0 $50,000 $1,350,000
Toll Toll equipment upgrade to prepare for AET Various Locations 2024 $4,367,039 $0 $0 $4,367,039
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC Various Locations 2024 $500,000 $0 $0 $500,000
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC & Cash Various Locations 2024 $1,415,633 $0 $0 $1,415,633
Marketing Marketing AET/Driving Forward Various Locations 2024 $500,000 $0 $0 $500,000
2025
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC Various Locations 2025 $1,250,000 $0 $0 $1,250,000
Toll Upgrades and eqjuipment related to ETC & Cash Various Locations 2025 $502,040 $0 $0 $502,040
Marketing Marketing AET/Driving Forward Various Locations 2025 $500,000 $0 $0 $500,000

[Plutonic Panda]

A bill has been filed in the house to expedite AET systems across the state finally!

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-an...ce6aeba6d.html

[HangryHippo]

A bill has been filed in the house to expedite AET systems across the state finally!

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-an...ce6aeba6d.html

Awesome!

[mugofbeer]

I love the cashless systems.

One thing to watch is the schedule for late fees if tolls are not paid on time. States have had, and Colorado was one, to impose ridiculous fines for late payments. CO did greatly reduce them after citizen complaints and media publicity.

https://kdvr.com/news/money/highway-...and-jail-time/

[BoulderSooner]

A bill has been filed in the house to expedite AET systems across the state finally!

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-an...ce6aeba6d.html

this bill does not speed up the already planned AET conversion of the OTA system ..

it creates a legal framework .. for enforcement of the e tolls

[Plutonic Panda]

This is good news

“ But progress is being made, Machamer said, and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is hoping to implement systems to read E-Z Passes in early 2022.”

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...ma/7518132002/

[jn1780]

Cashless tolling on the Kilpatrick begins on July 25th. They already started taking a lot of the signs related to cash tolling down.

[BoulderSooner]

Cashless tolling on the Kilpatrick begins on July 25th. They already started taking a lot of the signs related to cash tolling down.

this started only a few days late and is now live ..

[Plutonic Panda]

Yep drove it last night. I know this isn't of much importance to them but it would be nice to redo the toll plazas and make them more attractive.

Something simple like this would be great.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9618...4!8i8192?hl=en

[stlokc]

Please help me understand this.

I'll be driving to OKC later in August for a few days and will be using the turnpike. My car is not registered in Oklahoma, I certainly don't have a Pikepass. I have Missouri plates. So I just drive as if it's a normal road and whenever I get on and off (or in otherwise appropriate places) some camera will take a picture of my plate. And later I will get a bill (or a bunch of bills) mailed to me at my home in Missouri?

It does seem easy if that's the case. I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^ Yes. They'll mail you a bill.

[stlokc]

Thank you!

[Plutonic Panda]

Here is more information:

https://www.platepay.com/

[BoulderSooner]

Please help me understand this.

I'll be driving to OKC later in August for a few days and will be using the turnpike. My car is not registered in Oklahoma, I certainly don't have a Pikepass. I have Missouri plates. So I just drive as if it's a normal road and whenever I get on and off (or in otherwise appropriate places) some camera will take a picture of my plate. And later I will get a bill (or a bunch of bills) mailed to me at my home in Missouri?

It does seem easy if that's the case. I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.

Keep in mind the the kilpatrick is the only turnpike that has been converted so far.

If you are on any of the other turnpikes in Oklahoma you still must stop and pay the tolls.

[stlokc]

Boulder Sooner, I was aware of that but I appreciate the confirmation from you.

It would be nice if this extended to the entire system.

[BoulderSooner]

Boulder Sooner, I was aware of that but I appreciate the confirmation from you.

It would be nice if this extended to the entire system.

The entire system should be converted by 2024

[bombermwc]

I'd be curious to get a look at the books to put a magnifying glass on the claim that they need such high non-PikePass tolls to pay for this.

They're going to be letting go of a lot of booth operators. So It seems like it's hard to believe that the removal of all of them and everything that goes with them in the back office, would really not make up enough of the capital to pay for this.

[Jeremy Martin]

The state turnpikes are a cash cow for the state. As much as we would like it to happen, no one will ever take a magnifying glass to anything they do. OTA has been able to do anything they have wanted to do almost since almost it's beginning. Correct me if I am wrong but I think only governing body over the OTA is the actual governor? Now the state legislature can pass laws to make things easier for them but the governor controls who leads the OTA.
When Randy Brogdon ran for Governor it seems like almost 12 years ago he was pretty vocal that the OTA was taking advantage of the citizens of OK and was going to try to reign them in.

[mugofbeer]

They are a cash maker (l'm not sure they are quite the "cash cow" you describe. What l want to know is exactly why you have such a problem with them? In reality, what's the difference between a toll and a gasoline tax (which l might remind you ok's is one of the lowest in the country). Money just doesn't appear, as it seems to now at the Federal level, from the swish and flick of a magic wand.

Exactly how are the citizens being taken advantage of?

[bombermwc]

mugofbeer, i think a lot of us would feel better if there was more transparency with the profit/loss data. It SHOULD be treated like a non-profit. The money coming in should only be used to maintain the roads that the tolls support. We shouldn't be seeing high salaries for the Ops side either. So if a dollar isn't spent on the road, it shouldn't immediately be viewed as able to be spent on the salary side. We don't honestly know what that looks like, meaning are they being fair already. The lack of transparency is what creates that feeling though. Being able to see it from the public side, maybe we would see that things are far tighter than we all think it is.

This is a lot like the state fair. The rejection of transparency has caused opinions to be formed, and those are not viewing the group in a good light.

[catch22]

People complain about bad roads but don’t want to pay for them. People complain about the management of those bad roads but don’t want to pay what they deem to be a high salary to manage them.

I know, let’s have free roads built with slave labor and managed by a charity group.

Good grief. I hate paying tolls as much as anyone, but it is the most fair way to pay for them really. Tolls in Oklahoma are child’s play compared to anywhere else. The route I take to work is about $30 round trip if I use the toll road, I usually go a different route to avoid that but some days I have no other choice. I.e. running late or an accident on my main route.

I always giggle when I see the toll rates in Oklahoma, $1.75 for 15 miles? Sign me up!

[MagzOK]

mugofbeer, i think a lot of us would feel better if there was more transparency with the profit/loss data. It SHOULD be treated like a non-profit. The money coming in should only be used to maintain the roads that the tolls support. We shouldn't be seeing high salaries for the Ops side either. So if a dollar isn't spent on the road, it shouldn't immediately be viewed as able to be spent on the salary side. We don't honestly know what that looks like, meaning are they being fair already. The lack of transparency is what creates that feeling though. Being able to see it from the public side, maybe we would see that things are far tighter than we all think it is.

This is a lot like the state fair. The rejection of transparency has caused opinions to be formed, and those are not viewing the group in a good light.

OTA has their financial reports, budgets, average daily traffic, bondholders report, and other information available on their website. You can also attend their public meetings.