NY Thruway EZ Pass
 

Way before NJ started using EZ Pass on the Garden State Parkway & NJ Turnpike, I signed up for EZ Pass thru the NY Thruway system for travel over the Tappan Zee Bridge and also for trips to Long Island. I get a discount on most NY toll roads. I was glad to see that the Mass Pike also accepted EZ Pass years ago, so the only tolls I had to stop and pay on my 300 mile trip to NH were in Bedford & Hooksett on the Everett. NH finally joined the modern age and now I'm happy to see the Hooksett toll is being retrofitted for high speed toll lanes as well. They are great here on the NJ toll roads, you can maintain the posted speed limit while passing thru. The NY system also provides free monthly emails with access to your account online, and I check it each month. No billing problems in all the years I've had the EZ Pass. About every 5 or 6 years I get a new transponder mailed to me and I send back the "retired" one in a prepaid return mailer sent with the new unit. For those like my parents who don't have email, a bi-monthly statement is available by snail mail, but this costs a $1 service fee. Every time I come home from NH and see the long lines waiting to pay the cash toll at the Sturbridge exit on the Mass Pike I'm really glad I have EZ Pass. I hear that exit is a real nightmare on weekends.

GH, be a pal to your parents.
 

Set up a yahoo.com email for them, you receive the email, print out the statement, and mail it to them. Cost is $.46 vs $1 per month.

You could save them $6.48 per year!!!!

You'll Be Mailed One—Sometimes Two—Bills for One Toll-Road Use...!
 

Do Florida toll stations accept E-Z Pass? :confused:

There are toll roads in Florida that have no (zero) toll stations to stop at.
:eek2:

Only SunPass works in FL. Allegedly investigating linking with EZPass. There are many toll roads which only accept SunPass, no cash.

And I will be using those roads tomorrow for my annual trek to the Lake. Yay!!!

Thank you very much. I will. And I will give up the discount too.

Sure Is!
 

Been charging for quite a while in the RTP area. Just opened 540 to Holly Springs and charging tolls.

I still have my FASTLANE account (now EZPass) and use it when I come up north from NC.

All my plates are now from NC except my daughter who still lives in MA.

I've even put rental cars on the account when I rent.

I have had NH Ez pass for years and never once had an issue


:D

No brainer
 

Easy pass user since it came to NH.Never a billing issue and I'll take the %30 discount thank you.Why wouldn't everybody that regularly passes tollbooths use it?Just looked at my past year transactions and figured about a $25 savings.That plus no looking for money and getting through the tolls way faster is a no brainer.

Let me tell you my story. Living in RI working in Boston I got the “fast lane” pass, moved to ME. So now I have ME registration with a MA fast lane using a e-z pass toll. So I get a notice in the mail that I gave been using a illegal fast lane pass along with a fine. So ill take care of this problem later. Going to the lake I got nabbed for speeding in Portland 5:00 on Friday afternoon, they canceled my registration on my vehicle! Driving an unregistered vehicle they towed it on the spot! So I get a ride with the tow truck driver we exit at Congress Street he tells me to GET OUT! Now keep in mind that I’m not in the best of moods, words were spoken and he ends up calling the cops on me for assault charges! So I get out of that situation, now I need to get hotel for the night ($100) (thank you AAA) so I can go to the registry in the morning and straighten out this mess. Waited in line at the registry they said I need to pay my fines first got a taxi to e-z pass headquarters paid the fine, ($250) back to the registry got the car reregistered ($100) got the car out of impound ($100) just about 24 hours later I’m back where I started heading to the lake.

You know what going to happen next is, e-z pass knows exactly what time you pass through the toll, and they know exactly the distance between tolls they can determine how fast you are driving form point A to point B next thing you know they will send you a speeding ticket in the mail.

...have always used a dollar bill or 4-quarters and never a problem ......what is so uneasy about using four quarters? ..... and what-o-what can I do with these left-over Old Man of the Mountain NH highway tokens that were purchased for 37 1/2-cents each back in 2006 or so?

You might as well get an EZ-Pass because in the future all-electronic, no-cash tolling will be the only way you will be able to go thru tolls.
If you don't have one they will take a picture of your license plate and send you the toll charge plus an administration fee.

Throw the old tokens in the back of your truck along with the rest of the things that you will never use.

Correct.

Interestingly, we're in FL every winter and have gone through tolls multiple times, specifically in St. Pete and Alligator Alley with our EZpass and it wasn't until this year that we realized that FL does not accept EZpass.

We've never got a ticket from Florida and we've been driving through these tolls for 4-5 years now. I finally checked our statement to confirm that there haven't been any FL charges. Suffice it to say, we pay cash now.

Still, I do wonder why we've never got the fine. Perhaps they don't bother with out of staters? They apparently do have the cameras at all tolls.

There should be a penalty for stupidity, we've just been lucky....:emb:

From the NJ EZ Pass website:

"I sometimes pull a camper or trailer with my vehicle. Can I still use my tag?

Yes. In this instance the equipment in the lane is designed to identify that your vehicle is pulling a trailer and you will be charged accordingly. However, if you think this will be a regular occurrence, you should call the Customer Service Center and have them send you a tag programmed for the vehicle classification you use most frequently. You should never use your tag in a vehicle type other than the one you initially requested (i.e. Car tag in a tractor-trailer)."

I believe there are laws in place to prevent them from being able to do this in some states.

The tokens were discontinued a few years back. They gave time for people to use them, but once the cut off date hit, they were unable to be used.

So the tokens you bought are now worthless.

I've offered
 

My father prefers to get his bills via snail mail (phone bill, car insurance, electric bill, etc.) and pay by check. I did finally get him to use automatic payment for the gas & electric bill while he's away during the summer months. Actually, if I printed out the bills for him he'd save $12.00 per year as I see them weekly and would deliver the printouts in person. :)

Not so! I gave them to my daughter and she was able to use them in the parking meters in NYC!

I was also told you can use them in arcade games!

Somebody told me they work in the machines at Funspot. I can't verify this, but I'm sure you will be able to.

That is another reason, I don't like them. I feel like they are in the car with me. Guess I must own a tin foil hat, huh?

Didn't they try this in MA?

The system works fine with trailers, done it a bunch of times and it takes the appropriate fee. Early on there was an issue where a motorcycle right behind your car would be misinterpreted as a trailer, but that was fixed pretty quickly.

I've only had two problems with ezpass, and I signed up pretty soon after it was offered in NH so that's been quite a while.

1) I drove down to MA and went through the rochester, dover pt, and hampton tolls, then did the same route on the way back. 5 of the 6 worked fine, but one of the dover pt trips I got a violation letter about. They claimed my plate was not in the ezpass database, so I got the ticket. I looked online and my plate was listed as "1234-ABC" instead of "1234 ABC", so I changed it to a space, checked the 'yes I really do have ezpass' box and mailed it back, and never heard anything about it again.

2) I was driving my mother-in-law's car...and she doesn't have ezpass...but I was thoroughly conditioned (ala Pavlov) to drive through the ezpass lane. She got a ticket in the mail a few weeks later. Not really a system problem per-se, but it's something to consider. (Yes, I paid the ticket.)

As for Florida...don't get me started. I rented a car in Orlando early this year and brought my ezpass with me...only to find it was incompatible with the system there. Luckily the attendant warned me before I found out the hard way. The rental company wanted $8/day to use their transponder (plus toll fees) which I declined.

Even though I went through cash tolls every time (see story 2 above where I learned my lesson) two months later I get hit up by the rental car company saying I ran a toll...at a cash toll...and my CC has been charged for the toll plus a $50 administrative fee to the rental company...who very likely just got charged the 75¢ for the toll by the state on their account. Completely false, smells a LOT like a scam, but...how are you going to fight it?

Ironically, the one incident I *was* worried about was after hours when there was nobody staffing the tolls, and the coin-op machine was not working. Everyone was getting the red light and the alarm bell as they threw in coins and drove through, myself included. That wasn't the one that they complained about though. Turns out the FL machines are notorious for jamming, and they figured out that they shouldn't issue tickets for times when they know the machine is not working.

Old tokens
 

I think the old tokens were 12 1/2 cents back in the day. However, there is a use for them. Several years ago, I took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese and I noticed that some of the tokens were actually turnpike tokens. They work just fine. So go to Chuck-E-Cheese, have some pizza and play some games with your old tokens.

EZPass
 

When NH made the decision to turn to EZPass the company told the legislature that they will collect more money than they have in the past because it requires less staff to collect, there will be less violators and instead of 50% token discount there will be a 33% discount.

Years later, we have the same number of token takers, collecting less money as many people are taking the back roads, and the adminstration fee to run the program is astronomical. There was a WSJ article that investigates the enormous salaries of the company's directers and managers. I think NJ tried to sue the company and for some unknown clause(s) in the contract between the state and the EZPass company it failed in court.

The only people that are happy about EZPass is the EZPass owners and direcotrs.

NO e-z pass for me
 

I don't use the e-z pass system very much. Once a year around Christmas when I drive to Mass for family gatherings. When I drive down during the month, I always take the back country roads. Being old and retired I am never in a rush. A one hour drive on the highways ends up being a 2 1/2 trip with no stress. Best way to travel.

That's really interesting. I've been going through the Hampton and Hooksett tolls for years, and if anything it seems that the traffic is getting worse. Thank goodness for EZPass and the high speed toll lanes.

Where are you getting your information that traffic through the tolls is down as a result of more people using the back roads?


Edited to add: I don't know why New Hampshire would have the same number of toll takers after the implementation of EZPass, unless their union is out-of-control strong. That just defies common sense. In Maine, the number of toll takers on the Maine Turnpike has decreased significantly since electronic tolling was put in place, resulting in a substantial savings in personnel expenses. Some of that savings was stolen by the former and now criminally convicted executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, but that's a different story.

I agree, most coming north are in such a rush to get from point A to point B the last thing they would do is take the back roads, even if it cost them a couple of bucks more.
That is why I couldn't understand why they never put in a toll both at the state line in Nashua, the big push was because it would increase traffic on the back roads.
Are you kidding me? Anyone who has driven in the Nashua area knows that getting off the highway in that area is done only as a necessity.

I hate to be Johnny Buzzkill here, but using the tokens in places where they weren't bought is stealing, plain and simple, they are worthless now and if you use them other places you might as well be holding a gun to the owner's head and taking his money, same effect...... Just saying....

Merrimack
 

Merrimack is being held hostage by the tolls. This is where they are having a hard time with toll collectors.

And the leaders in the neighboring town to the south passed a law stating it was illegal to put up a toll in Nashua. Who would have thought?

I might also add that this is where people take the back roads (to avoid the tolls in Merrimack). I'm one of them.

Having lived in Nashua and worked in Merrimack I can relate to what your saying. I thought the Bedford Rd toll was being shut down.
I used to take D W highway to and from work 90% of the time. It just makes sense and traffic wasn't that bad working 2nd shift, I was going against it.

The toll ticket you get on the MA Pike has the time printed on it. I had heard that back in the day they would issue speeding tix if you got from point A to point B too fast, as it meant you were over the speed limit. It never happened to me but that's what I heard several years ago.

I respectfully disagree with this. No one forces the people in Merrimack to use the highway.
I live in Bow. If I want to take 93 south, I can choose to get on at Exit 11 and pay the toll. I can also choose to drive a few miles farther on route 3A and get on at Exit 10 where I don't have to pay a toll.

Bypassing tolls.
 

All the years I have been commuting between the lakes Region and Nashua, I always take 3A through Bow to avoid the Hooksett tolls. Before EZPass i did not do that. After EZPass, it was getting expensive driving thru Bedford and Hooksett tolls twice a day. Sometimes I would drive 3A thru Litchfield to avoid the Bedford tolls. Driving thru Merrimac was a nightmare!

I found a number of folks commuting between Concord and Nashua following the same route.

I know of lake folks that use to drive to Concord to 393 to 106 to Gilford or 4 to 28 to Alton before EZPass. These same folks would get off the Hooksett toll to 28 to Alton. The Concord route via Rte 3A to Bow.

One nice feature is the Bow liquor store has access from 3A.

Anecdotal evidence is all well and good, but I'm not persuaded that toll revenue has gone down because more drivers are taking the back roads since EZPass became available in New Hampshire.

With the price of gas and the extra time it takes to bypass a toll, I don't see taking back roads to avoid a dollar (less with an EZPass) as a solution to toll roads.

I am on Rt 3A in Bow daily, as I live nearby. I typically get off at Exit 10 which is around 4:30PM each day. The stop light in Hooksett Village can be miserable. It usually takes 20 mins to go the 8 miles up 3A (a 5 min drive on 93). Going north on 3A from my house sometimes takes 15 mins to get to Exit 12 in the afternoon, which is a 3 mile drive, thanks to the stop light by Grappones in Bow.

End to end (Exit 10 to Exit 12) on 3A can take 20-30 mins. I would not want to sit on that road to avoid paying a $1 toll and add 10-20 mins to the drive. I only take it because I have to.

If people are taking the back roads to evade the tolls as BroadHopper claims, it doesn't seem like it's worth it. But, that's a personal choice. What I do know for sure is that since New Hampshire introduced EZPass in 2005, the toll revenue for the entire turnpike system has increased:

2005 - $65,956,309
2006 - $77,773,358
2007 - $82,318,730
2008 - $100,448,444
2009 - $104,672,894
2010 - $116,568,154
2011 - $116,749,990

I'm not sure you can link EZPass to the increase in revenue. I do find it interesting that from 2010 to 2011 the increase was much smaller than in previous years.

Some of that revenue increase would be linked to increased fares.

I think that EZPass is a part of the reason, but certainly not all of it. The numbers of vehicle transactions over the same time period don't show the same kind of growth as the toll revenue, so as SIKSUKR points out, some (maybe even most) of the revenue increase probably can be accounted for by higher tolls. I do think that EZPass has decreased the loss from toll cheats, now that cameras have been installed at the toll plazas.