Illinois Tollway Eliminating Coin Baskets

When I was a kid, my step-dad would let me throw the coins into toll booth baskets from the back seat when we went on trips. I was no Chasson Randle, but usually we weren't going too fast, so it was hard to miss.

If you did miss though, you had better hope you had extra coins handy, or you were getting out of your car and doing the crawl of shame.

The days of toll booth coin baskets will soon come to an end on the Illinois Tollway. According to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald, Tollway execs have struck a deal to replace the toll baskets with touchscreens that will allow for bills or credit and debit cards to be used to play tolls.

While I like the embracing of new technology by the Tollway Authority, I think we can look ahead to long lines in the cash lanes on the tollway due to the new machines. Let's face it, it takes a lot longer to process your card in the equivalent of an ATM than it does to toss coins into a basket. More so, when you consider how technology challenged some of us can be.

And maybe, at the end of the day, that's the plan. If it takes even longer to go through the cash lines, perhaps we'll be more inclined to buy an I-PASS. Maybe that's the Tollway Authority's sinister plan.

Crazy like foxes those tollway fellas.

The basket replacement will begin this Spring and take about a year to complete.

- Craig