Kansas

Weather forecasts suggest wild weather is likely in Kansas toward the end of the week and the possibility of tornadoes. A spokesman told us they want drivers to know the Turnpike's shelters are available for their safety if they happen to be at a service plaza or a toll plaza when a twister threatens.

Kansas Turnpike president /CEO Michael L Johnston says "No way" to the proposal for toll rates to be graduated according to speed: "We're in the service business, not in law enforcement. End of story."

Sticker tags are quietly gaining significant US market share, the latest state toll system to commit to go with stickers being the Kansas Turnpike. The Oklahoma Turnpike is testing them. Kansas is closer to a adopting them and it will be the first fully trip-based or 'ticket' toll system to use sticker tags.

Kansas legislators still see the need for the government to bail out a bunch of state colleges because the professors' digs are in need of rehab, and the state's governor Kathleen Sibelius hasn't abandoned her January proposal to raise tolls on the Turnpike. The higher tolls would support $300m in loans to the colleges for repairs and deferred maintenance.