<p>I remember when the EZ Pass first came out in PA and NJ. I believe they actually started mailing people speeding tickets when it was obvious by their on/off times that they were speeding. After a harsh public outcry they eliminated that process.</p>
<p>Here in Southern California there aren’t many toll roads, but they are about to roll out a new device (for $40). You hook it up like an EZ-Pass, but it will be used for carpool lanes. If you have 2+ people, you switch the device to that setting and you can drive in the carpool lanes for free. If you have 1 person you can instead pay to use the carpool lanes. The biggest issue I have is that you will have to buy the device to use the carpool lanes with multiple passengers. Also, you need to use the lanes at least 4 times a month to avoid a $3 “account maintenance” fee.</p>
<p>Unreal story, BCEagle. Decades ago, two Boston cops drove to Cape Cod to arrest a friend’s mother for an unpaid parking ticket! They drove down there at night, took her out of the house in handcuffs, much to the interest of all of the neighbors, and brought her back to a night court in Boston to be arraigned. The judged ripped them up one side and down another for arresting a 50+ year old librarian from Cape Cod and dragging her in handcuffs into a court in Boston for a parking ticket, then ordered the cops to immediately take her back to her home. Without the cuffs. I think he waived the fine, too.</p>
<p>I have a problem with a quasi public-private relationship where mistakes by the private part can get you arrested or your license revoked. It seems that there is no accountability for the private company that administers EZ-Pass.</p>
<p>EZ Pass customer service is horrid but I’d rather get the odd mis-charge (which so far I don’t think has ever happened) then wait on line at toll booths. I drive into the city too much to have to deal with that. </p>
<p>I have had my bank account double dipped once for replenishment fee but the bank reversed the charge and I didn’t have to deal with EZ Pass people.</p>
<p>I drive into the city from time to time too but there aren’t any tolls in the path that I take.</p>
<p>What amazed me was how many people complained about the service at EZ-Pass and that they apparently haven’t really done anything to rectify it - it’s nice having a monopoly.</p>
<p>Woody-We had a similar situation. When we got a letter from EZPass about non-payment of toll, there was a place to input our acct number for a misread transponder. They then debited the acct for the toll and canceled the non-payment fine. It was pretty painless to correct.</p>
<p>“In the NY/NJ/PA area, EasyPass is essential IMHO.”</p>
<p>Even if you pass through NYC just two or three times a year? In time I expect E-Z pass will be required to travel through the five boroughs. The biggest issue I see is insufficient Cash toll-takers. Traffic backs up so badly that even those with E-Z passes are held up.</p>
<p>Why do states bother with toll-booths? Gasoline taxes are far more efficient and don’t generate the pollution and waste of fuel that toll-booths do.</p>
<p>^ BC - There you go, thinking logically again. WE’VE WARNED YOU ABOUT THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR!!!</p>
<p>OK, so I did a bit of digging. $25 Plan Fee plus $21 Interior Transponder Fee plus $1.00 to $1.50 a month Administrative Fee (depending on which state you register in). Sounds like a costly way to avoid the CASH line for two trips a year.</p>
<p>My friend had a problem when her Florida SunPass toll thing was going through her toll money in nothing flat driving on toll roads. It turned out something was messed up with her transponder and when she went shot through the toll plaza stations, the system charged her the 18 wheeler truck rate like her car had 10 axles! She was being charged about $100 in tolls just to go to the shopping mall 'til she wised up to what was happening.</p>
<p>The toll booths in our area have exact change lanes so if there is a line at the cash lane, I can always just pay in cash. Fortunately the tolls are cheap enough (50 cents) to do that.</p>
<p>I can take the toll road or a local road. The speed limit on the toll road is 65. The speed limit on the local road is 40. The local road has my bank, a DCU and my gym along the way. The toll road has hills and curves requiring a lot of attention at 65 MPH. The toll road can get backed up during busy times too. I’ve been taking the local road for over two decades - it’s definitely more relaxing and I can make stops for things if I need to.</p>
<p>What I might prefer is Near Field Communications payments with my mobile phone. But I’d probably have to stop to do that.</p>
<p>BTW, we had a local toll protest here a few years ago. About 140 cars went on a slow drive on the highway and paid their tolls with pennies.</p>
<p>I hope EZ-Pass works well in NH. I just got one. Tired of driving thru the Hookset tolls with six empty EZ-Pass lanes and backups at the two cash lanes. </p>
<p>Where I would DEFINITELY want EZ-Pass is driving on the Garden State Parkway. :)</p>
<p>I didn’t have a quarter to toss in an exit toll basket once and so I just drove through without paying. I did get a ticket in the mail a few weeks later from Florida authorities with a nice photo of the rear of my car and a request for 7, 10 or maybe $12…can’t remember exact amount. I paid it.</p>
<p>Another time I pulled up to a toll basket, but I didn’t have 4 quarters I needed and was ready to shoot through without paying. However, while I was at the basket, I noticed in my rearview mirror a FHP trooper in his car who just happened to be next in line…I got out of my car, walked back to trooper and asked what should I do–he said mail in a dollar…I never did!</p>
<p>BCEagle is on to something. The private toll companies or the state authorities that operate the EZ Pass systems get away with egregious errors and foul customer service because they ARE a monopoly and most people don’t complain to the correct source when wronged.</p>
<p>When EZ Pass began in my area years ago, I was one of those folks who signed up for a transponder from an agency in another state because of reported problems with the local set up, and because it was free, unlike in my home state. That’s no longer an option for some folks because certain states have extracted promises from EZ Pass partners elsewhere to collect a registration fee from out-of-state accounts, if I recall correctly.</p>
<p>Also, in my opinion it’s a horrendous abrocation of liberty for states to suspend driver’s licenses for non-payment of tolls (or parking tickets for that matter). Let the state and localities do what we private citizens are compelled to do when a debtor doesn’t pay up; go to civil court and get a judgment. The state should not be permitted to use its power to jail citizens just to secure revenue.</p>
I think he waived the fine, too.</p>