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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

June 2002

Less Is More With Call Box Program

Drop in Calls Spurs Plan to Streamline Phone Network and Beef Up Other Motorist Services
Call Box From truck drivers to businessmen, and soccer moms to teenagers, more and more Bay Area travelers are carrying a cell phone today. While the boom in portable phones has made for an increased sense of safety for those who sport them, the surge also has resulted in a dramatic drop in calls made from the region's roadside call boxes. Over the past five years, the volume has declined 50 percent — from a monthly average of nearly 17,000 calls to just under 8,000 calls a month.

These trends have prompted MTC staff to recommend that a portion of the 3,500 call boxes now in service in the nine-county Bay Area be re- moved over the next several years. At the same time, major improvements would be made to the backbone network that remains. These would include upgrading the call box cellular system from analog to digital, in keeping with technological trends, as well as improving access for hearing impaired and physically disabled motorists.

The draft Five-Year Strategic and Financial Plan for the call box program presented in May to the Operations Committee of MTC's Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE) outlines strategies that would allow the now 14-year-old network to continue to fulfill its role as a safety net for motorists while meeting the changing needs of the traveling public.

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The rapid proliferation of portable cell phones has triggered a 50 percent drop in use of the Bay Area's call boxes.
Sources: MTC and Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Access Association
As upgrades are made, approximately $14 million in moneys generated from the $1 per vehicle registration fee that funds the call box program would be available for boosting other motorist-aid services. Redirecting resources would allow, for example, expansion of the Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) — the fleet of roving tow trucks that keep traffic moving by quickly responding to stalls and accidents.

Before any call boxes are removed, an in-depth analysis will be made of each call box being considered for elimination. The evaluation will consider factors such as call box spacing and usage, as well as traffic volumes, cellular signal strength and FSP service in the area. The initial review would look at the potential for increasing to 1/2 mile the spacing between the 700 call boxes that are currently 1/4 mile or less apart. About half of the call boxes installed along the shoulders of 1,100 miles of Bay Area roadways are now set at 1/4- to 1/2-mile intervals, with the rest approximately 1 mile apart. Increased spacing between call boxes would reduce maintenance and other costs.

"The downsized network would mirror the system that would be built if a new call box program were being implemented today," said Rod McMillan, MTC's manager of Bridge and Highway Operations.

While all of the call boxes in the streamlined system would be accessible to wheelchair users, MTC SAFE recognizes that in some cases the increased spacing between call boxes could be a hardship for physically disabled and elderly drivers. With this segment of the population in mind, MTC SAFE will evaluate the feasibility of providing free or low-cost portable phones that could be programmed with a special phone number to report incidents.
— Réka Goode

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