TollBoothGuy
5 Years Experience
Brooklyn, NY
Male, 33
I spent just short of five years as a toll collector on the western end of New York State. Ask me anything, but please don't pay me in pennies.
Yep! There are usually a few portable stereos hanging around the stations for those that want to listen to the radio. More enterprising collectors brought iPod docks. Electronics were a bit of a gray area and all collectors are supposed to be monitoring the intercom that is in every booth, so it's really important to not drown everything out.
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I actually can't speak to collectors here in New York City as I worked in the Western part of the state and they are part of a different agency. I took a look at the civil service listing in 2010, which I believe was the last time the test was offered, and the salary grade is listed as 'Equated to G-9.' I'm not too versed in that part of the job though, as I was a part-timer for the five years that I was there.
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Those were unpleasant days, for sure. We had one three-year stretch where the tolls increased three times. During the first hike, local radio stations were organizing a mass 'pay your toll in pennies' protest. Seemed kind of counter-productive to me since the only people being hurt were collectors and toll-paying patrons, but whatever. People would constantly ask about why the tolls were going up but we never had an official reason to give them. I guess we could have cited ' Capital Improvements' but I don't think anyone really did. Our bosses put up signs on the booth about a week in advance that said 'New Toll Rates in Effect' and that was about it. The only instance I can recall in which we had a specific response was when Native Americans didn't want to pay their toll, but I never encountered a situation that I needed to cite it. (Not that i would have remembered it anyway)
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50+. Not too outrageous sounding until you think about the fact that collectors often have to cross these lanes and the speed limit is 5 mph in these lanes.
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Navy Officer (Former)
What's the most dangerous situation you were ever in?
EMT
What was the most gruesome trauma you witnessed while on the job?
Bodybuilder
What kind of “primping” is required for competitions?
Unfortunately I don't know of anything that is done to combat the exhaust that is present. I have no ill health effects to speak of, but it would be interesting study to take on in respect to the lifers. Coincidentally, a majority of my co-workers were smokers.
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We actually don't employ gates in our system so that wasn't a possibility but people did speed through our lanes with some regularity. Sometimes we got them to stop, sometimes we didn't. Nothing too exciting though, sorry to disappoint! I did once witness a (most likely) drunk driver stop, open her car door, and promptly drop from the seat to the pavement. Drunk drivers are scary.
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Next time you go through, look for a small building on either side of the toll plaza. There should be a parking a lot attached to it, or very close by. Often, it's only accessible by way of the highway itself so collectors will have to go through toll lanes and pull in that way. That building is where a manger is (at some stations), where we eat, take our breaks, and generally try to forget that we are toll collectors.
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