CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Turnpike plans to begin accepting credit cards from drivers at toll plazas early next year.
West Virginia Parkways Authority Executive Director Jeff Miller told a group of state lawmakers Tuesday the credit card option will be implemented after everything else with the ongoing installation of a new tolling system is completed.
Lawmakers have long asked turnpike officials to include credit as an option for drivers. Miller said it’s going to happen but testing shows it will slow things down.
“We can process a cash transaction in typically six to eight second, the fastest testing that we’ve realized on the credit card machines is anywhere from 12 to 16 seconds,” Miller told lawmakers.
Miller said E-ZPass remains the quickest, most efficient way to move through the Turnpike’s three main tollbooths. An unlimited use pass can be purchased for $26.25 a year. Tolls are $4.25 per toll booth for passenger cars without an E-ZPass.
How credit cards will work Miller said toll booth operators will have handheld machines that they will hold toward a driver wishing to pay with a credit card.
“There’s no transfer of card. There’s no concern of dropping a card out a window or anything. We’ve tried to make this to be as quick as possible,” he said.
The card can be tapped or inserted. The machine will automatically read credit. Debit will not be available. The Parkways Authority will pick-up the processing fee for the transaction.
Miller said it remains to be seen if credit transactions will create longer lines. He said it doesn’t long take for traffic to stack up.
