Frank E. Bovalino – 2/12/08

This page was last updated on February 12, 2008.

E-ZPass can’t replace people; Frank E. Bovalino; Beaver County Times; February 12, 2008.

Mr. Bovalino (a member of the Beaver Area School Board according to the Times) tends to write letters bashing Republicans and defending Democrats. His more recent letters told us we’d miss state Sen. Gerald LaValle (D) (cofounder of the BIG slush fund) and proposed “solutions” to alleged manmade global warming.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“According to an article in Saturday’s paper, Chief Executive Joe Brimmeier of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says a high-tech payment system will eliminate toll booths on the turnpike.”

[RWC] The only problem I have with the proposal is the elimination of coin baskets and change makers. If you’re an infrequent user of a toll road, you shouldn’t have to go through the process of signing up for the E-ZPass program to avoid paying a confiscatory rate. Should a person from Ohio who travels PA toll roads once in a blue moon get screwed over because he doesn’t have an E-ZPass? For frequent users, however, the process makes sense. When I lived in Houston, TX, I used the EZ TAG program for the local toll roads and it was great.

“On the surface, it looks like a real money-saver, but for those without E-ZPass it is very expensive. Will non-E-ZPass subscribers pay a bill sent in the mail? How many will be sent erroneously? How many jobs will be lost and, in turn, how much local revenue will be lost? This plan sounds like a real cost-saver for the turnpike, but local communities will suffer.”

[RWC] I wonder if Mr. Bovalino wrote a similar letter when coin baskets appeared on the Turnpike decades ago. Is the Turnpike’s role to provide a quality road at the lowest cost, or to provide jobs?

“Another aspect of this plan is that travelers will not experience the human interaction of the turnpike employees who put a face to the state of Pennsylvania — the pleasant greetings, a climate of friendliness and a sense of welcome to the people traveling the turnpike.”

[RWC] Yeah, right.

“Believe it or not, toll collectors are ambassadors for the many regions the turnpike travels, and the one thing that E-ZPass can’t do is give directions to the many exiting customers.”

[RWC] Yeah, right II.

“The human element can’t be replaced by a machine, and I believe revenue will drop and billing complications will increase. Let us keep a face on our turnpike.”

[RWC] I wonder if Mr. Bovalino takes the same position regarding bank ATMs.

For the sake of the Beaver Area School District taxpayers, I hope Mr. Bovalino doesn’t participate in negotiations with the teacher unions regarding staffing levels.