Grooming the Public, the OTA Playbook
Written By: Whitney Mullica
Rhetoric shapes our alliances with others. Powerful people control narrative to create cooperation with their envisionment of reality. The more benign and common sense a narrative may seem, the easier it is for powerful people to keep others cooperating with the status quo.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority may portray themselves as benevolent, but they do so from a place of power. When dealing with OTA, truth is not enough. OTA has repeatedly led and persuaded Oklahomans to believe facts are contentions of perspective.
The OTA misleads the people to believe there is public input. They claim to rely on traffic models, ensure the need for progress, and promise federal and state regulations are followed, while promoting the new Plate Pay system.
The truth is there is no public input with the OTA. The community meetings they hold do not give citizens the opportunity to be heard. In fact, to speak at an OTA Board Meeting, you sign up a week in advance.
The traffic models are consistently wrong due to a variety of errors, such as axle-spacing overlap between different classes that result in consistently inaccurate numbers by misclassification and outright false negatives in AVC sites, and WIM sites have been found to be completely inaccurate due to miscalibrations and thus unusable in studies [1,2]. Whether the mistakes are legitimate or due to intentional negligence, the end-result is a pattern of multi-billion dollar projects constructed on false pretenses. Average toll revenues were less than 63% of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s projections on recent projects. For example, the Kilpatrick was projected to bring in almost $46 million in toll revenue during its first 5 years yet only managed $13.1 million, less than 29% of its projection equating to a whopping $33 million dollar difference [3].
Most people don’t know the people who build turnpikes, and develop properties, are heavily contributing to politicians who give them power to do so. Visit the state’s ethics commission website and look for yourself.
Open Records show Federal and State regulatory instruments, like the EPA, FEMA, DEQ, and the Oklahoma Water Board have no enforcement mechanisms against the OTA. They avoid water permits through memorandums of agreement between ODOT, OTA, and OWRB, ignore guidelines on flooding (so long as economic losses are at stake, not human life), and get slapped on the wrist anytime they are cited for polluting water sources. [4]
The seemingly benevolent “plate pay” is requiring the removal of toll booths and installation of plate scanning technology, both of those things cost money and strengthen the power of the OTA.
Corruption may seem like mere speculation by folks threatened to lose their homes. The OTA softens the situation with fake sincerity and references to future needs. By reframing rhetoric to make it appear unimportant to the average person, Oklahomans are led to believe this is someone else’s problem, which is simply not true. The roads can be paid off and the tolls removed.
The OTA consistently distances from powerless citizens by discussing the needs of the future, rather than acknowledging that in fact there is no real public input, the traffic models are consistently wrong, the stakeholders who will financially benefit from new turnpikes are heavily influencing politicians, there is no real enforcement of federal and state regulations, and plate pay is one more way to spend the public's money and make the powerful rich.
Oklahoma Christians seem to be experiencing amnesia. Humans are divine ordained stewards of the earth. Polluting water, disrupting wildlife, and paving the way into the future is not how to be a good steward. The OTA is in a position of power, so whatever they decide is viewed by the public as benevolent. When in fact, the OTA actions are powered by greed and malevolence.
Despite what Tim Gatz and the OTA may say, and hope Oklahomans will believe, the truth is transportation problems in Oklahoma will not be solved by the same corporatist behavior that created them.
[1] H. Refai, N. Bitar, J. Schettler and O. Al Kalaa, "THE STUDY OF VEHICLE CLASSIFICATION EQUIPMENT WITH SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE ACCURACY IN OKLAHOMA", Implementation of Research for Transportation Excellence, Oklahoma
[2] M. O. Al Kalaa, S. Rajab, H. Refai and D. Johnson, "Vehicle Classification Accuracy of AVC and WIM Sites in Oklahoma," in Conference: 2014 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV), June 2014.
[3] R. Ellis, "Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has history of inflated projections," THE OKLAHOMAN, May 2nd, 2016, accessed 6/17/2022 https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/columns/2016/05/01/oklahoma-turnpike-authority-has-history-of-inflated-projections/60676701007/
[4] TITLE 785. OKLAHOMA WATER RESOURCES BOARD; CHAPTER 55. DEVELOPMENT ON STATE OWNED OR OPERATED PROPERTY
WITHIN FLOODPLAINS AND FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR ACCREDITATION
https://www.owrb.ok.gov/rules/pdf/current/Ch55.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2d_azPTF3n7jgTxSPWw8C97VitLpukTLUPRHSAC9imQSHPJjC50weKEKY
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