Random thoughts from a toll collector

Flamma

Flamma

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My first gripe is rest areas and exits. When you're on a highway with rest areas, those rest areas are on that roadway. You don't have to get off a numbered exit to access them. Am I right? So if you see a sign, rest area in 5 miles, you get off at that rest area. But there are also signs that show hotels, McDonald's, gas stations, for the exits you are approaching. Exit 27, hotels, blah blah blah. These are two totally different things. A sign that tells you that you can find gas or hotels off exit 50 is not a rest area. It's just telling you what is off that particular exit. So why do so many people make this stupid mistake?

I can understand if you're a new driver. I myself have made this mistake. But by the age of 19 you learn. So why do I get so many people that look like they are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, asking me where the rest area is? Is it different in other states? I've driven to California on multiple occasions. I drove the Green Bay Wisconsin. I drove to south Carolina. It was the same everywhere as New Jersey. Rest areas on the roadway you're driving, not off a numbered exit. Can anyone here tell me what state has rest areas off numbered exits? I'm just shocked by the sheer number of people this ignorant when driving.
 
Second gripe, people not carrying cash. I realize many people don't carry cash. Understandable. Usually people from out of state. They try to hand me a credit card, and I tell them it's cash only. I then have to give them something they can pay online at a higher cost. All this is fine so far. It's when they ask how are they supposed to know is where I have the problem. No one cares what you know. The roadway is counting on you to be ignorant so they can make more money. My question is, at what point did you decide to go into the unknown and think carrying no cash at all was the safest bet? That's on you. Just because things work the way they do from your home state, doesn't mean they work that way everywhere. Don't whine, be prepared. Bottom line is, if you don't care about your money, don't expect me to care.
 
Personally, I like that NJ has gas and food service areas right on the highways. Sounds trivial but I have driven to Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama and a lot of roads do not have service areas. You have to exit the highway find the gas station and then find your way back onto the highway. In most cases it's not difficult, but a few times I had to drive quite a way to find the gas station the signs claimed was off the exit then find my way back to the highway when I had no idea where I was. Thank goodness for GPS, but how in the world did people manage before GPS was available?

btw, and no offense, my peeve is there are tolls at all on highways in NJ. The Turnpike is not so bad because the tolls are at the exits, but the Garden State Parkway with its tolls that stop traffic are awful. I remember when some exit tolls were 10 cents and the main tolls were a quarter. They went to EZ Pass and the tolls skyrocketed.

When the GSP was built, the state promised the tolls would come down once the Parkway was paid for, which was years ago. But after borrowing money against the toll collections they become permanent.

NJ has the highest taxes in the country- and we have high tolls on our highways, bridges and tunnels. it costs like $18 to cross the George Washington Bridge now. And on top of this NYC just imposed congestion pricing on cars and trucks traveling below 61st street! It is absurd that we are paying for mobility.
 
I was lucky and only had to deal once with this stop and throw in a quarter BS. Had to do it five time and the traffic was horrible.
totally moronic!

also lucky in that the toll roads I used had service areas.
 
Some states, like South Carolina, removed some of their rest areas because commercial businesses were encroaching on the rest area. It didn't make sense to keep them open because no one was using them.
 
Flamma said:
Second gripe, people not carrying cash. I realize many people don't carry cash. Understandable. Usually people from out of state. They try to hand me a credit card, and I tell them it's cash only. I then have to give them something they can pay online at a higher cost. All this is fine so far. It's when they ask how are they supposed to know is where I have the problem. No one cares what you know. The roadway is counting on you to be ignorant so they can make more money. My question is, at what point did you decide to go into the unknown and think carrying no cash at all was the safest bet? That's on you. Just because things work the way they do from your home state, doesn't mean they work that way everywhere. Don't whine, be prepared. Bottom line is, if you don't care about your money, don't expect me to care.
Click to expand...
Every toll road I’ve been on in the last 5 years or so is cashless, so you guys have it backwards. Same with forcing me to have someone pump my gas for me.
 
Flamma said:
My first gripe is rest areas and exits. When you're on a highway with rest areas, those rest areas are on that roadway. You don't have to get off a numbered exit to access them. Am I right? So if you see a sign, rest area in 5 miles, you get off at that rest area. But there are also signs that show hotels, McDonald's, gas stations, for the exits you are approaching. Exit 27, hotels, blah blah blah. These are two totally different things. A sign that tells you that you can find gas or hotels off exit 50 is not a rest area. It's just telling you what is off that particular exit. So why do so many people make this stupid mistake?

I can understand if you're a new driver. I myself have made this mistake. But by the age of 19 you learn. So why do I get so many people that look like they are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, asking me where the rest area is? Is it different in other states? I've driven to California on multiple occasions. I drove the Green Bay Wisconsin. I drove to south Carolina. It was the same everywhere as New Jersey. Rest areas on the roadway you're driving, not off a numbered exit. Can anyone here tell me what state has rest areas off numbered exits? I'm just shocked by the sheer number of people this ignorant when driving.
Click to expand...
In CT, the rest area signs are blue, and exit signs are green. It makes it pretty easy to tell the difference. I've never noticed if the Jersey Tpke was the same way, but the signs are pretty clear, and the rest areas have names, which makes it pretty obvious. The only confusion I can understand is because of all the different exits (which are just forks in the road, rather than the usual right hand exits) in the vicinity of the Vince Lombardi rest area. I could see people being overwhelmed their first few times navigating that area.
 
Runwildboys said:
In CT, the rest area signs are blue, and exit signs are green. It makes it pretty easy to tell the difference. I've never noticed if the Jersey Tpke was the same way, but the signs are pretty clear, and the rest areas have names, which makes it pretty obvious. The only confusion I can understand is because of all the different exits (which are just forks in the road, rather than the usual right hand exits) in the vicinity of the Vince Lombardi rest area. I could see people being overwhelmed their first few times navigating that area.
Click to expand...
Same with NJ. Rest area blue, exit signs are green. However, they'll sometimes have a random blue sign telling people what is off the next exit. That blue sign looks similar to the rest area signs. You just have to know getting off a numbered exit is not a rest area.
 
CyberB0b said:
Every toll road I’ve been on in the last 5 years or so is cashless, so you guys have it backwards. Same with forcing me to have someone pump my gas for me.
Click to expand...
We accept EZ-Pass. Just not credit cards, and there's a reason for that. The reason is to separate you from more of your money.

I laugh every time it's like 15 degrees and windy. I think of people in other states getting out and pumping their own gas.
 
Creeper said:
Personally, I like that NJ has gas and food service areas right on the highways. Sounds trivial but I have driven to Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama and a lot of roads do not have service areas. You have to exit the highway find the gas station and then find your way back onto the highway. In most cases it's not difficult, but a few times I had to drive quite a way to find the gas station the signs claimed was off the exit then find my way back to the highway when I had no idea where I was. Thank goodness for GPS, but how in the world did people manage before GPS was available?

btw, and no offense, my peeve is there are tolls at all on highways in NJ. The Turnpike is not so bad because the tolls are at the exits, but the Garden State Parkway with its tolls that stop traffic are awful. I remember when some exit tolls were 10 cents and the main tolls were a quarter. They went to EZ Pass and the tolls skyrocketed.

When the GSP was built, the state promised the tolls would come down once the Parkway was paid for, which was years ago. But after borrowing money against the toll collections they become permanent.

NJ has the highest taxes in the country- and we have high tolls on our highways, bridges and tunnels. it costs like $18 to cross the George Washington Bridge now. And on top of this NYC just imposed congestion pricing on cars and trucks traveling below 61st street! It is absurd that we are paying for mobility.
Click to expand...
When deciding where to live and work, I've always made it so that I wouldn't have to pay a toll every day. Good thing because now they've become an expense. Of course I don't pay them to and from work, but I'm expected to pay if it is not work related. I have a non revenue EZ-Pass, and we pay on the honor system. I always pay what I'm supposed to pay. But some people have to get caught in order to pay. And nothing happens to them.

I'll tell you one great scam they have going on the New Jersey Turnpike. Southern division is from exit 1 to 8A. Only two exits have high speed EZ-Pass. That it if you stay left, you don't run into toll booths. That is at exit 1 and exit 6. Do you know what those two exits have in common? People coming in from out of state. Exit one gets all people coming in from states south of NJ. Exit 6 are people coming in from Pennsylvania or west of NJ. They did this on purpose. GPS will always tell you to stay left whether you have an EZ-Pass or not. Most people from out of state won't know any better and stay left anyway, instead of getting a ticket on the right. I get these people every night. Instead of paying 3 dollars or 7 dollars, they pay 15-20 dollars. Worse case scenario, 50 dollars. They make an absolute fortune on that alone.
 
Vince Lombardi rest area coming back from the Jersey shore headed to NY is real interesting, exit right to loop left over the highway if I remember it correctly, kind of a pain in the azz. In this day and age the fact that we have tolls anywhere in the USA is so 50 years ago. I pumped lots of gas over the years in 15 degree NY weather, Jersey boys be spoiled! Last but not least, I would estimate that approx 85-90% of humans are pretty stupid or lost in life, Pretty amazing.
 
Flamma said:
We accept EZ-Pass. Just not credit cards, and there's a reason for that. The reason is to separate you from more of your money.

I laugh every time it's like 15 degrees and windy. I think of people in other states getting out and pumping their own gas.
Click to expand...
That's funny. I laugh every time I get gas and think about all of those states that have exorbitant gas prices, whether it be from policy or those jacking up prices to pay for gas attendants. Imagine being afraid of a few minutes of cold weather just to stay warm and pay $8 to $30 more for a full tank of gas. I think of those people in states where attendants do everything and wonder if they even know basic maintenance for their cars, like fluid level checks, tire pressure maintenance for the seasons, etc.
 
nobody said:
That's funny. I laugh every time I get gas and think about all of those states that have exorbitant gas prices, whether it be from policy or those jacking up prices to pay for gas attendants. Imagine being afraid of a few minutes of cold weather just to stay warm and pay $8 to $30 more for a full tank of gas. I think of those people in states where attendants do everything and wonder if they even know basic maintenance for their cars, like fluid level checks, tire pressure maintenance for the seasons, etc.
Click to expand...
In Jersey it illegal to pump your own gas, at least I think it is.
 
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