By james art 
With the Kansas Turnpike road to implement a cashless fees, a growing number of vehicle owners receive K-tags to save money.
Kansas Turnpike has spread more than 19,000 k-tag to motorists at their request in the first 15 days of June, compared to just more than half of that for the same period last year, said Rachel Bell, director of business services of business services KTA and customer relationships.
“In the last few years, we have been watching a constant increase in transponder orders,” Bell said. “But the last few months have been very busy and our team has been working hard to send K-Tags.”
In general, nearly 1.2 million k-tag are active, she said.
How much will the owners of K-Tag save when a cashless billing comes into force?
Increasing K-Tag orders comes when KTA is preparing to implement a cashless fees at 23:59 June 30 for drivers using Turnpike, a 236 miles between Kansas City, Kansas and the Kansas/Oklahoma state line.
TURNPIKE customers using K-Tag are currently saving up to 35% for tolls compared to what other users are charged, Bell said.
“Once the cashless billing begins, K-Tag customers will save 50% compared to those identified by their registration plates,” she said.
Drivers using compatible transponders from other states will pay the same prices as K-TAG customers, said Bell.
How can I get a k-tag?
K-TAG stickers that can be attached to the inside of the vehicle’s windshield are free. Exterior K-tags mounted on armor cost $ 25 each. K-Tags can be ordered online at MyKtag.com.
KTA distributes K-tags to dozens of pop-up events that it holds in June, July and August in the cities along the Turnpike route. A list can be found on the KTA website on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kansasturnpike/events.
This site says that the free K-Tag stickers will be distributed this week in Topeca at 9am at Equity Bank, 701 S. Kansas Ave.; 15:00 Tuesday at Shareholder Bank, 3825 SW 29; 12:30 Wednesday at Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 SW 10th Ave.; and 18:00 Thursday at Evergy Plaza, 630 S. Kansas Ave.
Dillons stores offer Bancpass, which is powered by K-Tag, said Bell.
“This is a money -based transponder option and allows customers to recharge their transponder using money in Dillons stores,” she said.
Customers can learn more about this option at www.bancpass.com, she said.
What happens when a taxi taxi comes into force?
Once the cashless payment begins, approximately 70% of TURNPIKE users with K-tags or similar devices from other states will continue to use their credit card or bank account to pay a monthly bill to cover the fees.
Compatibility agreements, which KTA has with other countries and third-party suppliers, allow it to read 22.4 million transponders in addition to K-TAG, said Bell.
Currently, drivers without K-tags or other transponders have to take a ticket when they enter Turnpike or pay with money or card for road fees when leaving it.
With the new setting you will not need to do it anymore. All drivers will continue to move when they enter and leave Turnpike.
The new system for paying tolls, Drieks, will use an electronic transponder to identify vehicles from their K-TAG or registration number, said Bell.
If the vehicle does not have a cashless taxi device, DRIEKS will use registration plates registration information to identify the home address of the owner and send to that person an account unless he or she has already arranged to pay, she said.
How does kta get the word out?
KTA uses several tools to bring the word for cashless fees, including the hosting events, sharing information with journalists and making presentations in the community, said Bell.
KTA has received help with this from the State Tourist Office, the commercial chambers and the municipal governments in the cities along Turnpike and public organizations, including rotary and Lions clubs, she said.
“We are so grateful that a lot of attention has been paid to this historical change,” Bell said.
KTA also partnered with the Kansas Ministry of Revenue to include cashless fees for all vehicle postal registrations this year, she said.
“We want all the drivers to understand and be prepared for this change,” Bell said. “However, 37 million trips to Kansas Turnpik were taken last year and we know we won’t reach everyone.”
Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Turnpike Authority spread an increasing number of ktags