EZ Pass Question

[supton]

I love the new high speed lanes! Zipping through w/o slowing down... Just the ticket for rush hour!

However, I've noticed that whenever it is raining, the overhead bits flash a blue light, often. Normally I'd think it was capturing plates of people running the toll (no transponder); but it does it for > 50% of the vehicles going through, when it rains, it seems.

Any idea what it is? This is the new EZ Pass in Hooksett NH, but I suspect the technology is the same elsewhere.

 

[DBMaster]

Might be different here, but they did away with ALL the toll booths on the North Texas Tollway Authority roads several years ago. If you have a Toll Tag (same as EZ Pass) the toll is deducted from your account at a "discounted" rate. If you don't, the system takes a photo of your license plate and NTTA sends you a bill at the full "Zip Cash" price.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Might be different here, but they did away with ALL the toll booths on the North Texas Tollway Authority roads several years ago. If you have a Toll Tag (same as EZ Pass) the toll is deducted from your account at a "discounted" rate. If you don't, the system takes a photo of your license plate and NTTA sends you a bill at the full "Zip Cash" price.


Is there a fine attached?

 

[scurvy]

We've had open road tolling in Illinois for nearly a decade and I've never had a failure to read the transponder in any sort of inclement weather.

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Might be different here, but they did away with ALL the toll booths on the North Texas Tollway Authority roads several years ago. If you have a Toll Tag (same as EZ Pass) the toll is deducted from your account at a "discounted" rate. If you don't, the system takes a photo of your license plate and NTTA sends you a bill at the full "Zip Cash" price.


Is there a fine attached?


No.

Maryland has the same setup. In MD, you get a bill for the toll plus $3 administrative processing. Maryland's definition of "high speed express" is 30mph.

 

[DBMaster]

No fine attached unless you don't pay the bill. NTTA has tried some interesting approaches recently. Last year they publicized the names of the worst offenders. Now a bill is before the Texas legislature to allow blocking of annual registrations and/or impounding of vehicles. There were some people on the list who owed over $100,000. The NTTA used to attach administrative fees to each and every toll instance that had gone unpaid after a certain length of time. One problem was that the state's license plate records were not usually updated in a timely manner after someone moved so some folks simply never received their bills.

Texas hasn't raised its gasoline tax since 1991. An environment has been created to bring more people to the area at a prodigious rate. There is ZERO money allotted for construction of new public highways. So, pretty much all the newest major highways are now toll roads. Texas is not as cheap a place to live as many of you think.

 

[NMBurb02]

We have something similar here in SoCal and the nearest to my house is a toll "express lane" that runs parallel to a major freeway so you have the option of taking the toll route or rolling the dice with possible grid lock traffic, but you have to have the transponder to use those lanes (no cash option). One reason we ditched using those lanes and returned our transponder is that we would get dinged probably 25% of the time for not having the transponder and would have to pay something like $3-5 extra each time even when we did have it and it was properly mounted, the system just wouldn't pick it up. That was about three years ago and the technology has most definitely gotten better, but I bet there are still some issues, particularly in poor weather.

 

[Astro14]

I think that your supposition (blue light = flash photograph) is correct. If the pass tag isn't read, then the license plate is compared with your plate(s) on file with EZ Pass. If it matches, the EZ Pass account is charged. If it doesn't match, then the owner of the car is sent a bill and/or fine.

When using my EZ Pass tag in a new car (which hadn't been updated on my EZ Pass account), it wasn't read on 3 express tolls...and a month later, I got a big bill...which I was able to fight by pointing out that it was my car...but it was not an easy fight, it took a few iterations.

I have 4 Pass Tags on the cars, from my days of driving in NYC, and they sure are convenient...well worth the $1/month account fee...

 

[DBMaster]

Around here the some of the toll roads are just as clogged as the regular highways.

 

[NMBurb02]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
I have 4 Pass Tags on the cars, from my days of driving in NYC, and they sure are convenient...well worth the $1/month account fee...

Mine were $5/month, which is the second reason we stopped using them.

 

[supton]

Had to go look, hadn't looked in a while. Missed the bit about the $1.00/month surcharge to have the transponder. No biggie--I drive through it twice a day. Wife's car OTOH rarely goes through tolls, but again, sure is nice to have.

That said, I see they changed their rules. Or I misunderstood them when they went into effect a few years ago. I thought you had to have a transponder per vehicle, and that they would get upset if you tried to use one transponder between two cars. Looks like one can do that, as long as they are the same vehicle class, and that both vehicles are on the account. Cool.

 

[DBMaster]

No account fees here. I am currently paying around $100/month on tolls for my daily work commute. That's more than what gas costs in my Mazda3. That may sound like chump change for you guys from New York, though.

 

[supton]

Oops, re-read it, no monthly fee--that monthly fee is for a printed transaction, rather than email.

Also says it can automatically detect if I am towing a trailer, and automatically charge properly.

I think I pay around $45/month in tolls. They have the toll location in Hooksett in a good place; to evade the toll requires driving on slower roads with local traffic and lights. I should try measuring it some time again, but then again I'm sure the towns would rather that I did not clog up their road during congestion (me and anyone else avoiding the toll).

 

[SteveSRT8]

We have several toll passes. The new ones are just a printed sticker that gets powered by the radio waves in the booth as you pass. No fees, actually discounts off the regular prices.

AND NO STOPPING! I love 'em!

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: supton
Had to go look, hadn't looked in a while. Missed the bit about the $1.00/month surcharge to have the transponder. No biggie--I drive through it twice a day. Wife's car OTOH rarely goes through tolls, but again, sure is nice to have.


Oops, re-read it, no monthly fee--that monthly fee is for a printed transaction, rather than email.

Also says it can automatically detect if I am towing a trailer, and automatically charge properly.

I think I pay around $45/month in tolls. They have the toll location in Hooksett in a good place; to evade the toll requires driving on slower roads with local traffic and lights. I should try measuring it some time again, but then again I'm sure the towns would rather that I did not clog up their road during congestion (me and anyone else avoiding the toll).


Man you had me scrambling to find my E-ZPASS account info.

There was no mention of any $1 monthly transponder fee when I signed up a couple weeks ago. I was like WTH???

I got E-ZPASS for my upcoming vacation to VA so I didn't have to bring as much toll money. I don't use the highway much anymore around here but I think on the trip it will make things much easier. Tons of tolls between NH and VA.

 

[Nick R]

When I was in NJ a week or so ago for vacation, I was going back and forth between Teaneck and Somerset on the Turnpike every day. Plus one trip on the same day back to NYC, through the lincoln tunnel and back through the tunnel again. I paid like $84 in tolls over a 5 day period lol. EZ-Pass is the best thing ever lol.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
We have several toll passes. The new ones are just a printed sticker that gets powered by the radio waves in the booth as you pass...


Same here. I have one of the older plastic encased TollTags, but the ones they've been issuing for the past 2-3 years are stickers. I like the old ones better because you can take them out of one car easily to use in another. You are supposed to change the car info on the web site when you do that, which I have done when I needed to rent cars when my old Honda was in the shop.

 

[PF52]

Does anyone know - Do the various toll systems reimburse each other when their members go out of state? Illinois' tollway is not part of EZ-Pass but its transponders work in all EZ-Pass states. And vise-versa. If a motorist from NY visits Illinois, does EZ-Pass send some money to Illinois to pay for the NY guy's tolls?

I'm only wondering because in my own special way of protesting Illinois' crooked government, I have an Indiana transponder instead of an Illinois one (Indiana had its own system called I-Zoom which has since become part of EZ-Pass). The possibility of all my toll money going to Indiana instead of Illinois was very appealing to me. But who knows - maybe the states all reimburse each other? Does anyone know?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I'm certainly happy that I don't have to pay an added "toll" for roads that I've already paid for with my tax dollars.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: css9450
Does anyone know - Do the various toll systems reimburse each other when their members go out of state?

Yes, when I use my IPass in MD/VA/DE/PA/OH/IN the Illinois Tollway Authority pays the toll out as IPass & E-Z Pass have reciprocity agreements. However each state adds in a transaction fee - your IN E-Z Pass transponder means you pay slightly more in actual tolls to IL than if you had an IPass but the ITR absorbs the fee.

Indiana also charges $1/month fee for their E-Z Pass while Illinois doesn't charge a monthly fee.

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm certainly happy that I don't have to pay an added "toll" for roads that I've already paid for with my tax dollars.


If you're referring to the Illinois Tollway, it was financed using bonds and receives no state or federal money for maintenance or operation. Tax dollars are not used.