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.
I don't really know anything about operations at the Triborough Bridge but this might shed some light on your experience:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triborough_Bridge_and_Tunnel_Authority_Police
It looks like these officers may collect tolls from time to time, which might explain the potential ticket. Pure speculation from my perspective, though.
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We classify vehicles based on height and axles on the ground. Anything below 7'6" is classified a 'low' and anything above 7'6" is a 'high'. So an average car is classified as a 2L while an average tractor trailer is classified as a 5H. Luckily, we don't have to take weight or commercial status into consideration when classifying. I know that a different system was in place preceding my arrival and that it had been become somewhat complicated, so this system was installed in an effort to simply the process. (Something about noting the number of passengers on buses, etc...)
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I'll be honest, I'm not sure if anyone can be held liable in that situation. Usually when any kind of incident happens out on the road, drivers can request to make a report to whatever law enforcement agency has jurisdiction. Personally, I'd never instruct a car to back up out of a lane unless absolutely necessary and I would physically get out of my booth and back everyone up so that this kind of situation has as little chance of happening as possible. Sorry to hear about the damages to your vehicle.
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If you don't catch it before the car drives away, note it on your log for the day. Collectors are responsible for all money at the end of the day, and if a discrepancy exists above a certain threshold disciplinary action can ensue. You get pretty quick at counting change so unless it's off by a coin you'll be able to feel that it's not quite right and hopefully stop the car before it takes off. Some drivers are great about waiting a second and others could care less.
I have often found myself hanging out of my booth waving my arms wildly trying to flag down a driver as he starts to move away.
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I took no extra security precautions while I was out on the road. I never felt particularly unsafe, even during solo shifts.
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Nope! In our system, collectors are audited based on what they their expected cash total is versus what they deposited. A deficit that small would not be flagged for review. Through the course of a shift, collectors are often shorted by some amount of change by a number of cars and conversely sometimes cars drop too much in our hands and drive off. Oddly enough it generally evens out well enough. There were a couple times where I got shorted a bit and threw a dollar or two in my tray because I never made it back.
Don't sweat a penny though. Trust me, we ALWAYS have pennies laying around.
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Those lots are reserved for employees and other authorized individuals and are not to be used by the general public. If you have to stop off for a second that's generally okay, but you would not be able to park your vehicle there for any significant length of time.
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