Toll Roads stop accepting cash

Tuesday marked the final day that drivers could shell out cash to pay their tolls on the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road at the Catalina View Mainline Toll Plaza, on unincorporated land near Newport Beach.

It was also the last day on the job for toll attendants, who had accepted the money from those who pulled through the slender toll stations.

The 51-mile entire toll network, which also includes State Routes 133, 241 and 261, is going cashless starting Wednesday. It is the largest network of toll roads in the state.

In all, 85 contract employees from Central Parking System worked in and managed the booths and toll plazas, the first of which opened in 1993.

The company has said that it will try to find new positions for the workers, according to a news release.

To help with the transition away from cash, new transponder-free payment options have been rolled out by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which manages the roadways.

The payment methods use license-plate imaging technology and allow users to prepay an account, be charged on a credit card or receive invoices.

A one-time-use option is also available, in addition to FasTrak, the transponder system many Orange County commuters use.

Also on their way out are the metal-and-glass toll booths at the Catalina View toll plaza.

The booths, each measuring nearly 19 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 11 feet deep, were originally conceived by California Corridor Constructors in the early 1990s.

The designers wanted to keep in mind motorists’ safety while also maintaining local aesthetics, The Toll Roads spokeswoman Lori Olin said in a previous interview with the Pilot.

Commuters can sign up for FasTrack or an ExpressAccount on the Toll Roads website, https://www.thetollroads.com/

Twitter: @emfoxhall