E-ZPass costs vary among states, but the device usually costs less than $20. The states with the different toll levels say the solution for travelers is easy - just buy one of their state’s transponders and use it while in their state. “Someone coming into Massachusetts doesn’t realize they will pay a higher toll if they have an E-ZPass from another state,” she said.
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“One of the issues with it, is that there is limited transparency,” said Mary Connaughton, director of government transparency at Pioneer Institute, a free market public policy research group in Boston.
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To travel the full length of the turnpike with an in-state pass costs $7.45, but with a pass from out of state, it’s $9.35. While there are sometimes signs on the toll roads listing the different tolls, the messages are generally small and hard to decipher at 65 mph.įor example, going from the western-most end of the Mass Pike to the Interstate 495 interchange toward northern New England using a Massachusetts transponder costs $3.50, but with a transponder purchased elsewhere, it’s $4.05. An E-ZPass is just one type, and it is used by 17 states, mostly in the Northeast.īut with the burgeoning number of “E-ZPass Only” roads or exits, some states came up with a new way to set different toll amounts - by transponder origin. States have long had one rate for cash and a lower one for electronic charges registered by a transponder, a small plastic device stuck to the windshield that registers tolls. They can say residents and commuters aren’t going to pay as much as someone from out of state using our facility.” It’s also a “way to make tolling more palatable for elected officials. Lower prices for in-state transponders are “an incentive to buy a transponder in a certain state,” said David Elder, transportation planner at the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, to institute all-electronic tolling like most New England states is headed for a special legislative session, according to the Hartford Courant.
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Sinclair said the rationale for the two-tiered systems is to make money from out-of-state drivers who may travel the road infrequently, don’t have time or patience to buy a transponder from the state through which they are travelling, or are simply unaware. The area where those discounts occur for their own E-ZPasses is mainly in the Northeast.” We’re not in that part of their business. “Each state provides a discount, or doesn’t provide a discount,” he said in a phone interview. Wilkins said his organization has nothing to do with setting toll rates - that’s up to individual states. In response to a query from Stateline, E-ZPass Executive Director P.J. “Welcome! Cash rate for you, buddy!” AAA officers wrote to E-ZPass officials to express dismay back in 2012, but no changes were made. “Take that, neighbors!” scoffed Robert Sinclair, spokesman for the AAA Northeast, which counts millions of drivers among its customers. Most of the time, drivers don’t even know it - raising questions about government transparency. The number of toll roads is increasing, and in many states, drivers who bought their transponders elsewhere get charged what’s called the cash rate, a higher amount they’d pay if they had to queue up and hand over bills and coins. Some 50 million Americans are expected to hit the roads this year, mostly during the summer tourism season. No problem: The transponder they bought in their home state registers the toll and deducts the amount from the account.īut what most travelers don’t know is that the charge is almost $2 more than if they had purchased the device in Massachusetts. Zipping along the Massachusetts Turnpike, unsuspecting tourists from other states encounter an electronic toll plaza. Editor's note: This story was updated to correct information about toll roads in Florida.
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