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By KASIA KOPEC [email protected]
Tuesday, April 13, 2004     Page: 3A

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on Monday began removing more
than 100 emergency call boxes from a 51-mile stretch of Interstate 81,
including all the roadside boxes in Luzerne County.
   
The call boxes were installed in 1999 as part of a pilot program aimed at
creating a more intelligent transportation system, said PennDOT Spokesman Mike
Cotter.
    The roadside phones each cost $5,380, plus expenses associated with their
installation.
   
The boxes are being removed because they are seldom used, and PennDOT has
decided the money used to maintain the phones – about $119,000 annually – can
be better spent.
   
Last year, only 130 calls were logged on 102 phones in Luzerne and
Schuylkill counties, meaning each call had a price tag of close to $1,000.
   
Cotter attributed the lack of use to the proliferation of cell phones.
   
“Nowadays it seems everyone has a cell phone, whereas if you go back even
a few years, their use wasn’t as widespread,” said Cotter.
   
Asked if PennDOT conducted a feasibility study before installing the call
boxes, Cotter said the whole project is an experiment.
   
“It’s a pilot program,” he said. “And this part of the program doesn’t
work, so we’re not going to continue it.”
   
Other parts of the $1.9 million intelligent transportation system pilot,
including the use of roadside message signs, will remain in place.
   
Kasia Kopec, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7436.
   
USEFUL TO YOU
   
Stuck without a cell phone in a car that won’t go? With roadside emergency
call boxes gone, PennDOT Spokesman Mike Cotter recommends pulling as far off
the road as possible, then trying to flag down a police or PennDOT vehicle.