# What's in the toll plaza service buildings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614 "2024-01-04T22:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/1 "2024-01-04T22:48:07Z")
They are the smallish buildings at one end of the row of tollbooths. Anyone been in one? Some are larger and have a mini highway patrol station and others might have a garage and parking area to stage snow removal equipment. Some of them have a tunnel that connects underneath the toll booths. There are a couple of YouTube videos of the tunnels. In addition to access for the toll workers they contain electric and steam lines. I do know the buildings have a “count room” like a casino. So, I figure count room, locker room and rest rooms. Maybe a comms room. Hopefully a nice break room with fridge and microwave for the staff. I don’t think any staff sleeps over but a couple of cozy chairs to take a cat nap would be nice. Could make a different heist movie. Wouldn’t take that big of a crew, perhaps call it Ocean’s Three? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/2 "2024-01-05T01:00:01Z")
Looks like the interview was done in the break room and kitchen. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ESLfFTBbiWI/maxresdefault.jpg "LIFE IN THE TOLL LANE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLfFTBbiWI) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/3 "2024-01-05T02:34:44Z")
You’d probably want to time your heist to an era before electronic payment and pre-paid season passes became common. The trend in highway management is to get rid of toll plazas and go to complete electronic tolling with gantries carrying readers that mean there is no slowing of traffic. Then they can sack everyone except for the proverbial man and a dog - the dog to guard the tolling junction box and the man to feed the dog. And as part of your Oceans Three you should aim to recruit at least that number of morons. Doing a heist where much of the take will be in low denomination coins is lots of pain for little gain and less brain. Maybe they could hole up somewhere for 6 months, looking through their loot for a rare quarter that will fetch 40c from a collector on the black market. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/4 "2024-01-05T02:41:12Z")
Also make sure that you have a reliable way to carry the coins away, or you might end up getting caught like [these guys](https://www.loweringthebar.net/2005/04/crooks_leave_tr.html). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/5 "2024-01-05T02:41:22Z")
Better not wait too long. E-ZPass is gradually replacing Toll booth workers. I guess there’s always infrequent travelers that rarely drive on toll roads. They still pay in coins. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/6 "2024-01-05T04:19:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Looks like the interview was done in the break room and kitchen. The interview’s done in the worker’s apartment; it says at the beginning. If there’s a break room at the workplace, it doesn’t appear to be shown. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I guess there’s always infrequent travelers that rarely drive on toll roads. They still pay in coins. On the NYS Thruway, they now collect your license plate number and send you a bill in the mail. (One of those infrequent travellers here.) Not only do they not want you to try to pay it in coins, they don’t want you to pay it in cash at all. They do still take checks. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/7 "2024-01-05T04:32:24Z")
It’s been many years since I found myself on a toll road. Back then we kept a Tupperware box with quarters and other change on the car seat. That was driving from Massachusetts to Arkansas pulling a trailer with items that didn’t go in the moving van. I missed the location disclaimer. I was probably giving treats and petting our dog. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/8 "2024-01-05T04:40:53Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > The trend in highway management is to get rid of toll plazas and go to complete electronic tolling with gantries carrying readers that mean there is no slowing of traffic. Here in Illinois, the Illinois Tollway System had introduced electronic tolling in 2005, but still had cash lanes available – both automatic (coin baskets) and manual (toll collection agents) – at all of the major toll plazas up until 2020. When COVID hit, the Tollway temporarily closed the manual collection lanes, for safety purposes…but then, in 2021, they shut down the coin-collection automated booths, too, making the tollways fully electronic-only. So, while there are still those service buildings at all of the toll plaza (and the manual booths are still standing there), there aren’t any toll collectors using them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/9 "2024-01-05T11:02:51Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The interview’s done in the worker’s apartment; it says at the beginning. If there’s a break room at the workplace, it doesn’t appear to be shown. It would kind of weird to have a note taped to the fridge in your own apartment saying “MILK IS FOR USE IN COFFEE ONLY”. I’m pretty sure both apartment and break room are shown. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/10 "2024-01-05T12:50:19Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > It would kind of weird to have a note taped to the fridge in your own apartment saying “MILK IS FOR USE IN COFFEE ONLY”. When I was at my In-Laws for the holidays, I had to put a sticky note on the milk in the fridge saying “MILK IS FOR CONSUMPTION BY CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 3 ONLY”. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/11 "2024-01-05T17:43:12Z")
Nice. It looks cool inside there. For some reason I like cozy workplaces like that. Actually looks like a fair sized version so I suspect it has a highway patrol section also. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/12 "2024-01-05T21:08:51Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > It would kind of weird to have a note taped to the fridge in your own apartment saying “MILK IS FOR USE IN COFFEE ONLY”. I’m pretty sure both apartment and break room are shown. On the one hand, that would depend on who (if anyone) you lived with. On the other hand, I took another look and I think you’re right. The refrigerator, refrigerator decorations, and other room in the background are different between the first two interview scenes and the third. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/13 "2024-01-06T22:24:46Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not only do they not want you to try to pay it in coins, they don’t want you to pay it in cash at all. They do still take checks. I can pay at the toll booth with a check? That seems like it would slow down traffic a bit. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/14 "2024-01-07T00:31:53Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I can pay at the toll booth with a check? That seems like it would slow down traffic a bit. No. There isn’t even a toll booth there any longer. They send a bill in the mail (if you don’t pay it online first) to the address that goes with the license plate on the car; and if you don’t want to go online to pay it, you can mail in a check. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/15 "2024-01-08T17:30:48Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > You’d probably want to time your heist to an era before electronic payment and pre-paid season passes became common We have a character here in the Chicago area nicknamed John “Quarters” Boyle who stole, over time, four million dollar in quarters before getting caught. I believe he ran the armored truck company transporting the change for the Illinois Tollway back in the 90s. So far as I know, he’s not Outfit (Chicago/Cicero mob) but merely mob-adjacent. The OP might want to look up his story. Plus he had a brother nicknamed “Matches” who was a fire fighter and, in, turned out to be an arsonist as well. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/16 "2024-01-08T20:45:33Z")
Wow. That’s over 90 tonnes of coins for 16,000,000 of them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-the-toll-plaza-service-buildings/995614/17 "2024-01-08T20:56:44Z")
I wanna know what you do with 4 milliion dollars worth of quarters! He was actually a client at a law office I briefly worked at about 15-20 years ago for one of the attorneys who shared office space space with us, and I was itching to ask, but thought better of it. The guy was quite a character, like some wild-card wannabe gangster from a wise guys movie.