‘Pay It Forward’ at the Toll Booth Gets the Green Light

(Photo credit: GDOT)


Want to give an extra 50 cents to the toll plaza worker to pay for the car behind you? Go right ahead, state officials said Friday.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday that officials a few weeks ago had told workers at the Ga. 400 toll plaza that drivers were no longer allowed to “pay it forward” by paying for any cars behind them in line. The long-running practice was ended because some motorists had reported that some cashiers had not thrown in the basket the change given to them for the next driver.

But the State Road & Tollway Authority hit the brakes and threw it into reverse on Friday by announcing that following a request from Gov. Nathan Deal, the practice of “pay-it-forward” toll payments would be reinstated.

“With only a few months left until the tolls are removed from Ga. 400, Governor Deal felt it was important that we look at the toll payment policy to see if there might be a way to reinstate this long-held tradition of courtesy payments,” said Christopher Tomlinson, SRTA’s executive director, in a news release Friday.

So if you want to do something nice for the driver behind you, you’ll be allowed to once again—at least until the tolls end the week before Thanksgiving.

What do you think of the state’s initial decision to stop drivers from “paying it forward,” and its subsequent reversal of the decision?

Have you ever paid for the car behind you, or been the recipient of such a gesture? Tell us in the comments.