What You Need to Know About Changes to Your Pike Pass

By Charles Bassett, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Changes are on the way to the Pike Pass system that allows Oklahoma motorists to use its turnpikes without paying at the toll booths.

The hard cover Pike Pass box users mount to their windshield is going away. It will be replaced by a flat sticker-like tag. The company that produced the boxes in use now no longer makes them. The company switched to the tags to keep up with technology, and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is making the change as well.

"The new sticker tag is going to actually sit right behind the mirror where the current one sits," said Jack Damrill, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. "Vehicles with two to four axles will receive a white sticker-tag."

Commercial vehicles or vehicles with five or more axles will use a red sticker-tag.

OTA will begin the process with 500 motorists starting in June.

Damrill said the new tags will help improve efficiency because a lot of people mount the box wrong.

"It costs us quite a bit of money to go through a violation process. Hopefully this will eliminate a lot of those violations that are occurring unnecessarily," Damrill said.

Besides the look, another noticeable change with the stickers is that their is no longer an audible tone, but drivers will still get a signal from the beacon sign.

Unlike the box, once the sticker is removed from one car. it cannot be used in another car, so people who have more than one vehicle will be given sticker tags for all of their cars at no additional cost.

The stickers still can only be used on Oklahoma's turnpikes. The OTA is starting with limited use of the stickers because three of the turnpikes still have to be fitted with equipment to read the stickers.

The new stickers will be available at tag agencies starting in January and will be phased in over the next three years.