OK Turnpikes Are Going Cashless

One of the most Oklahoma "things" in Oklahoma is the fact that some drivers have fought off having a PikePass since the day they were first issued. Call it government distrust, tin-foil hat conspiracies, or perhaps they don't travel the turnpike frequently enough to justify investing in a free option to travel cheaper. The PikePass has been an uphill battle in this state.

Soon, within the next four years, every turnpike in Oklahoma will have made the switch to a cashless system... meaning you'll no longer be able to pull up to an attendant window and pay cash, nor will you be able to toss your toll change into the basket to make your way up to OKC. If you're still swearing off the PikePass, you'll still be able to travel the turnpike, but instead of paying as you go, you'll just travel as normal through the PikePass lane like the rest of us, and the state will later send a bill to the address your license plate is registered under.

The state is excited to announce this because it will inevitably save money for them in the long run not having to pay attendants to take money at toll booths... but this also means that North Chickasha toll booth will soon be remade to match the new booth down South. I'm guessing this will also mean a new booth towards Wichita Falls, as it cannot currently support free travel with all those lanes scrunched under that overpass.

Since this means cameras will be snapping pics of every vehicle traveling these roads, there's bound to be a privacy lawsuit or two in the next few years before the project is complete, but announcements at the state level aren't usually rolled back unless it has to do with tax revenues funding education. We'll all see how this plays out.

As the state wishes to focus almost entirely on the move to cashless on toll roads, they did manage to squeeze in there a 75% rate increase meaning the almost $7 it currently costs to drive from the Texas line to OKC will soon cost about $12. As unpopular as this will be, it's no wonder they only touched on it in passing at the announcement.