Toll booths on Florida's Turnpike being replaced with electronic tolling
An iconic piece of Florida's history — the toll booth on Florida's Turnpike — is going the way of those Burma Shave signs that once dotted the nation's highways.
Tolls aren't going away, but the way drivers pay is gradually changing. And as a result, the state is losing a part of its public face — the toll workers who serve as roadside ambassadors.
Since the turnpike opened as Florida's "Main Street" in 1957, toll workers have stood in the tiny booths around the clock to take cash and coins from motorists, dispense receipts and travel advice, and answer questions from visitors.
Sharon Gillis, 53, who has worked as a toll collector since 1995, said she will miss the daily interaction with the motorists who pull up at the booth by Sun Life Stadium.
"We have some wild ones that come through here on game days," Gillis said. "One time I had a girl go through and they were Dolphins fans. I'm told them I'm a Pittsburgh fan. And she lifted up her shirt and flashed me."
Others come bearing gifts like candy and gum when they pay their toll. Gillis got a cake for her birthday a few weeks ago from a regular customer. And there's always the chance enounter with a celebrity.
Gillis met Dan Marino a few days ago. "There was something wrong with his SunPass and he had to stop. It was his battery," said Gillis, whose "office" will disappear in 2014 when the stadium toll plaza is demolished and replaced with a high-tech overhead electronic gantry.
Nostalgia aside, officials say getting rid of toll booths eliminates a major source of gridlock and improves safety because drivers no longer have to stop to pay tolls. In the first months after the turnpike got rid of toll booths on the Homestead Extension in 2011, crashes dropped more than 50 percent.
"It is safer and less expensive for our customers," said turnpike spokeswoman Sonyha Rodriguez-Miller.
Virginia Murad, 66, plans to retire late next year or in early 2014 when the Golden Glades plaza closes, ending a 23-year career collecting tolls. She said the drivers who pass through become like family over the years.
"When they see you smile and say good morning, they're real friendly. I've had people say, 'You made my day,'" Murad said.
Even if the toll booths go away, the kitschy shirts worn by attendants may live on.
In 1999, attendants traded their boring navy pinstripe outfits for retro shirts emblazoned with surfers, pink flamingos and palm treees. The idea came from a turnpike operations director who visited a St. Louis uniform factory to look at different styles and fabrics.
The shirts, splashed with a 1930s-era Florida map, garnered so much attention from motorists that the turnpike began selling them to the public in 2001.
Tim Detore of Fort Lauderdale found one of the shirts in a vintage clothing store last year and bought it. "The shirt was just my size and in remarkable condition. I wear it regularly during the spring and summer months," he said, "but to this day I have not worn it driving on the Florida Turnpike."
For some motorists, it's not enough that the toll booths are disappearing. They remember that the original bonds to build the turnpike were paid off in the 1980s.
They want the tolls to go away as well.
Bron : Orlando Sentinel : http://www.orlandosentinel.com/fl-turnp ... 6167.story
