Tobin Bridge Tolls Now All Electronic
BOSTON (CBS) - The first thing you notice driving over the Tobin Bridge: new signs. New signs telling drivers the bridge is now cashless.
It's EZ Pass or Pay by Plate, Massachusetts.
And the second thing you notice, it is much cheaper if you have EZ pass: $2.50 for a car as opposed to $3 if you don't have EZ pass.
Some of the tollbooths on the bridge are still in place, although empty. Traffic is routed around them.
You are now charged your toll as you enter Boston and it happens in an overhead open road tolling system that reads your EZ Pass or license plate.
So who is watching? It's about two dozen people in a room in Auburn, Massachusetts who began operations Monday.
The State's Secretary of Transportation gave WBZ-TV cameras an exclusive look.
If you don't have EZ Pass, computer images of license plates are double checked there before a paper bill is sent out.
Some employees will scan 1,000 plates a day.
Richard Davey says, "This is quality control to make sure we are getting the right license plate and sending the appropriate person the bill for the toll."
The employees checking the plates work for a private vendor, and are not former tollbooth workers.
The Tobin is just the beginning. Two years from now the Tunnels and Turnpike will look like the Tobin.
Eventually there could be as many as 40 workers in the Auburn facility.
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