LAWTON – The H.E. Bailey Turnpike/Interstate 44 fully transitioned Wednesday to entirely cashless tolling via PlatePay and PikePass.
The final leg of the conversion was completed at the Walters toll plaza Wednesday morning. As a result, drivers can now travel along I-44/H.E.B. from the Texas state line to Oklahoma City without having to stop to pay a toll.
The conversion, coupled with a pavement rehabilitation project underway between Elgin and Chickasha, are preliminary steps before raising the speed limit along the 86.4-mile turnpike to 80 mph, according to state Rep. Daniel Pae.
The transition to PlatePay on the Bailey main line between Lawton and Oklahoma City was completed earlier this month after an inattentive driver crashed into the Newcastle toll plaza on June 4. No one was killed, but it emphasized the need to convert to PlatePay as soon as possible for the safety of the traveling public and for Oklahoma Turnpike Authority tolling employees.
Turnpike toll plazas are “some of the highest accident locations on our network,” state Transportation Secretary and OTA Executive Director Tim Gatz told members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ Transportation Committee.
That’s because the plazas present three opportunities for traffic collisions, he said: when a driver exits the turnpike to enter the toll plaza, when a motorist stops at the toll booth, and “when you reenter the main line.”
With PlatePay, toll booths and coin machines become a thing of the past. PlatePay and its sister program, PikePass, create a free flow of traffic and a safer, more efficient means of travel without sudden speed changes to maneuver lanes and stop at a toll booth.
PlatePay cameras automatically photograph a vehicle’s license plate, enabling the OTA to send the vehicle’s registered owner an invoice. PlatePay customers receive a bill in the mail; PikePass customers will not experience changes to their transaction process.
The state Turnpike Authority installed 40 camera systems on the H.E.B. at a cost of approximately $2.9 million, an agency spokesman said.
Drivers should be aware that the southbound on- and off-ramps at the Walters exit (mile marker 20) will be closed from 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, to 4 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, to remove the manual tolling equipment. The northbound on- and off-ramps at the Walters exit will be closed from 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, to 4 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, to remove old equipment.
The OTA awarded a $7.4 million contract to Haskell Lemon Construction Co. of Oklahoma City to convert the H.E. Bailey to totally cashless tolling.
The project has featured conversion of the turnpike main line, entrance/exit ramps and spur interchanges at SH-4, SH-5, US-277, US-62 and SH-76. The work has included installation of overhead gantries (trusses), guardrails, generators, cabinets, propane tanks, conduit, and some paving construction.
The Bailey generated $33.8 million in toll revenue in 2021, according to Wendy Smith, the OTA’s director of finance and revenue.
The H.E.B. logged more than 20.7 million transactions last year; each time a toll is charged or collected counts as a transaction. Two-axle vehicles such as passenger cars and pickups accounted for 18.6 million of those transactions (89.7%); three-axle vehicles, 405,193 transactions (2%); four-axle vehicles, 231,835 (1.1%); five-axle vehicles, 1.46 million transactions (7%); and six-axle vehicles, 48,271 (0.2%).
The H.E. Bailey is the third Oklahoma turnpike to transition to all-electronic tolling after the John Kilpatrick and Kickapoo turnpikes in Oklahoma City moved to PlatePay within the past year. The OTA plans to transition the state’s remaining turnpikes to cashless tolling by the end of 2024.
“We recognize the fact that our customers want a safe, fast and efficient way to travel our system,” Gatz said previously. “Converting to cashless tolling will relieve motorists who struggle to find money to put in the coin machines.” One of the biggest complaints from patrons of Oklahoma’s turnpike system “is that we still expect them to carry a pocketful of quarters,” he said.
PlatePay rates are substantially higher than PikePass rates and cash tolls. PlatePay customers will pay an average of 75% more than the current cash rates because of the expenses incurred in collecting the tolls via mailed invoices.
PikePass customers receive a discount of nearly 20% on tolls across the turnpike system and a volume discount program. PikePass rates on the Bailey will remain unchanged after the conversion.
“We always advise those who will be traveling the turnpike system that the cheapest way to travel is with a PikePass account,” Gatz said last July.
To open a PikePass account, visit PikePass.com or call 1 (800) PIKEPASS. Learn more about PlatePay at PlatePay.com.