And $30 is about what I spend on groceries in week per person, so I suppose I can just give up 1/4 of my food for a month to pay for it, right? Or maybe ask the other half of the household to give up eating one day in four for a month? Granted, not everyone is as strapped for cash as I am, but that’s another reason I don’t want to pay for this - $30 is a huge expenditure on my budget, one that I will NOT be reimbursed for although my employer has happily agreed to reimburse full-price tolls (in fact, I have already received the reimbursement for the initial trip north - they’re quite efficient about that). It also makes me terrified of giving anyone access to my bank account for any reason - an accidental double-billing or whatever isn’t just an inconvenience, it could easily mean I literally don’t have money for food until it’s resolved, or can’t pay my rent on time, or don’t have money to put gas in my car so I can get to work. Maybe if the consequences for an agency screwing up on billing weren’t so steep for me and mine (meaning, if I had the resources to cover such a thing occurring) I wouldn’t be so opposed to it, but we discontinued ALL automatic bill paying to prevent such problems from occurring. Yes, that means I have to be responsible and remember to pay bills myself, but I don’t have a problem doing that. I also know exactly how much money is in my account at any time, and when that money will be leaving, and how much. It’s one way I survive on a very minimal amount of money.
Now, I am in no way opposed to those who want an I-Pass or find them convenient using them, go right ahead. I’m totally in favor of multiple options for getting the job done and if it works for you that’s fantastic. However, I am getting mighty steamed with the notion that NOT having one is somehow weird or wrong and how it’s becoming inconvenient to pay in legal tender for things. Judging from all the urging to GET AN I-PASS I saw on the tollway the agency in charge pretty much wants to force everyone into their system and screw you if don’t want to fork over X dollars and access to your bank account even if you only use their road once in a decade or two.
And finally - which I avoided mentioning until I had time to look up a cite because I was certain I’d be asked for one - the Illinois I-Pass system has a serious problem reading Indiana license plates resulting in hundreds or even thousands of dollars being abruptly billed to them. An accidental billing of that sort could easily bankrupt me.
So, if you haven’t had a problem that’s fantastic. Apparently some of my neighbors have, and it’s scary enough that no, I don’t want to give the Illinois tollway access to my bank account.