News 8
Confusion on first day of electronic toll collecting on George Bush Turnpike 
01:20 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 1, 2009
>There is no need for coins on the George Bush Turnpike today.
In fact, paying with cash is obsolete.
The NTTA is hoping this new electronic toll-collecting system will speed up your commute.
But so far, the system seems to have drivers pretty confused.
Instead of collecting cash, the NTTA has a new electronic system for collecting tolls, while vehicles travel in the same lanes.
Toll tag users, like always, get billed through their NTTA account each month.
But those used to paying cash are travelling through the zip cash lanes, where a camera snaps a shot of their vehicle's license plates, and sends a monthly bill to the owner of that vehicle.
The price is 45 percent higher than if you had a toll tag. NTTA is hoping that will serve as an incentive to get more people on board with toll tags
In the meantime, the NTTA is encouraging everyone to be especially vigilant, as people get used to the new system.
At the Marsh Lane on ramp onto the George Bush Turnpike eastbound, people were slamming on breaks, when they found find toll booths closed and left-hand toll booths blocked off.
Terrence Neal, a user, said he thought the system would eventually work but at the moment "there is a lot of confusion," he said.
