EZ Pass Question

[DBMaster]

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.


That's the crux of the problem in Texas. To bring people in, which we already have too many of, they keep the number of different taxes low to nonexistent. The result is underfunded schools (near the worst teacher pay in the country) and NO funding for new highways. In the past there was barely enough money for maintenance of existing ones. Just last month, the legislature put all the highway money into the maintenance fund so there is now no money for new highway construction. Then, they let in private firms with profit motive to build the roads and charge "only the people who use them" for their costs. Funny thing is that some of that money, aside from the profit, goes toward construction of more toll roads for other areas. There goes the "only people that use them" argument.

I predict that Texas will be headed the way of Detroit in 2-3 decades. The state is horribly mismanaged by people who think that growth at all costs is a good thing.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
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.


That's the crux of the problem in Texas. To bring people in, which we already have too many of, they keep the number of different taxes low to nonexistent. The result is underfunded schools (near the worst teacher pay in the country) and NO funding for new highways. In the past there was barely enough money for maintenance of existing ones. Just last month, the legislature put all the highway money into the maintenance fund so there is now no money for new highway construction. Then, they let in private firms with profit motive to build the roads and charge "only the people who use them" for their costs. Funny thing is that some of that money, aside from the profit, goes toward construction of more toll roads for other areas. There goes the "only people that use them" argument.

I predict that Texas will be headed the way of Detroit in 2-3 decades. The state is horribly mismanaged by people who think that growth at all costs is a good thing.
SOme of the best performing high schools in the country are in Houston and Dallas.

 

[apwillard1986]

I doubt Texas will see anything like Detroit but I guess we will see. Texas has a fairly stable economy but I agree there is mismanagement, just like the other states. As to the teacher pay I have never met a teacher from anywhere that didn’t complain about being underpaid. My wife was a teacher for several years, I am not saying they don’t deserve more I am just saying it is not unique to any one place. It is hard to draw conclusions about school funding based on lower teacher pay than the rest of the nation since Texas some of the lowest cost of living in the nation as well.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: css9450
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?


I do believe they reimburse each other.

Actually Illinois is part of the E-ZPASS system. When I signed up I was shown a specific list of states E-ZPASS works in and it is pretty clear it only works there. Illinois is one of the states listed so?

http://e-zpassiag.com/about-e-zpass/where-can-i-use-it

 

[Vikas]

Over the decades, we must have made hundreds of trips from New England to Virginia and in between. I still remember having to throw dimes and then quarters at Garden State toll plaza! The same toll plaza now deducts $1.50 from my EZ-PASS account; that is some inflation!

NJ system charges $1/month maintenance fee but did give me four transponder without having to put the deposit, so I have not tried to find another state with no maintenance fee. Besides, with my luck, as soon as I make the jump, that state will start charging the fee.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI

Actually Illinois is part of the E-ZPASS system. When I signed up I was shown a specific list of states E-ZPASS works in and it is pretty clear it only works there. Illinois is one of the states listed so?


I think that just means the transponders work in all those states. Illinois residents get an I-Pass and it'll work in all EZ-Pass states, and vise-versa. Of course, there's nothing stopping an Illinois resident from getting an EZ-Pass instead.

 

[threeputtpar]

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.


Exactly. None of that toll garbage in WI, yet.....

 

[DBMaster]

Way to go, guys, for helping to make me feel a bit better about living in Texas. Mark my words, though, no place remains a "boom town" forever. Today's boom towns are tomorrow's ghettos. It's just that with technology and the growing population the transition happens a lot faster.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I still remember having to throw dimes and then quarters at Garden State toll plaza! The same toll plaza now deducts $1.50 from my EZ-PASS account; that is some inflation!


Actually they removed a lot of the GSP toll plazas to prevent obstruction in traffic flow, and as a result they combined multiple 35c tolls into one $1-ish toll.

The NJTP has gone up bad, but what is obscene are the DE toll road (which I bypass every time) and the Susquehanna River Bridge in MD.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
\
That's the crux of the problem in Texas. To bring people in, which we already have too many of, they keep the number of different taxes low to nonexistent. The result is underfunded schools (near the worst teacher pay in the country) and NO funding for new highways. In the past there was barely enough money for maintenance of existing ones. Just last month, the legislature put all the highway money into the maintenance fund so there is now no money for new highway construction. Then, they let in private firms with profit motive to build the roads and charge "only the people who use them" for their costs. Funny thing is that some of that money, aside from the profit, goes toward construction of more toll roads for other areas. There goes the "only people that use them" argument.



I was down in Dallas recently and had to watch for the toll roads. What an idiotic situation - toll roads with transponders for that system only, and no way to pay cash or even self-serve credit card. What a moronic system if one ever existed. Of course the private operator of the road wants to be able to sell their toll transponders, and rip off travelers having to "rent" them for an obscene fee at the airport, and then collect fees and penalties if people dont use the right transponder.

Listening to AM radio down there, the argument I heard was that the population was too poor/stupid/cheap to accept increase in car registration fees, so they started mandating toll roads to make up for some of the budgets. How the two exactly connect I dont entirely grasp, but DOT is DOT I guess. Still, what a stupid system. I just boycotted it completely, while I would have been more than happy to deposit my green/plastic to use the road otherwise.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI


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.


Never mind carrying change, using EZ pass, and not waiting in toll lines will save you 1/2 an hour, minimum, on the trip...soooo worth it!

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI


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.


Never mind carrying change, using EZ pass, and not waiting in toll lines will save you 1/2 an hour, minimum, on the trip...soooo worth it!


Seriously... Im cheap on a lot of things, and am willing to sink time into many things that are not worth my fully burdened hourly rate IF I were working...

But $1/month for EZP for someone who uses a toll bridge daily is more than worth it!

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2

Actually they removed a lot of the GSP toll plazas to prevent obstruction in traffic flow, and as a result they combined multiple 35c tolls into one $1-ish toll.


That's the way they do it here too... Eliminate an intermediate toll and raise the rates on either side to more than make up the difference.

Illinois did some clever maneuvering a few years ago when they went to open-road tolling. The initial plan was to promote I-Pass use by doubling the price of the regular "cash" lanes. Then someone pointed out, its illegal to charge a premium for using cash, so the response was to immediately double the rates for everyone and offer a 50% discount for using I-Pass. So its the same thing in other words. They've since had another big price increase. Tolls that were 40 cents for a very long time (30 cents when I was a kid) are now like $1.75 or so if paying cash.

 

[rjundi]

Blasting past the suckers in a long line waiting to pay the toll is well worth the $1-$5 fee IMHO. That being said my NH EZ Transponder I got for free when they started program and they have not yet charged a dime for it. In NH you get a 30% discount on tolls so even if they charge $1/month for transponder you make it up 2-3 shots with given toll.

I do remember in college not having the $0.25 sometimes to pay the toll home up north so I would drive up to toll, pretend to miss it, and then reach down to the money hopefully on the ground.

NH is genius in charging $2.00 - $7.50 cash to use I95 in NH to drive from between Maine and MA to use 15 miles. There are times the road is backed up solid for 2-3 miles across 4 lanes not as much to toll but more that much traffic passes.

My wife pays $0.70 to pass midway each way to commute to work 3 days a week.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Blasting past the suckers in a long line waiting to pay the toll is well worth the $1-$5 fee IMHO. That being said my NH EZ Transponder I got for free when they started program and they have not yet charged a dime for it. In NH you get a 30% discount on tolls so even if they charge $1/month for transponder you make it up 2-3 shots with given toll.

I do remember in college not having the $0.25 sometimes to pay the toll home up north so I would drive up to toll, pretend to miss it, and then reach down to the money hopefully on the ground.

NH is genius in charging $2.00 - $7.50 cash to use I95 in NH to drive from between Maine and MA to use 15 miles. There are times the road is backed up solid for 2-3 miles across 4 lanes not as much to toll but more that much traffic passes.

My wife pays $0.70 to pass midway each way to commute to work 3 days a week.


Cost me $8.90 for the transponder and no monthly fee when I signed up a couple weeks back for NH E-ZPASS. Better not be any $1 a month fees that are not disclosed. I alomst never use the highway here( because of what you posted about gridlock out there ). I can go 6 months+ and not use a NH toll road. I mainly got the E-ZPASS for my upcoming trip to VA and subsequent vacations.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI


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.


Never mind carrying change, using EZ pass, and not waiting in toll lines will save you 1/2 an hour, minimum, on the trip...soooo worth it!


I have made this trip countless times. My family has learned to make it at night. We leave around 10-11PM and drive through the night. Gets us through all the trouble areas when there is no real traffic. I will not make that trip during the day. Actually takes about 3 hours longer due to traffic and tie ups at the tolls.

I got E-ZPASS so I don't need to carry as much toll money on the trip. Quite expensive toll wise to go from NH too VA now.

 

[NHHEMI]

Seeing as this thread is titled E-ZPASS Question I am going to ask another one.

Has anyone ever had a person behind you in the line going through the E-ZPASS lane try and piggy back through on your toll? I had a person do it to me here( on a stretch from Dover to Hampton )where they were behind me the whole way.

They never tailgated until we hit the 2 toll plazas. Then as I was going through they were right up on my arse to the point I almost couldn't see their grille. As soon as we were through they backed off.

I didn't get any extra charges on my account but it almost seemed like that is what they were trying to do? Can it be done?

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
Susquehanna River Bridge in MD.

PM me if you know how to bypass that toll! The other one I always do. That one is highway robbery. They charge $4 each way for 4 miles of road :-(

Even with the increased gas prices, the toll between MA-VA is now pretty significant chunk of the total cost to travel. If booked in advance, air fare might be cheaper if single person is doing the trip.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
Susquehanna River Bridge in MD.

PM me if you know how to bypass that toll! The other one I always do. That one is highway robbery. They charge $4 each way for 4 miles of road :-(

Even with the increased gas prices, the toll between MA-VA is now pretty significant chunk of the total cost to travel. If booked in advance, air fare might be cheaper if single person is doing the trip.


Vikas;

If you PM me I will send you the route we use from NH to MA that avoids a lot of 95 through the cities and such.

 

[supton]

How much do you pay for extra gas avoiding tolls, and how much extra in time does it cost? Not flaming, just wondering. For years I've just driven through the tolls, since it's always been about getting there faster.

I'm toying with avoiding the toll road right now, it would save $2/day and about 10ish miles; but add 20minutes of driving, going off off Google maps. And require me to drive 3 or 4 extra 30mph towns. With my Jetta parked at the moment I haven't figured out if it would save me money or not, less city mpg vs highway mpg vs overall cost out of my pocket vs the loss of 20min/day.