Is anyone subscribed to EZ-Pass in a different state than the one they live in?

 

Hi,

We live in Maryland, where O'Malley started charging us a $1.50/month "administrative fee" for absolutely nothing, so we canceled our EZ-pass. We use it enough that we'd like to pick one up again but only if there is no fee involved, so I've been looking at neighboring states' EZ-Pass programs.

It looks like the best deals are through DRJTBC, Peace Bridge and Virginia. I'd like to know if anyone has any experience with any of these agencies before we sign back up, though.

Seems to have been a pretty dumb move on Maryland's part though as a bunch of folks have just dumped their EZ-Pass accounts, increasing the need for paid toll-collection personnel. Let's spend lots of money on this great automated system and then do everything we can to reduce the demand for it... great idea.

Thanks!

- Phil

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Got ya

Moose135 wrote:

The NYS Legislature passed a law eliminating monthly/annual fees in 2006. If you sign up with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, there is no monthly fee, as they are responsible for the crossings in New York City, entirely within NYS. The NY State Thruway Authority also issues the EZPass, and there is no monthly/annual fee through them either, as again, it is wholly within NYS.

If you sign up with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, there is a fee, as the PA is bi-state agency, and typically ignores the laws of both states wink

Got ya. Except have a look again at the NYSTA because either they now have a fee, or it's just going to apply to the Peace Bridge (as Peace Bridge is going to use them as their service center) shock It might be the latter?

Like I said.. my head is still spinning from al of the fine print, and I need to double check a few.

--
It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

California

Wow. This thread makes me glad I live in northern California. There are no toll roads in this state. There are a few toll bridges but I live in the north state and there's no such thing here. I think the nearest toll bridge would likely be maybe 2.5 hours away at Benecia and the next nearest a good 3 hours away in San Francisco and I pretty much avoid that place like the plague. I cover the entire northern third of the state for my job and there's not a single toll to be paid anywhere.

--
GPSMAP 76CSx - nüvi 760 - nüvi 200 - GPSMAP 78S

ez pass fee

I live in MD and have a NJ EZPass. It costs me $1.00 per month.WORTH EVERY Penny. Isn't saving 15 minutes at the Bay bridge worth it?

--
Ron

The Slippery slope

If your state doesn't have 'em (tolls), you should fight against 'em, imo.

Here's the path of the slippery slope as I've seen it to be:

  1. We just can't afford ..(new road, overhaul, bridge), we must either raise taxes or make it a toll
  2. Of course it becomes a toll.
  3. Fees go up & up, people get upset
  4. Time passes, enough cash is coming in for operation (or the cash is used elsewhere), but the excess revenue is dwindling. Hey! Use the toll more..here's an easy way to pay with no hassle. (cheap/subsidized transponder & plan)
  5. Time passes, revenues dwindle again or (appetite increases?).. You must now pay for admin and/or a transponder.
  6. time passes, go to step 5 and punt
  7. Just my twisted observation & theory.

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It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

No

ronbell wrote:

I live in MD and have a NJ EZPass. It costs me $1.00 per month.WORTH EVERY Penny. Isn't saving 15 minutes at the Bay bridge worth it?

Not if I can get VA's for no fee, no deposit, same result.

Edit I just revised my list. I went to get one from VA and when you select another state on the actual app, it bounces you to that state ..

..so like I was saying, No.
Not if I can get PA's for less, with the same result mrgreen

List is at http://www.jd4x4.net/EZPass/

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It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

EZ Pass Fee

I have a Triborough one in New York and have not seen any administrative fees yet.

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Alan-Garmin c340

pquesinb wrote: Hi, We live

pquesinb wrote:

Hi,

We live in Maryland, where O'Malley started charging us a $1.50/month "administrative fee" for absolutely nothing, so we canceled our EZ-pass. We use it enough that we'd like to pick one up again but only if there is no fee involved, so I've been looking at neighboring states' EZ-Pass programs.

It looks like the best deals are through DRJTBC, Peace Bridge and Virginia. I'd like to know if anyone has any experience with any of these agencies before we sign back up, though.

Seems to have been a pretty dumb move on Maryland's part though as a bunch of folks have just dumped their EZ-Pass accounts, increasing the need for paid toll-collection personnel. Let's spend lots of money on this great automated system and then do everything we can to reduce the demand for it... great idea.

Thanks!

- Phil

--
Chuck

MD surcharge response

I have had VA for over 10 years and live in MD and FL. VA lets me keep my account but acording to the web site you must be a VA resident to establish one. Not sure if that is true.

Chuck
chh259

--
Chuck

Residents only?

chh259 wrote:

but acording to the web site you must be a VA resident to establish one. Not sure if that is true.

Chuck
chh259

Well, it IS true that the online form (if you click the spot for Virginia residents/sign-up 0nline) will default you to your state's site (at least it did for me with a MD address) once selected from the drop-down, I have not found anything in writing to that effect (VA resident only) either on the site or in the terms you need agree to. And, the mail-in form is NOT preprinted with VA as the address state, it's blank and no fine print about residency.

So, for sure it seems to be discouraged but I've yet to see the "only VA resident" text anywhere. Some of the other states are similar, but some are more "open" to outside the state online sign-up.

Of course there's no guarantee that once you sign up as out of state that they will send you a unit, or not ask for it back later. wink

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It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

Thank you very much

JD4x4 wrote:

OK, here's my comparison so far.

JD4x4: Thank you very much! That chart is fantastic.

Just to be sadistic another column could be used for the type of passes issued. Some agencies offer license plate mounted transponders while most only offer one for the windshield. Also some agencies offer a choice of white or black transponders. Feel free to shoot me.

--
Brent - DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S

Bang

brentrn wrote:
JD4x4 wrote:

OK, here's my comparison so far.

JD4x4: Thank you very much! That chart is fantastic.

Just to be sadistic another column could be used for the type of passes issued. Some agencies offer license plate mounted transponders while most only offer one for the windshield. Also some agencies offer a choice of white or black transponders. Feel free to shoot me.

You're lucky my aim is horrible.

Good point though since I've gone this far, I suppose.
And I've got a head start with NH, ME & RI (listed in the deposit column).

--
It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

Surprised

If I'm reading these posts correctly, NY is one of these least expensive.

Very surprising since NY manages to tax, fee and administrate everything else.

--
Bob: My toys: Nüvi 1390T, Droid X2, Nook Color (rooted), Motorola Xoom, Kindle 2, a Yo-Yo and a Slinky. Gotta have toys.

still profitable

rlallos wrote:

If I'm reading these posts correctly, NY is one of these least expensive.

Very surprising since NY manages to tax, fee and administrate everything else.

that implies other states maybe over-emphasize the cost of "maintaining" accounts by collecting monthly fees.

Even NY

I guess it's the one thing even NY politicians couldn't rationalize.. charging for charging to use the roads & bridges!

I think they passed legislation specifically against it. Something all of us should lobby for, imo.

--
It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

Correct

JD4x4 wrote:

I think they passed legislation specifically against it.

The New York Auto Club (a chapter of the AAA) was heavily involved in lobbying for the law banning the charges.

--
The Moose Is Loose! nuvi 760

EZ Pass

It would be nice if they made it one system with one flat fee.

why fee?

salleentn wrote:

It would be nice if they made it one system with one flat fee.

don't know why there should be a fee for keeping transponders...

in my view, almost every agency asks for certain amount of balance in your account, so, we are using EZ pass on pre-paid basis. That means, we are paying even before we use the toll road/bridge.
in addition, states save lots of money otherwise will need to hire more people in toll stations.
Not to mention it helps smooth the traffic around toll stations.
So, why discourage people to use EZ pass with a fee in addition to toll?

FASTRAK in California

If you use the transponder, you get a discount over the toll booth charge.

But is you don't regularly use the transponder, you get charged $1.50 per month for no activity.

Even though I am an infrequent user, I gladly pay the $1.50 for the privilage of using the transponder when I do use the toll roads.

--
I have seen the future and it is now!

Discount ?

dave817 wrote:

The IL iPass costs nothing extra. $10 refundable deposit and $40 initial charge. When it gets down to $10, they recharge it with $40 from your credit card.

Using the iPass in IL is a 50% discount over paying cash tolls.

I've used the iPass in IN and OH without a hitch, but no discounted tolls there.

Regarding the discount...this is a quote from another site: 2-axle passenger vehicles with I-PASS will enjoy the same discount as i-Zoom users when rates on the Indiana Toll Road increased April 1, 2008.

What does that mean as far as the discount? Are they saying i-Zoom users get a discount and E-ZPass users don't? I'm just curious because we are planning a trip to Gettysburg this fall and the last time I traveled east was 2001. One other question, do the IN, OH, and PA systems have the equivalent of the Illinois open road tolling?

--
Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

PA Pike

Don B wrote:

One other question, do the IN, OH, and PA systems have the equivalent of the Illinois open road tolling?

I'm not certain about the others but the PA Pike is get a "token" when it reads your pass when you enter and then the toll is deducted when you leave the pike. There are no toll plazas along the route. There are special lanes for pass holders, but very few are high speed.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

Two kinds of transponder discounts

Don B wrote:

Are they saying i-Zoom users get a discount and E-ZPass users don't?

My experience is that there are two kinds of discounts to transponder holders in the EZ-PASS system. The first is a discount for all transponder holders. Mine in from NJ but I have gotten this discount elsewhere. These discounts seem to be getting few and far between. Some are only for transponder use on non-rush hours or late night hours.

The second is for commuters. Some systems have discount programs if you use it a set amount of times each month or travel with a carpool. You generally have to sign up for these programs in advance.

If there is a transponder discount then you will get it if it is the right time of day. If for some reason they don't give you discount you're not likely to be out much money anyway as the discounts are not that large. (e.g. 80 cents vs 40 cents in IL).

--
Brent - DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S

Is anyone subscribed to EZ-Pass in a different state than the on

I now know another reason why I left Chicago and moved to Tucson.

NY E-ZPass

saxmaniac wrote:

I have a NY Ez-pass and live in MA. I got it years ago when NY had no service charge, and MA had a transponder deposit and haven't bothered to change it.

You get a bridge discount which we use a few times per year, but it probably doesn't offset the service charge these days.

The New York transponders issued by NY Customer Service Center (which handles the Thruway, MTA, and now Peace Bridge) do not have a service charge.

You probably have a Port Authority transponder, which *DOES* have a monthly service charge. These are also issued by the NY Service Center and are what you get if you not have a NY mailing address.

E-Z Pass Express

dave817 wrote:

Open Road Tollways don't have toll booths that everyone needs to pass. You don't even have to slow down on the IL toll roads with the iPass. But if a transponder fails to register, you are subject to a $100 ticket, unless your plates are registered with the state.

E-ZPass calls this E-ZPass express. It is available in certain areas in New Jersey (especially the GS Parkway), Delaware (Rt 1 C&D Canal, and now I-95), and Pennsylvania. It may be up and running in NH (I-95) as well.

In theory you should be good if your transponder does not read and you have your license plate registered with whoever issued your transponder, but in practice there may be significantly more hassle getting everything straightened out if your issuer is different than customer service center for the agency operating the toll booth.

I live in NC but have a NY E-Z Pass

I moved to NC 7 years ago and took my E-Z Pass with me. I have had no problem using it. NY had a fee for a while but it was found against NY laws and was removed. I only go back to NY on occasion but it always works. It also provides a discount on any tunnels and bridges between NY and NJ.

I certainly don't understand a state charging for something that reduces the number of bodies needed to collect tolls and which reduces traffic jams. I thought the tolls were to pay for these services.

--
Nuvi 350 - North Carolina - I'm not a native Southerner but I got here as fast as I could!

New York E-ZPass Accounts and Transponders

Moose135 wrote:

The NYS Legislature passed a law eliminating monthly/annual fees in 2006. If you sign up with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, there is no monthly fee, as they are responsible for the crossings in New York City, entirely within NYS. The NY State Thruway Authority also issues the EZPass, and there is no monthly/annual fee through them either, as again, it is wholly within NYS.

If you sign up with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, there is a fee, as the PA is bi-state agency, and typically ignores the laws of both states wink

That is correct. However NY Thruway, MTA/TBTA, and Port Authority of NY/NJ, (and now Peace Bridge), are all issued by the NY Customer Service Center. Which transponder you receive depends on where you live. If you live in Long Island or NYC you receive a MTA/TBTA owned transponder (no fee). If you live in upstate NY state, you receive a NY Thruway owned transponder (no fee). If you live outside of of New York state, you receive a Port Authority NY/NJ transponder (FEE!). Now that Peace Bridge is joining the NY Customer Service Center, I'm not sure how they will break that down, since the Buffalo area is near both the Peace Bridge and the Thruway. Perhaps all new accounts from Ontario will receive the Peace Bridge transponder. We'll find out on Monday smile

California?

thrak wrote:

Wow. This thread makes me glad I live in northern California. There are no toll roads in this state. There are a few toll bridges but I live in the north state and there's no such thing here. I think the nearest toll bridge would likely be maybe 2.5 hours away at Benecia and the next nearest a good 3 hours away in San Francisco and I pretty much avoid that place like the plague. I cover the entire northern third of the state for my job and there's not a single toll to be paid anywhere.

California is such a great deal and cheap to live in smile :) Actually California makes the most expensive toll road seems cheap. California highway and bridge tolls may be paid with the FasTrak system. It is not operationally nor technically compatible with E-ZPass.

E-ZPass is the *only* electronic toll payment system that has crossed state lines.

Is anyone subscribed to EZ-Pass in a different state than the on

Why did not everyone rebel on taking away the freedom of the what used to be open roads. We are now a country of , by and for big business. We paid for these roads with our taxes and they can be maintained with cheap prison labor.

ok

I am a OTR Driver I love my EZ-Pass grate for all tolls and scalls in all the lower 48 states

--
Southern CA Temp 76 and Sunny. Running around with my Nuvi 465T. Getting lost around the country and loving it.

Not necessarily true

triliby wrote:

Why did not everyone rebel on taking away the freedom of the what used to be open roads. We are now a country of , by and for big business. We paid for these roads with our taxes and they can be maintained with cheap prison labor.

I can think of several "toll roads" that were not paid for thru taxes.

NJ Turnpike and Mass Turnpike are 2 that come to mind - a little research would probably find more for me.
I'm sure other readers will probably list more !

--
MrKenFL- "Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." NUVI 260, Nuvi 1490LMT & Nuvi 2595LMT all with 2014.4 maps !

Used to be open roads? No.

triliby wrote:

Why did not everyone rebel on taking away the freedom of the what used to be open roads. We are now a country of , by and for big business. We paid for these roads with our taxes and they can be maintained with cheap prison labor.

Not sure what roads you are talking about, can you explain which roads "used to be open roads?" Almost all toll roads today were originally funded by tolls.

big business bashing

triliby wrote:

Why did not everyone rebel on taking away the freedom of the what used to be open roads. We are now a country of , by and for big business. We paid for these roads with our taxes and they can be maintained with cheap prison labor.

What does "big business" has to do with a road being toll?

--
Garmin 38 - Magellan Gold - Garmin Yellow eTrex - Nuvi 260 - Nuvi 2460LMT - Google Nexus 7 - Toyota Entune NAV

Toll roads are older than the USA

triliby wrote:

Why did not everyone rebel on taking away the freedom of the what used to be open roads. We are now a country of , by and for big business. We paid for these roads with our taxes and they can be maintained with cheap prison labor.

Here in Pennsylvania we have many historic roads called Pikes. They were built in the 18th and 19th Century with private funds and functioned as toll roads. Users were charged for walking or riding on the pike. Here's some trivia: Ever heard of Toll House cookies? The name comes from the toll house where you were charged for using the road. They often were taverns and rooming houses as well for travelers passing through.

It seems that charging for road use is as American as Toll House Cookies.

--
Brent - DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S

I love my I-pass(Illinois).

I love my I-pass(Illinois). I have traveled from Chicago to New Jersey twice and I love NOT waiting in the long lines to pay with cash. I wish they would finally implement the "national" version so we can travel the entire USA with one unit.

oops

oops

--
Nüvi 1350 & 57 / Drive 50 & 60

EZ pass info

Here is the scoop on all the EZ passes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ez_pass

--
Nüvi 1350 & 57 / Drive 50 & 60

Illinois I-Pass

spokybob wrote:

My sis loans her I-Pass to anyone driving over to Chicago. She has to add the vehicle to her account before we go. Does the toll booth camera verify the info for each transaction? Just wondering?

Yes they do. It takes a while. My son and daughter who don't live with us went to Pittsburgh. A few weeks later we get a notice in the mail (my wife & daughter bought her car way back when, so of course it came to my wife), I called to see what was up. It seems that my son had my daughter drive in her car & he used his EZ Pass in her car but did not add her. It was suppose to be a $ 25.00 fine but they told me if he called & explained it she would just have to pay the regular toll.
They know better now. It is so easy to add someone on line.

--
Nüvi 1350 & 57 / Drive 50 & 60

Great info!

Wow, I hadn't signed on in a while and was amazed at the number of replies, some great info here.

JD4x4:
The Wikipedia link was the only info I had seen until I started looking into the NY EZ Pass signup. The fine print and handing over to other agencies made my head spin as well. Nice job putting together a list, thanks for doing that. Looking at your list and the Wikipedia list together, perhaps Mass. would be a good choice.

I'll have to dig into this some more but I'll certainly let everyone know which one I choose and how it works out. If any recurring fees show up for the transponder then they are getting it back, I'm not paying for the privilege of paying!

- Phil

Is anyone subscribed to EZ-Pass in a different state than the on

This will tell you what age bracket I'm in. Toll roads were built with taxes mostly and were tollroads only to pay off the rest and then were supposed to be incorporated into the Interstate system and free.

PA EZ Pass

An initial payment of $35 per transponder plus a $6 annual fee is required to open your account.

(PA)

More reason to get EZ-PASS in PA

In PA only cash customers will pay the toll hike that starts in 2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20110722_Cash...

--
Brent - DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S

that's a pretty broad statement

triliby wrote:

This will tell you what age bracket I'm in. Toll roads were built with taxes mostly and were tollroads only to pay off the rest and then were supposed to be incorporated into the Interstate system and free.

That's a pretty broad statement to make without being to cite any references. A great many toll roads predate the Interstate system using the PA Pike as only one example. In other areas existing toll roads were upgraded to the construction requirements for Interstate highways and the interstate was then an added designation. I believe the NJ Turnpike is an example as it has been around since the 1930s or even before.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

No charge for EZ Pass in New York

I also live in MD and dumped their EZ pass when the monthly fee was instituted. I got mine through Peace Bridge which recently transferred all of their accounts to the New York EZPass Service Center. But, there's still no monthly fee and you can apply from out of state. My daughter, who also lives in MD, applied 2 weeks ago to NY and got hers with no problem.

Switch to NY.

Red

I hope it stays that way!

raardvark wrote:

I also live in MD and dumped their EZ pass when the monthly fee was instituted. I got mine through Peace Bridge which recently transferred all of their accounts to the New York EZPass Service Center. But, there's still no monthly fee and you can apply from out of state. My daughter, who also lives in MD, applied 2 weeks ago to NY and got hers with no problem.

Switch to NY.

Red

Thanks for the info. I'm concerned that you may start seeing the fee within a few weeks once they get everything "sorted out". Hopefully that won't be the case though.

- Phil

not a true statement

triliby wrote:

This will tell you what age bracket I'm in. Toll roads were built with taxes mostly and were tollroads only to pay off the rest and then were supposed to be incorporated into the Interstate system and free.

state were prohibited by federal law from using federal funds for toll-roads, Clinton signed a bill in 1995 that changed that somewhat, but no federal funds were used to build the NYS Thruway, or the Ohio turnpike, bonds for both roads have been paid off for a couple of decades but the states have found the tolls to be a cash cow and don't want to loose it. Ed Rendell when he was governor of PA made a formal request to the feds to turn I-80 in PA into a Toll road.

Just to add to the who's

Just to add to the who's using what conversation:

When I got an EZ-Pass a few years back (I'm in Georgia) the best / easiest / no hassle deal I got was with Delaware. I think it was $25 to setup the account + $25 deposit on the transponder.

I live in Georgia and did it all online without any issues.

As I remember it when I was looking into it, Maine had a no-fee deal but they wanted you to be in-state or using their services a lot. I think I remember the Peace Bridge having some similar restriction. I don't know if they'd follow through with it, though.

Other states either wanted you to be local or had monthly or yearly fees.

This was a few years ago so some of it may have changed. Just FYI.

I did it so that when I travel up North I don't have to keep up with always having change on me plus it allows me to fly through the toll booth areas. I also have a sticker for Florida (SunPass) and Georgia (PeachPass now) although I much prefer their sticker approach over the large box of EZPass.

I-Pass

brentrn wrote:

On this Wikipedia page is a chart listing fees:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ZPass

I don't know how accurate or complete it is. For example, I tried to get a transponder in Delaware and was told I needed to be a resident. I don't know if other agencies have such limitations.

The minimum balance for I-Pass is wrong, It's been quite awhile since I recharged mine, but if I remember right they want you to recharge it when it gets down around $10.00. Maybe they are calling it minimum balance because when you do recharge it, it's another $40.00.

As far as resident limitations, I live in Wisconsin so I know you don't have to be a resident to get an I-Pass

--
Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

I question the need

Having had I-Pass in Illinois for more than a decade, I actually question the need for transponders any more. I noticed on my online statement that shows each and every toll booth you pass through that some of the entries had "VTOLL" as the transaction code. That means that the transponder did not work and they did photo recognition on my license plate to charge the toll. Since photo recognition techniques are so common today with red light cameras for example, why bother with the transponder system any more?

Mass

I live in Ohio, but have my from Mass - where there is NO fee. Works great - only pay for what you use, when you use it.

Go to masspike.gov ... When it forwards you to the EZPass website, indicate your state is MASS. Once you're on the Mass site, enter your correct state for registration. You'll get a FREE EZPass with no monthly fees!

--
Cleveland, OH Nuvi 780

Fast Lane?

drtrask wrote:

I live in Ohio, but have my from Mass - where there is NO fee. Works great - only pay for what you use, when you use it.

Go to masspike.gov ... When it forwards you to the EZPass website, indicate your state is MASS. Once you're on the Mass site, enter your correct state for registration. You'll get a FREE EZPass with no monthly fees!

Awesome info... looks like that's the Fast Lane program, is that correct? Apparently Fast Lane is accepted wherever EZ-Pass is accepted so that works for us.

Also, masspike.gov appears to be invalid - looks like the correct address is massdot.state.ma.us.

- Phil

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