The End Of The Mass. Toll Collector: 'I Enjoyed The Job ... I Hope It Enjoyed Me'

At 9:45 Friday night, the toll plazas along the Massachusetts Turnpike will no longer collect money. At 10 p.m., the state switches over to all-electronic tolling, and those tollbooths will start coming down.

That means Friday is the last evening commute when drivers will see the faces of Massachusetts toll collectors — people like 52-year-old Vincent Jordan, who isn't exactly upset to see his job eliminated.

Jordan has been a toll collector for 21 years.

"We meet nice people. We meet some bad people out here, too, you know," Jordan said, adding that he's enjoyed the variety of "attitudes" among drivers. Some motorists have given him small gifts including scratch tickets at Christmastime. A couple of times he called 911 to help drivers in distress.

"It's a great job. I love it," he said.

Jordan says he's happy he won't have to get up at 4:30 a.m. now, though. He commuted to the Framingham toll plaza from his home in Worcester for the 6 a.m. shift. He's collecting early retirement from the state, and he's looking for a new job.

Jordan shared some colorful memories from the job with WBUR's Lynn Jolicoeur, just a few hours before his last shift as a toll collector ended. Listen to their conversation atop this post.