The Boston Globe du lieu suivant : Boston, Massachusetts • 20

B2 THE BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1998 StartscmdStops THOMAS C. PALMER JR. Poor aim at the Pike's toll booths? Your miss is state's gain 00 I L. can have an impact on the schedule." By the way, the 501 express goes downtown from Brighton Center. To answer a second question from Zander: The MBTA is not planning to get fare boxes that will accept dollar bills.

There have been lots of false starts, but someday maybe in our lifetime the will install an automatic fare-collection system. Most people will use a fare card, not cash. Pit stops I ore on this later, but the state sec- Iretary of environmental affairs last week gave thumbs-up to a new 1 capacity, four-level parking garage at Route 128 station. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has hired Nestor Inc. to install video cameras along 1-195 and 1-95 in the Providence area to monitor traffic patterns.

OJ 7 'U 1 You can't get ft, Jfc i Let's have some fun with the MassPike this week. First, our friend Martha did what we all hate dropped her quarters on the ground as she went pastthe coin-basket booth at a busy time at the inbound Boston toll plaza. She opened her door and reached down to pick them up. What should she find but the ground, covered with coins. "What happens to all that money?" she asked us.

We do know that tolltakers take a very dim view of people who try to scoop up a few as they "pay" their toll. Bob Bliss, Turnpike spokesman, had an answer for Martha. "Plaza supervisors go out as part of their inspection to make sure equipment is working," he said. "They're supposed to pick up the coins and put them in the basket." So, do they, we asked. "They put them in the basket." They do? "They're supposed to put them in the basket." OK, enough investigative reporting on that issue.

Now we turn to Issue number 2. Paul has had a few problems with Fast Lane, the Pike's new automatic toll-collection system. He's not the only one. "I've almost had a couple of accidents, including last Sunday," he told us. It was over at the big toll plaza going out of Boston, in Allston.

"As I approached the Fast Lane, cars started backing up," he said. "You see the indicator that's going to be the Fast Lane and all of a sudden you see in the near future'." Yes, Bliss confirmed, two Fast Lanes are being added, one inbound, one outbound, to the two that already exist. And, clearly, not everybody is figuring out that one of those two lanes is not yet equipped to take your toll electronically. At least there, you can pay with cash. The larger problem is those who still don't get it: You can't pay cash in the lanes marked "Fast Lane." So, you're in the lane, you.

realize you blew it, and you can't back up. What do you do, just go through without paying? "Absolutely," said Bliss. He said those who miss the basket should "write out a check for whatever the amount is a couple of bucks in the tunnels, 50 cents on the extension and send it to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Office of Commuter Services, 668 South Avenue, Weston, MA 02193." He said you should write a little note including your license-plate number and saying where and when the offense took place, and if things go well no ticket will be forthcoming in the mail. State Police have been lenient so far, but Bliss noted some drivers now may be trying to deliberately avoid tolls by pleading ignorance of Fast Lane. Paul asked a State Police officer about that.

"The lieutenant said if it looks like they have money in their hands, they don't give them a ticket." But police are begin- GLOBE STAFF PHOTO THOMAS.JAMES HURST operational Fast Lane until they get close enough to read that the lane won't open until "the near future." Fast Lanes allow drivers to pay their toll electronically. A tractor-trailer truck approached a planned Fast Lane toll booth in Boston yesterday. The booth has confused many Mass. Pike commuters, who mistake It for being an FX usual, the MBTA will offer free lu subway, trolley, bus, and commuter- slrail service, including the Ride, after 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Thursday.

There will be extra subway service, running till 2:15 a.m., and more buses, and later com- muter-rail trains. Also more police, so behave. On New Year's Day, subways and commuter-rail will run on a Sunday schedule. No Hull, Boston Harbor, or Hingham commuter-boats, nor any express buses or subscription Ride service. Info 617-222-3200 or wwwjnbta.com.

The Ted Williams Tunnel is open to all traffic through the holidays, until 5 a.m. next Monday. Starting next Monday, the MBTA's CT3 bus, which runs from the Longwood medical area to Andrew station, is being extended to Logan Airport, with stops at the World Trade Center, airport terminals, and Airport station. one of the experimental routes recommended by proponents of the Urban Ring, a circumferential transit route around downtown. The bridge over Eliot Street and Adams Street in Milton is being reconstructs ed, with work on the Eliot portion first Detour in effect, and Adams is still open in both directions till at least next summer.

Big Dig Detours: The Freedom Trail pedestrian crossing under the Central Artery will be closed one night, 11 p.m. tomorrow to 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Use Hay-marketEndicott Street. And one block of State Street at Surface Artery will be closed overnight from tonight through Thursday morning, 10 p.m.-6 a.m.

We answer as many inquiries each week as space allows. Please, no phone calls. You can reach us on E-mail at startsglobe-xom. The column is also on Globe Online at Boston.com, which can be found at httpyywww.boston.com Use the keyword starts. Our mailing address is Starts Stops, P.O.

Box 2378, Boston, MA ning to make selective stops of those who treat it as the Free Lane. "The whole thing to me is there's no distinct markings," Paul said. "They should have one of these strobe lights with an arrow; You can't see it at night, or in bad weather. It's in a different place everywhere you go.v Finally, well put to rest the rumor that a Fast Lane transponder on your wind- shield authorizes use of the Ted Williams Tunnel at any time. It doesn't.

You asked. Eileen waves the checkered flag: "Route 20 Watch out. Five p.m. or so, just leaving Wayland into Weston, almost collided head-on with a deer dashing across." It's the same throughout the suburbs. Beware those wooded areas.

Sadly, one little doe was killed on Route 135 recently. We talked to Mass. Highway's Jon Car-. lisle, who has had to become sort of a wildlife specialist "I don't have the specific sites, but over the last two years we've put up approxi- -mately 90 new signs for animals moose, deer, horses, In some cases we have bear, out in the western part of the state. "We put signs up in areas where we see a high level of animal accidents or where there is a high potential," he said.

"Of course, there was a Route 128 fatality recently involving a deer. There are now moose signs on Route 2 in the Fitch-burg area. Power lines cross the road," said Carlisle. The land is cleared there, and "animals tend to take the path of least resistance." They're getting so tame that they'll munch your shrubs and stand right in the path of your car on the highway. Zander offers this for the MBTA: "I live in Brighton Center, and sometimes need to take the 57 bus to Kenmore.

"When I get on the bus it is always full, and it still makes up to 12 stops before it gets to Kenmore station. According to the sign on the bus, this is a 'limited' bus. I am not sure what definition the MBTA is using, but 12 stops in a three-mile stretch does not seem limited to me." The MBTA's Joe Pesaturo said: 'Limited' on the 57 means on inbound trips it starts at Watertown, and when it gets to Packards Corner it will not pick up between there and Kenmore." (It will let people off.) "Outbound," Pesaturo continued, "it will only stop to pick people up between Kenmore and Packards Corner. It won't let people off." He paused. "We're not going to restrain people, but you can't ring to get off." The buses on that route run every 10 minutes or less, and sometimes as much as every seven minutes, said Pesaturo.

"We have done ride checks, and there is plenty of capacity for the number of passengers during peak periods. Traffic and weather iv 'U3 77 fl.) fjp ih ri 'O 17 tlt VI -u 9T i'7 (.1 A.l K-j its Jl lis oil) ii.r; Ml irI 3 it -if'it Vis hVJ if) 2 After sixth death, officials to discuss homeless plight 9687 Sunday number Introducing the SoftLighf Laser Peel If You Like Facials, You 11 Love Laser Peels SUNDAY PAYOFFS (based on $1 bet) By Dan Scannell GLOBE CORRESPONDENT EXACT ORDER $5,893 All 4 digits $825 First or last 3 $71 Any 2 digits $7 Any 1 digit No Chemicals. No Abrasives. Exfoliation with the SoftLight Laser Peel reveals soft, younger looking skin, reduces signs of aging and sun damage, and evens skin color. Return to normal activities immediately following treatment.

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What is needed, they said, are more support programs to keep the homeless sober. "There is a shortage of beds and programs for people to bridge the first year of sobriety and maintain the skills to stay sober," said Michael Quinn, assistant supervisor of the Lemuel Shattuck Shelter in Jamaica Plain. "Some don't just need a shelter to sleep it off," Cronin said. "That's not going to necessarily make a difference in that person's life." Also, some homeless people refuse to go to shelters until late in the night. Although most area shelters take people off the streets who are intoxicated, "they don't arrive to the shelters early enough to get a bed," said Cronin.

Many choose instead to stay out drinking instead of finding a bed early and "fall asleep" outside, "she said. 1 5497 Wednesday 0578 The death of a sixth homeless person since October, despite increased services and relatively mild weather, has prompted city officials and shelter providers to meet today to figure out how to prevent more deaths. Jose Bustamante, in his 40s, was the latest victim. His body was found Dec. 23 at 3:41 a.m.

behind police headquarters in Roxbury. A medical examiner ruled that Bustamante died of alcoholism and hypothermia. Mayor Thomas M. Menino's office said yesterday there is a need to increase outreach efforts even more and provide an immediate detoxification center for those with serious substance abuse problems. This year, the number of shelter beds was increased to provide a bed for every homeless person in Boston.

In all six homeless deaths this heating season, drugs and alcohol were a contributing factor, either exacerbating a medical condition or impairing the victim's judgment, said Kelly Cronin, the city's director of the emergency shelter commission. A factor that may account for the high death toll is, ironically, the mild weather, she said. "By December homeless persons' survival instincts are usually good," Cronin said. "But they've been lulled into a sense of false security by warm 50-degree days and when the temperature drops at Tuesday Che (Slobe COUPON ruin I L.JJ WEEKEND NUMBERS AROUND NEW ENGLAND Sun. Rhode Island 8396 Saturday's Powerball 7-17-27-29-41 Powerball 33 Jackpot: $30.4 mill Sun.

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