Posted on 03/06/2011 3:35:10 AM PST by rawhide
Meet Joel Chandler,who just paid his $1.00 toll on the Polk Parkway with a $100 bill,he is not allowed to leave unless he provides personal info to the toll taker.The toll taker tells Chandler this is what happens when they get large bills.
Chandler says to the toll taker,"So I'm being detained?"She says yes sir.
It is a policy the Florida Turnpike authority instituted for people who paid with $20,$50 or$100 bills. After it happened once,Chandler kept testing the system and taped his encounters as he went through the toll booths.
One time a toll taker told him, she wouldn't give him his change unless he gave her the information. He asked why he was being detained but never got an answer.
When Chandler called and e-mailed the Florida Department of Transportation to complain about the policy, he was told there is no policy to detain people who give large bills.
The practice continued at toll booth after toll booth and, if someone refused to provide the information, they were threatened with arrest. One toll taker told Chandler's brother Robert, "I could call FHP. Would you like me to do that, sir?" Robert Chandler asked why she would call the Florida Highway Patrol when he was being illegally detained and the toll taker said he could come up with another form of tender.
Chandler continued to complain and on July 21st at 7:19 p.m., he received an email from the assistant General Counsel of FDOT saying essentially the department didn't know what he was talking about and they don't have sufficient information to investigate. However, earlier that same day, there were a flurry of e-mails going back and forth in the department saying shut the program down, temporarily suspend it and who should call Chandler and what should they say.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtsp.com ...
More to read at the link provided. You can read how this practice is costing the Florida taxpayers more money than it is worth, doing this.
Can’t have the public getting uppity.
Around Tampa they have largely eliminated cash at the tolls. If you don’t have the electronic pre-paid toll device they take a picture of your license plate. Then they send you a bill.
I’m sure they take your license plate all the time and track who goes where.
“You can read how this practice is costing the Florida taxpayers more money than it is worth, doing this. “
The toll roads are not really run by the State. They are managed by a holding company which “reports” to the state. Sort of like a public utility without the transparency.
The main toll road in Tampa collects $300,000 - $400,000 in tolls each day. This company gets all of that money to pay employees and maintain the road. Of course any large projects requires federal funding for some reason. I’m sure all that money is well managed though.
Incredible. So, the bureaucrats at FLDOT are mad because 1% of the taxes they’re collecting are bogus. So they come up with a program that’s costs more than the amount they’re being stiffed. Furthermore, it’s an illegal program, in their zeal to collect every dime they possibly can. And then, to top it all off, they lie about it.
The bureaucrats involved in this should all be fired. Probably not the toll takers, they’re just following orders, but the middle level people that said, “hey this is a good idea, let’s do this”, and certainly anyone who was involved in covering it up. That’s the most disturbing thing about this story. The way our government lies to us, repeatedly, continually, and casually, as if it’s no big deal. What, stupid peasant, you expected the truth? Every day goes by, it feels more and more like Orwell’s 1984 to me.
Imagine Germany in 1939 it was, “let me see your papers.”
Now here in America it has become, “let me see your credit card.”
Just think: with totally electronic tolls, they can determine if you are keeping the speed limit. If you are reaching each destination ahead of schedule, they can send you speeding tickets in the mail. To get my sunpass, I had to register my name and car, so “they” know every time I use the toll road and where I go.
Hmmm, I never thought about them being able to do that? But you are right, the technology is there. Do you know if this is actually being done?
Several years ago I received a letter from the DOT. The letter noted I was on I-275 at a certain place and at a certain time.
For a traffic study they wanted to know where I was coming from, where I was going, and the purpose of my travel.
This was shortly after they stopped using off duty cops in uniform to stop people to ask the same questions.
So they definitely think they need that information.
He must have a lot of time on his hands. I would hate to go through that. Just pay the buck. Probably has enough loose change in the seats and under the seats to pay with. Time is precious to me. More time on Free Republic. lol.
Is your GPS device in your smart phone activated? Think about that for a minute...
I think its only a matter of time until they start handing out speeding tickets. I’d imagine they are already tracking it.
I haven’t heard of it yet - my son is the one who pointed this ability out to me. It’s just a matter of time, I’m sure. They could rake in millions. When I’m traveling from south Florida to Orlando, the majority of drivers are above the speed limit.
He didn’t cost the taxpayers anything. He cost the management company the time of one low level employee.
States continue to do this because nobody protests.
If I got caught behind him, it wouldn’t be the toll taker I would be pissed at.
I guess leaving a jar of Grey Poupon at the tollbooth no longer cuts the mustard when change cannot be made? Well then, pardon me.
I know that idea was floated within the bureaucracy of at least one or two EZPass states, like NJ or PA. Hey, we’ll just mail them a ticket for speeding, because they clocked in at Point A at 9:00 and clocked out at Point B at 9:15, and you can’t get from Point A to Point B in 15 minutes without speeding. For now, it was discarded as being too intrusive. The real reason is, they want the public to use EZPass exclusively, and do away with the cash toll takers.
Once they’ve accomplished that, and everyone has EZPass, then they’ll implement the ticket-by-mail scheme, to wring a few more dollars out of you.
Was that from a e-pass or from photographing your license plate?
I am speechless...LOL!
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