Tampa Takes a Toll
By the middle of next month, Tampa residents and visitors staying at a Tampa hotel can say goodbye to the toll booths and goodbye to the toll takers located on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway, which stretches 15 miles from South Tampa to Brandon.
30 toll takers will be out of a job, at least those who did not get jobs at other toll-taking positions in the Tampa Bay area when the switch from using live personnel to using technology that will recognize a SunPass as commuters drive by or a bundled package for toll use will be billed monthly. The Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority will no longer take cash. This will not only save the city money, but will make it a smoother, faster trip for commuters as well.
Beginning at 9:30pm on September 17, 2010, high-tech cameras in position along the expressway will take photographs of the license plates of commuters using the toll road. A bill will be sent to the addresses that correspond with the vehicle registrations. This means no more slowing down and stopping to pass through toll booths; no more traffic jams, at least in theory; and no more merging in and out of traffic. Commuters will have a safer drive because research has proven that about 60% of all accidents happen at tolling points.
Tags: sunpass