A trip to Manhattan this weekend gave us the opportunity to test the integration of Virginia’s Smart Tag system with the region-wide EZ Pass. (For those of you unfamiliar with them, these are un-powered RF transponders placed in your car that are linked to a credit card and read by toll plazas, allowing one to breeze through without stopping, or even slowing down much.) A little research revealed that the transponder works perfectly well when placed in the dashboard compartment of the family Subaru. Coming back, however, when we entered the New Jersey Turnpike, the sign at the toll plaza warned us: “NO TAG READ.” Uh oh! Since we were cruising at about 30 MPH it was too late to do much except wonder what had happened. After a brief investigation, I concluded that my wife had inadvertently discovered that the tin of Altoids she had placed ON TOP of the transponder provided enough shielding to prevent the tag being read. Fortunately for us, the turnpike is a graduated-toll road, where the charge varies based on distance. So the tag is read by the entry computer, and billed by the exit computer. (Had it been a straight toll, I assume I would get a very expensive ticket in the mail in a few weeks.) Anyway, we simply used a cash exit, and paid the full-distance toll. But my question is, what would have happened if we had simply exited the Turnpike though an EZ Pass lane? Would we have been charged the maximum? Gotten a ticket? Caused the system to crash?
I live in Massachusetts which has the same system. What they do here is take a picture of your license plate when you go through if there is no read. I think that clerks enter these into the system and see if the vehicle actually has a valid transponder. If it does, they let it go, at least in the cases I have seen. If the license plate doesn’t have a transponder assigned to it, they issue a ticket.
This is based on my own experience. I went through the Fast Pass lanes accidentally in another vehicle that wasn’t assigned a transponder through habit and got a ticket in the mail. I have had several failures to read in my own vehicle which does have a transponder assigned to it and nothing ever happened. I don’t know what happens in other states or between states however.
Interesting. The transponder is my wife’s and if its registered to any vehicle at all, it would be linked to her car; alas, we were driving mine. What makes the turnpipke different, though, is the gradusted system. The toll is related to the distance you travel. When you enter the road, the computer simply notes your transponder number, then bills you based on which exit you take. I’m fairly certain there was no camera at the entry toll plaza.
Just out of curiosity, was the ticket roughly related to the toll, or is it something outrageous?
With the MD EZPass I can check my account and print out the tolls paid when I have to turn in business receipts. Virginia probably has the same feature.
In Massachusetts, it is $50. I don’t know what it is in other states but you don’t have anything to worry about. When the Fast Lanes were initially installed in Massachusetts, nothing would happen in many places and a lot of people found out that it was a fast, free way to get through the tolls. That is when they installed the cameras and started issuing tickets.
I live in Maryland. We got a new car and forgot to associate the EZPass to the license plate. We went throught one toll plaza and it didn’t read it, we got a letter asking us to pay the full standard toll of $5.00 (It would have been $2.00 on my commuter plan). A few weeks later, my wife didn’t have cash and went through the EZPass lane, thinking she would just have to pay the normal toll by mail. That time they charged us $15.00 because it was a second offense.
We have since added the new car to the EZpass.
I was headed to Stewart Airport, off Rt. 84 in N.Y. When I got off at the exit, I was day dreaming, and entered the South Bound N.Y.S. Thruway by mistake. I realized the mistake after I had passed through the EZ Pass gates. No problem, I thought, I’ll just get off and on the next exit and be on my way to the airport. 25 miles later, and still no exit in sight, I made an illegal turn at a break in the guard rail. I proceeded back 25 miles and went through the EZ Pass system once again at my exit. One month later, when the EZ Pass statement came, I had been charged $18.50 for my transgression. They KNEW what I did, based on entry and exit times, and charged me for a full round trip. Needless to say, I didn’t complain or argue the charge. :wally