Massachusetts just keeps charging you to drive on the road, long after the construction bonds have been paid off.
After all, there are many never-do-well relitives of legistators that need good jobs at good wages. Who go out on disability after they drop the cash draw on their foot…
Now that we have “open road tolling” or some such shit here in beautiful Illinois, I find it easier to just not go anywhere that involves having to get on the toll road. Open road? I’m not sure why that involves shutting down 15 lanes and having us all merge into two so that they can serve us better, but hey - I’m no engineer. What do I know?
Sucks to be my brother, sister-in-law on husband’s side and brother-in-law on husband’s side (and all the associated relatives/hangers-on) cause they never see us anymore, but hell - it sure is easier. EZPass, my ass! Open road? Yeah. Right.
Shit, I don’t even go to WOODFIELD anymore! Way too much hassle. 
This is the worst idea in the history of human civilization.
(Woodfield…the devil’s playground…that’s what it is.)
Or, if there is no breakdown lane, what you should do (especially if driving in New Jersey) when the green light doesn’t come on because the toll basket didn’t register your quarter when it went in, is to immediately stop, put your car in park, first carefully searching to make sure there are no extra quarters available to place in the (malfunctioning) basket, then go in search of a toll employee, while cheerfully waving to the patient Jersey drivers behind you who know that problems occasionally occur and will have no objections to waiting while you resolve the situation.
That way you can avoid getting stuck for the toll and “evasion” charges, plus a surcharge from the slime-covered turds at Dollar Rent-a-Car who will try like mad to avoid refunding the penalty charge even after the N.J. Toll Authority cancels their fine, may they (Dollar) rot in hell.
That sounds like a really messed up system. As far as I know, the express pass lanes on Georgia SR-400 will key off the electronic device on your car if it is available. However, if this fails they’ll still debit your account correctly based on your license plate.
I assume that they prefer the electronic device as it is more reliable or less work. But it still works based purely on the licence plate.
Which is why I don’t understand this situation. They knew enough to track you down (obviously from your plate). Why on earth was this not enough to just simply link to your toll account and debit the appropriate amount? Is your plate not linked to your account or something? Or is MA just whacked?
This happened to me in Florida, although the fine was only $25. I wrote them a very nasty letter, calling them extortionists (if I fought this in court and lost I could get points on my license) and pointed out that I’d exited the turnpike onto I-4, and if they had a record of that, then obviously the fact that it didn’t register me entering the turnpike must indicate a problem with their sensors.
I got the check back, uncashed, along with a note that the fine was dismissed. I guess you can fight city hall!
The OP was either using the PASS in a car it wasn’t made for, or is totally freaking out before actually looking into the situation and realizing that she’s really only the hook for $2.85.
I live in NJ and I got my EZPass through Delaware. Delaware does something remarkable. If you go through an EZPass and it does not register and you have EZPass, they simply charge the Toll against your car. No fines, especially no $500 fines. That is insane. Even NJ is not that crazy. $500 is a fine completely off the scale of decency.
Telemark, could you cite that you are suppose to pull over and take care of the problem. This sounds wrong and dangerous. I think and hope you are giving bad advice.
Jim
I’m not a girl.
EZPass is a New Jersey/New York system, but it is advertised as compatible with Massachusett’s “Fast Lane” system, and I have been using this tag in this car at this toll gate with no problems for the past three years.
I just spent two hours on hold with the Massachusetts DMV (whose number was listed on the ticket I got), only to be told I had to call Fast Lane. I have been on hold with them for half an hour, and am still waiting as I type this.
This is absolutely fucking absurd.
I honestly cannot get the concept of toll booths through my head. Cannot. I have never seen one outside of movies in television in my life, and I don’t want to.
You have my sympathies, Absolute. Hope it ends well.
Jesus Christ. I just got off the phone with the State Police. I have to go to COURT to contest the ticket.
Because these incompetent, driveling extortionist morons both a) Can’t design a system that will read transponders properly, and b) Are too lazy to cross-check my license plate with the database of toll systems they operate with, I have to take time off from class and work and waste several hours of my time defending myself against their own incompetence. Or pony up the $500 fine.
Innocent until proven guilty, my ass. This is ridiculous.
Excuse a slight hijack question–
I heard rumors that in some states you can be given a speeding ticket if you pass through two successive toll gates in too short a time – the system will calculate your speed and issue a citation if you go too fast.
Does this actually happen anywhere?
I was caught when I used a transponder assigned to my car in a different vehicle of mine that wasn’t assigned in the system. I got a bill & fine in the mail. Since technically you’re only supposed to use the transponder in the registered vehicle, I figured they’d smack me for that. To my surprise they were very understanding and only charged me for the toll amount. A five minute phone call had it all sorted out, and I signed up for another transponder for the other vehicle. (but this was in Pennsylvania)
I’m sorry you’re up against such a hassle, Absolute.
I heart EZPass!
editing to answer Boyo Jim
The explanation I’ve heard is that they *could * fine people for getting from point A to point B too quickly, but then people would avoid the road/system like the plague. They don’t need EZPass to do that - they timestamp tickets on most limited access roads. Twould be a very unpopular thing to do.
If your transponder doesn’t work and you stop to pay the toll, make sure you get a receipt.
Am I the only one reading the title and having a flash back of Fifth Element with the multipass?
That blows, it is basically a form of Highway Robbery. I would try calling back again later in the day and calmly ask if there is any other way to straighten out this mistake.
I can only speak to New Jersey. When EZPass first went up in NJ, there were a few incidents of this happening. The Governor had spent a lot of time and state money getting EZPass installed and up and running and put an order out to stop issuing tickets this way as no one would sign up for EZ Pass if they continued*.
I do not know of any further incidents after the first month.
Jim
Yes, I’ve heard that to, that’s what I was referring to with the possibility that this may be a speeding ticket, or something other than just not picking up the tag. I don’t know of a system where this specificly happens, but my boyfriend once got my tag suspended for 3 months because he went thru the toll on the NY State Thruway at 60mph and the limit was something like 20mph – it was an unmanned booth, not open-road tolling. It wasn’t a big deal since I don’t use it much anymore, but if I were still commuting via toll-roads I think I’d rather have paid the $500.
I also just noticed that OP’s ticket came from the State Police – is that typical in MA? In NY-metro, EZPass violations (running the toll and such) came from EZPass themselves, AFAIK it wasn’t treated as a traffic violation. I actually have more than a few NJ EZPass violations that I never followed up on, but I know that back then the NJ collections system was a bit of a mess.
You’ve got to see this video. Good reason to slow down going through those booths.
Looks like they may have changed things since I first learned that. From the MA FastPass FAQ:
What I learned was from before the days of EZ-Pass. Back then, if you didn’t have money for the tolls we learned that you were supposed to pull over if it was easy or stay in the lane and wait for an attendant. I can’t find anything else on the NH or MA DOT pages that suggests that anymore.