Howard Holdout on why he won't get a transponder
Posted on Sun, 2007-08-05 16:22
Toll industry people often speculate about why there are holdouts against electronic tolling. Why, when motorists with transponders are able to fly through the toll plazas while those without must queue, assemble money, wind down the windshield etc, doesn't everyone sign up and get one?
OK for the very occasional users the signup hassle doesn't make sense. But that doesn't explain fully why 20 or 30% of toll payers still stop to pay in peakhours.
Howard Holdout below is unlikely to be typical but perhaps his writing pulls together several important strands of holdout thinking: makework, human touch, privacy.
"I have a strong dislike for EZ Pass. While I travel the PA Turnpike on a daily basis, I have yet to give in to the alleged ease of flying
through the EZ Pass lanes. Hopefully, I will not ever be forced to succumb to the dark side on this one. My reasons for this dislike are many. Here are a small handful of those reasons:
"I’m a union man, and I like to give the Turnpike Commission as much reason as possible to keep my human toll taker friends on the job for as long as possible.
"Additionally, I just like the idea of interacting with someone as I exit the toll road every day, even if it’s only a smile and a hello.
"I feel strongly that there are far too many currents in life already driving us further from personal interaction, be they the EZ Pass, virtual communities on the internet or any of the countless other anti-social influences in our lives.
"And last, but not least, I’ve seen too many Law & Order reruns where the bad guy gets caught because of EZ Pass records – I just want to keep one more avenue open in case I need to get away with murder some day."
Posted by "howard" on the "Smedley log - suburban scrawl" a Philadelphia area blog. He "loves to write, has to write..."
TOLLROADSnews 2007-08-05
OK for the very occasional users the signup hassle doesn't make sense. But that doesn't explain fully why 20 or 30% of toll payers still stop to pay in peakhours.
Howard Holdout below is unlikely to be typical but perhaps his writing pulls together several important strands of holdout thinking: makework, human touch, privacy.
"I have a strong dislike for EZ Pass. While I travel the PA Turnpike on a daily basis, I have yet to give in to the alleged ease of flying
through the EZ Pass lanes. Hopefully, I will not ever be forced to succumb to the dark side on this one. My reasons for this dislike are many. Here are a small handful of those reasons:"I’m a union man, and I like to give the Turnpike Commission as much reason as possible to keep my human toll taker friends on the job for as long as possible.
"Additionally, I just like the idea of interacting with someone as I exit the toll road every day, even if it’s only a smile and a hello.
"I feel strongly that there are far too many currents in life already driving us further from personal interaction, be they the EZ Pass, virtual communities on the internet or any of the countless other anti-social influences in our lives.
"And last, but not least, I’ve seen too many Law & Order reruns where the bad guy gets caught because of EZ Pass records – I just want to keep one more avenue open in case I need to get away with murder some day."
Posted by "howard" on the "Smedley log - suburban scrawl" a Philadelphia area blog. He "loves to write, has to write..."
TOLLROADSnews 2007-08-05