E-ZPass higher rates for out-of-state tags

another article ...

So it's not new and it seems "other" states want to you get/use their pass when in their state, oh and you get to pay their yearly fee too. For instance I used to have a DRPA issued EZpass when it was free, then they started to charge a buck a month to have it. I only used the thing a few times a year so I dropped it. Got one from PA that only charges $3 a year.

My state, PA, issues an EZpass for motorcycles and gives/gave discounts to a motorcycle using one in PA. (not sure they still do) The DRPA gives/gave (not sure if they still do) a discount fare on the bridges for a motorcycle but counted my ezpass as if I was a car, so I'd have to pay cash for the discount.

As usual, government is always looking for the best way to lighten your wallet.

So, no, it's not fair, but I do know that having one is much better than not having one when the toll booths back up.

too was originally DRPA, and became NJ. I "need" it because I cross the bridges daily, so it's how I would get a $18/mo. credit.

In theory, it seems that NJ doesn't charge out of staters more, they charge everyone (incl. NJ E-ZPass) more!! When we say more, the theoretical max is the full cash rate. In some sense NJ residents should be outraged!

The next possibility is that if one were to use toll roads heavily, to have a tag from each authority. The ones not being used are in the ESD / read prevent bags, and opened in the various states. The savings would have to overcome any annual charges...

again NJ does not charge more for out of state, so maybe that changed...(they charge everyone more lol)

I just bought a transponder for all the toll roads in Mexico. It's a one time purchase of 150 pesos which is about US $ 7.50 with NO monthly or yearly charges.
The way this works you preload it at many convenient locations for your travelling on toll roads and each time you go through a toll booth it deducts the amount. In addition to that there is an APP for your smartphone. In less than 100 feet of passing through it shows the amount deducted.
It can also be used for some parking lots in Mexico City as well as the border crossing tolls.

NJ doesn't charge out of state users more than the cash price, but they only offer a discount to vehicles registered in the NJ ezpass program, at least on the NJ Turnpike. Several articles on the matter mention NJ as a state that "charges more", maybe the correct way of putting is they charge less for ezpasses issued by NJ.

Never underestimate the greed of any state to bleed all they can from visitors!

...I don't use toll roads very often. The only toll road I use on a consistent basis would be the WV Turnpike and that is only a couple of times a year. The turnpike charges $6.00 for the entire length of the turnpike and I can drive it in about an hour and a half. If I were to take US 60 to go to Roanoke, it would add another three or so hours to complete the trip. I will set my GPS to avoid toll roads whenever I enter Florida so it will route me around the various toll roads that are in the state.

git ya....

When I saw that PA is $3/yr., got curious. Because NY and NJ are $1/mo.

PA charges $35 per tag!!!!!!!!!!

So if I wanted a 2nd tag, pay them another $35 hahahahahahahaha

NY? Just request another 3, no charge. NJ? Just request another 3. No extra charge, why would a customer pay for a tag (other than lost)?

Ummm, I think you read whatever you read wrong.

According to the PA EZpass webpage (linked below) to get a "tag" there is a one time $10 deposit, refundable when you return it or waved if you choose auto replenish.

The $35 is the minimum you need to have on the account to start out and then when you reach $10 another $35 is put on the tag, this is the money you use to pay the tolls, NOT a yearly fee. When you terminate your EZPass you get your balance refunded, along with your deposit if it wasn't waved.

https://www.ezpass.csc.paturnpike.com/PovEntryPages/CreatePe...

That's a lot to keep on your transponder, $35. Don't know why they'd need to keep that much when they can refill it automatically.

HOV lanes around DC and Nova can run 30-40 bucks for single occupants to run the HOV lanes. Bridge Tolls for New York area and Turnpikes can run 15 or so bucks a day, for commuters. Your auto fill would be debiting you two three times a week.

this clearly states it costs $38 to get an add'l transponder, and you may have to provide more vehicles? That's dumb. Might as well get a NY E-ZPass and at least you'll save some money and can get add'l tags free of charge.

The way I look at it, is, it is your privilege to have me as a customer, not the other way around. Who in their right mind would be willing to pay add'l, to actually generate more revenue as a customer? If I have 4 or 8 transponders, this means I will be spending more on tolls across more vehicles. Why would I pay extra for that?

https://www.paturnpike.com/toll/personalfaq.aspx

Can I have more than one transponder on my account?

Yes. The cost to add additional transponders is $38 per transponder. You may be required to provide additional vehicles, and your replenishment amount will be increased.

We are reading it differently, the "cost" is $3 per year, the $35 is the money they deduct from for each toll paid and when your balance gets down to $10 they add more funds, you will get all money, other than the $3, back if/when you close your account.

I read NY's ezpass site and you need to put $25 on the tag so it's pretty much the same as PA, minus $10.

So tell me johnnatash4, does your $1 a month EZpass carry an available funds balance or does each and every toll paid get deducted from your bank/credit card at the time of the toll? Because the PA $35 is not a fee, it's what your tolls are paid from, your available balance.

Each tag is a different account so yes they require each to carry a balance to deduct funds to pay for the tolls, but it's still not a fee as you say, it's money you need to pay the tolls with and refundable if/when you close the account.

It's their replenish amount, you use that money to pay the tolls, when that balance gets down to $10 they replenish it again. You don't need to always keep $35 on the tag, the minimum is $10, but your first time amount is $35.

If you took the PA turnpike from the Ohio line to the NJ line the EZPass toll would be $34.07 (the cash toll would be $47.55) so in reality it's not that much.

mention I have had 4 cars and 4 tags in NJ for x years, converted from a drpa acct. There was never any extra charge in any way, shape, form, to add tags 2,3,4 (why would there be, more tags, more money spent, that's kind of how business works).

I am moving over to NY because I cannot in my mind pay $17 instead of $11.52, or $6 instead of $2.64, on two bridges that I routinely use, and the deal is the same. there is no extra charge, nor extra withholding, etc., for 4 tags, vs. 1. It's one account.

PA clearly says you must pay $38 per tag extra, and the part about adding vehicles is bizarre, as if I need to prove I have 4 cars, to get 4 tags, weird. Hey, I live in the state, but Harrisburg is wacky.

Maybe it's a misprint on the webpage, but under faq, it says to get an additional tag you pay $38. I'll never know because I'll never get it through PA as there is no benefit. Someone here might say I've got 6 tags in PA, and I never had to pay extra nor provide vehicle info, the entire faq page is all wrong, it's possible. But then they should fix the web page so it's accurate..

Yes you pay $38 and $35 goes on the tag to pay tolls with. Net cost, $3. Otherwise, if you don't fund the tag, it's useless.

The $3 is for the transponder.

Don’t neglect the discounts available to local residents. Depending on your driving habits that may determine which EZPass you want. For example the web says Tobin Memorial Bridge toll is $2.50 but if you live in the right zip code the toll is 15 cents with a Massachusetts EZPass. (Wikipedia has different rates but still a huge discount.) Guess we know where those people will get their EZPass.

^^^^^^^^

This is what I've been trying to get across, the $35 is NOT a fee, it's to pay the tolls with. Yes you have to pay it up front but it's for your toll use.

Thanks for understanding.

To further cloud the issue, that's not always the case. I have always had a NY (MTA) EZ-Pass, and was charged the $25 replenishment fee, however at one point, I was doing a bunch of commuting, with tolls both ways every day. They bumped me up to a $35 replenishment amount for a while, to avoid having to hit my account so often. I'm back down to $25 now that I don't have that commute anymore.

PA will adjust the replenish according to your usage as well, but the minimum is $35.

NJ does do something against out-of-state E-ZPass tags.

They charge them the full rate during off-peak hours. This is nowhere on the official NJ website, yet they have been doing it since 2011. I proved this by using a NY E-ZPass yesterday on the Turnpike.

There was a legislator who tried to force them to disclose this on the website, apparently unsuccessfully. That's pretty unethical imho. Because in MD and NY, the physical signage clearly states that the E-ZPass rate applies only to their own tags, and from the web, ditto in MA.

What would be fascinating is if NJ did this before NY, setting off the war. If so, they truly shot their own residents in the foot. Also interesting is that PA NY/NJ is a joint agency, yet their tags are NY tags for all of the above.

The solution is to carry a different tag for every state. Ones not being used should be in foil or an ESD bag.

Again, I have accts in NJ and NY, and no, NY doesn't charge $25 for a tag, I have 4 of them and my replenish is $25, due to low usage. My NJ is around $80, and it was at one time $120. They actually lowered it. But what difference does it really make, I earn 1.45% interest apy on my savings, it's not a big deal.

This is going to be one of those things where people go online and take what's online as fact. Neither NJ nor NY adjusts the replenishment amount, nor do they charge, for additional tags. The only way I could see otherwise is if you don't replenish with a credit card, but then again, why wouldn't you? I have heard of people being scared about giving out credit card info online, but isn't that a thing of the past?

The following info is from Wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt ...
______________________________

State
Monthly/annual fee(s)
Deposit
Minimum balance
Discounts
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New Jersey

$1 per month membership fee + $1 bimonthly for print/email statements

$10 per internal transponder (refundable) or $0 if credit or direct debit replenishment.

$10 or 25% of one's replenishment threshold, whichever is greater (account is charged a minimum replenishment amount of $25 in the first 90 days, after which the minimum replenishment amount is based on the previous three months of usage on one's account, the minimum amount being $25)

Various discounts for NJ transponders only, including an approximate 25% off-peak auto discount on the New Jersey Turnpike and lesser peak and off-peak discounts for trucks and buses. Other transponders and autos during peak period pay cash rate. No auto or bus discount on the Garden State Parkway; however, truck tolls are discounted about 5% during the off peak period on the portion that permits their access.
______________________________

New York

$1 per month PANYNJ account service fee (no fee for MTA, Thruway, or Bridge Authority accounts) + $6/yr for monthly paper statements (bimonthly statements are free)

$10 per internal transponder (refundable) or $0 if auto-replenish or pay per trip with a credit card backup

$30 minimum balance (account is charged a minimum replenishment amount of $25 or an amount equal to one's average usage in a 90‑day period, whichever is higher) or $0 minimum balance for pay per trip

At all Port Authority facilities, E‑ZPass discounts are available. At MTA Bridges and Tunnels, E-ZPass discounts for tags issued by the New York E-ZPass Customer Service Center (NY E-ZPass) range from 32% to 56%. At most facilities, NY E-ZPass tolls are $2.74 less than Tolls by Mail rates (all of its facilities are open road cashless tolling). NY E-ZPass rates are $5.48 off for a round-trip at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and a $2.09 discount at the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge and Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge. At the Henry Hudson Bridge, NY E-ZPass gives a $3.36 discount. At all New York State Thruway and New York State Bridge Authority facilities, E‑ZPass discounts apply. Discount rates apply only to customer tags issued by a New York E-ZPass Customer Service Center (discounts don't apply to out-of-state E-ZPass holders).

NY now also offers a Pay-Per-Trip option for total tolls to transact on a daily basis directly via the checking account linked per tag. It is optional (yet recommended) that a credit card be kept on file, but monthly balances are not required under this new payment option in New York.
______________________________

Pennsylvania

$3 per year/transponder, $4 per month for monthly paper statements

$10 per internal transponder (refundable) or $0 if credit or direct debit replenishment

$10 per transponder. Account is charged a minimum replenishment amount of $35 whenever the balance reaches a total value of $10 or less ($15 or less for manual replenishment accounts) per transponder. If one's account requires more than the allowed replenishments in a one-month cycle (2 times for credit cards and 3 times for ACH), the amount of replenishment will switch to average usage.

35% discount off cash rate to all E-Z Pass transponders.
______________________________

So side by side they all have a minimum balance requirement, for PA it's the $35 you mistakenly call a fee.

PA discounts all EZPasses regardless of issuing state and it's only $3 a year per tag, so in your case with 4 tags and your $1 monthly fee it's a wash, johnnatash4 and you are better off with NJ & NY considering where you travel.

My travels are all in PA with an occasional trip over a DRPA bridge or a Delaware highway so PA is by far the better deal for me.

you are really somehow obsessed with the $35 "amount." What I am saying, is that per the PA website, it costs $35 for each additional tag. "costs"

I never said this isn't credited towards tolls, merely that it appears that if you were to go up to 4 tags, you need to pay $35 up front each, whereas as far as I know, you can have 16 tags on a NY acct and it's the same. That's all.

I cross a DRPA bridge daily, which is why I need to keep a NJ acct. However, even though it has been buried, and I was never aware, NJ "does" charge out-of-staters more, since 2011. I never heard that at all because they kept it on the down low. It's not, as mentioned, even on the official NJ website.

The net net of all of this is that it's clear the way this program has panned out, is not as intended back in 1987. Well, from my observation, same as the work from home concept. One could say that there is a human factor that causes these things to fail.

you are really somehow obsessed with the $35 "amount." What I am saying, is that per the PA website, it costs $35 for each additional tag. "costs"

I never said this isn't credited towards tolls, merely that it appears that if you were to go up to 4 tags, you need to pay $35 up front each. That's all.

I cross a DRPA bridge daily, which is why I need to keep a NJ acct. However, even though it has been buried, and I was never aware, NJ "does" charge out-of-staters more, since 2011. I never heard that at all because they kept it on the down low. It's not, as mentioned, even on the official NJ website.

The net net of all of this is that it's clear the way this program has panned out, is not as intended back in 1987. Well, from my observation, same as the work from home concept. One could say that there is a human factor that causes these things to fail.

I don't know if this makes it any more clear, probably not.

My NY acct has 4 tags. The replenishment amount is $25, when the balance reaches $10. The replenishment amount would remain $25, when the balance reaches $10, and not change based on number of tags.

edit: in NYS, the max # of tags is in fact 4, same as NJ. No add'l charges, deposits, etc.

I'm surprise some automobile group like AAA has not taken this to federal court

On what basis would legal action be taken?

If taxpayers in one state pay to build and maintain a toll road why shouldn't out-of-state users be charged more than in-state users to use that toll road?

Agreed, no one is being forced to use EZPass, besides the original intention of EZ Pass was to ease congestion at some of the busiest toll areas which it has, and still does, in my area.

It sure seems that this important fact put the squelch on the discussion...

called the constitution of the united states, several years ago the state of new york treated wine coming in from outside of new york differently than locally produced wine, they were sued by liquor stores if I remember correctly. the supreme court applied the commerce clause to find in the liquor stores favor, even thought the amendment that repealed prohibition gave states complete control of alcohol in their borders.

actually that is an incorrect statement, the toll roads were built by the state issuing bonds, the bonds were paid back by the toll charge to use the roads, supposedly when the bonds were paid off, the tolls were to be removed from the roads, being the cash cow they are the states never removed the tolls.

Your logic escapes me. It follows then that all roads in all states should be charging out-of-state users a toll for the privilege of coming into their state. But wait isn't there a Federal tax on fuel that is supposed to used to maintain the transportation infrastructure, along with state taxes? If that's true then I am helping to pay for East Coast roads already, and I don't like it!

A toll is a toll and should be based on the type of vehicle, not as a money grab by politicians.

That is true of all toll roads, but as we all know a politician never lets go of funds. Here we even basically sold the turnpike toll road to a private company to maintain and collect tolls. More money every year going into state funds for some pet project, I suppose.

I think the rationale is that the in-state folks are getting a discount while out-of-state folks pay full price. The politicians do this as an incentive to get the in-state folks to vote for them.

My dad being an engineer, I remember saying as a kid that without engineers, nothing happens. He pointed out to me that the engineers play an important role say in the building of a bridge, but so do lawyers, accountants, etc.

I think the travesty of it all is how quick the public sector is, to look to taxes etc. to make up for shortfalls. I make an exception when it's a penalty, i.e. running red lights.

But why would it cost $17 to cross a bridge? And $11.52 if you have a NY E-ZPass? Or $6, v. $2.64?

Maybe it should cost everybody $17 toll by plate, and $14.50 for "all" E-ZPass? This is my sense of fairness. But, as a result of the delta, I have NY tags now.

I can't even imagine what a nightmare toll by plate must be--it's kind of like doctors' offices after the invention of HRA and HSAs. They need to triple the size of their billing function. Which is why today they are willing to haggle, with people, WHO HAVE INSURANCE. 3 yrs. ago I told my buddy, man every time my son goes to the doctor it's $120-$140. He said you don't have to pay that, just call them and tell them you want to pay maybe $70, they'll take it over the phone. I had no idea you could do the pennies on the dollar thing. He said yeah because that's better than getting $0.

"There is an inverse relationship between the size of the state traversed and the amount of toll collected."

Tiny states like Delaware and Maryland cost a small fortune to drive through on toll roads, yet go to Wyoming or Montana and you won't even find a toll both.

New York City bridges are the exception to this law.

Haven't noticed this using an EZ-PassNY transponder in NY and NJ and I'm not from NY. But it wouldn't surprise me.

Are you really suprised?!

Device that was used by Illinois I-Pass about 18 or so years ago had screen that showed amount charged when you pass toll. But in newer transponders they removed this future. Since then you don't know right away how much you actually are charged.

(edit- OK, I'm old so it seems "quick" to me!)

How quickly we forget that EZ-Pass and all of the others were implemented on the premise that it was cheaper for the states because they could eliminate some toll collector salaries, and making it quicker & easier to use a toll road would reduce bottlenecks, increase the likelihood of use thereby increasing revenue while facilitating travel in the state, thereby benefiting the local economy.

Regardless if you remember and/or agree with that, charging more (across an entire population) for out of state users because the residents pay for the roads being traveled is a position that one could argue indicates out of state users should pay less since they contribute less to deterioration & maintenance. New York city may be the exception to this premise, but that goes with the territory/proximity to the apple.

Anywhere else it clearly is what it is. An easy way to generate extra revenue now that the population is used to paying and probably just wants to get on with their life. Let's see the statistics & profit/loss statement first.

Who gets the interest on the funds held on the EZ Pass? If someone from out of state buys an EZ Pass, often they do not use their pass for a period of time. During this period of time, their funds are held in an account. Most likely this account is accumulating interest.

Here in Ohio they charge you for monthly Maintenance fee..(as they call it)

What kind of maintenance fee, they are on a Transponder if you do not use it.

So what is the point to trying to save money when you use it..

When you get charge monthly even if you do not use it.

I cancel my account and return the transponder

Perhaps, but interest rates are almost zero for commercial accounts, and commercial/government bank accounts that pay interest have all sorts of restrictions.

The real reason that the Issuers of E-ZPass accounts want a debit balance is to reduce the transaction fees. Every credit card charge has fixed and variable transaction fees. The issuers would have to pay far more in transaction fees (AND raise tolls/account fees for you) if credit cards were charged for every toll, whether $1.00, $8.00, etc. Instead they can group tolls together by maintaining a balance and replenishing once a month or less.

Interesting. I remember in New York/New Jersey that this was advertised as exactly the opposite when E-ZPass was unveiled in the 1990s....NO union toll collector jobs/salaries would be threatened due to E-ZPass, this was just a new way to increase convenience for toll payers (and make it easier to raise tolls, once carrying cash portion of the transaction was removed, of course).

Yeah.. typical "tell 'em what they want to hear; we need $$" fee/tax increase rhetoric. Depends on the locale. Here in Maryland there weren't a lot of toll collectors to worry about upsetting and the biggest issue was the bottlenecks going over the Bay Bridge getting to the beach. I imagine the assurances of toll collectors staying employed were delivered privately prior to public announcements.

Biggest side effect of EZ-Pass is that now no one bats an eye when there's a toll increase because they never see it going out of their wallet.

Every EZPASS entity has different fee structures. Many offer those who get the pass through them discounts on their roads and bridges. Some offer rebates after a set number of trips within a calendar month.

If you your EZPASS is almost always on the same road or bridges it usually pays to get the transponder from that issuing entity.

In 2011 on this forum someone posted a link to a comparison chart. The numbers and entities are way out of date now but it always seemed like a good project to work on for someone with more time on their hands than me.

http://www.jd4x4.net/EZPass/

They do that in my state of Rhode Island.

if E-ZPass can be called a consortium, they should think about whether it makes sense for people to "shop" around for tags.

Again, for me, I just cannot fork over $17 vs. $11.52, cannot do it. Then, I also need a NJ E-ZPass for a $18/mo. discount, can't give that up. So, 2 accounts, 8 tags, and ESD/foil bags.

Maybe politicians would say, look, the secretary was delighted to find her pay went up $1.50/wk and that covers her costco membership, but I cannot give up $18/mo. for nothing, nor can I pay $17 instead of $11.52.

Let's give all E-ZPass users, no matter where they have their accounts, a discounted rate. This is in the spirit of the United Nations. my .02

Yup. That would have been me, lol. That's how long I've been using the Massachusetts E-Z Pass in Maryland. The motivation was when MD started charging an initial plus a monthly fee.

Only out of date by 7 years.. was a real PIA to hunt them down as I recall, so don't look for a new one from me anytime soon.

I like to think that I helped in some small way in getting the current Governor to repeal it. (I still use the MA E-Z Pass though)

Huh. This thread makes me want to check the charges on each of my vehicles.