PA Turnpike: Going EZ Pass Only?

[cmkeller]

Little Nemo:

Are you sure it’s not just a situation where you haven’t been caught doing it?

I guess that’s what has happened. I never even gave it a second thought, I couldn’t imagine they’d have a problem with it. But I guess it’s technically not allowed.

[Mama_Zappa]

@Alley_Dweller

Personally, I think electronic tolling is wonderful, except that it screws over anyone who is not a regular commuter on the roads in question. And, frankly, it looks like the toll road administrators don’t care.

Florida, which has a very large tourist industry, has converted to the all-electronic (no toll takers) model on many of their roads.

This has provided many car rental companies with another excuse to fee-gouge their customers. Almost every rental car is registered with SunPass (the Florida version of E-Z Pass) whether the customer requests it or not. Different rental companies have different policies on how to bill their customers. (And these policies change from time to time.)…

OUCH!!!

We visit the in-laws every year, down near West Palm Beach, and of course the Florida’s Turnpike is the best way to go for the last couple hours of the drive. They have the ticket-based tolls on that stretch. But a few miles further south, it becomes transponder only.

Last year, we actually used the transponder-only bit; we borrowed the in-laws’ transponder for those jaunts. We considered actually purchasing a Sun Pass ourselves - but you do have to actually buy it, not rent it. And the kind that you can move from car to car costs more to buy (they actually have a sticker-like version - I guess if you get a broken windshield you’re screwed).

Naturally, the system is not compatible with EZ-Pass.

All in all I’m all for transponders, but you shouldn’t have to have a carful of them, and there should be a reasonable alternative for rentals etc.

Oooh - EZ-Pass, you don’t have to purchase. But they’ve now instituted a monthly fee to have the damn thing. We’re grandfathered… for now… but if we ever need to replace it, too bad.

[Mama_Zappa]

@Little_Nemo

I checked on the two states I do the most traveling in: New York and Texas. The Texas EZ Pass website clearly states an EZ Pass is only good for one vehicle. The New York website doesn’t directly address this issue. But it does say that the tag has to be attached to the vehicle and that the vehicle has to be registered with the tag. From this I assumed it was a “one tag - one vehicle” program.

So I’m surprised to see you can use it in borrowed vehicles. Are you sure it’s not just a situation where you haven’t been caught doing it?

We loaned our transponder to friends who had to make a sudden trip, a few years ago - and had no trouble. We did log in and register their car before they left.