E-ZPass

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E-ZPass is the electronic toll collection system used on most toll bridges and toll roads in the eastern United States from Virginia to Maine, and recently extended into Illinois. All states use the same technology, allowing travelers to use the same E-ZPass tag throughout the network. Various independent systems that use the same technology have since been integrated into the E-Z Pass system. These include Fast Lane in Massachusetts, Smart Tag in Virginia, and most recently I-Pass in Illinois.

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Functionality

Each state or agency has its own billing and customer service center (CSC), and the CSCs are connected by a secure network (the "reciprocity network"). The agencies also set their own customer account policies. Areas of variation include the refundable deposit or nonrefundable charge for a tag, periodic maintenance fees, paper statement fees, the low balance threshold, and replenishment amounts. E-ZPass is usually offered as a debit account: tolls are deducted from prepayments made by the users. Users may opt to have prepayments automatically deposited when their account is low, or they may submit prepayments manually. Some agencies also allow postpaid accounts with a security deposit (which effectively renders them much like prepaid accounts with a different replenishment policy).

Several agencies offer discounted tolls to E-ZPass customers. The details vary widely, and can include general discounts for all E-ZPass users, variable pricing discounts for off-peak hours, commuter plans with minimum usage levels, flat rate plans offering unlimited use for a period of time, carpool plans for high-occupancy vehicles, and resident plans for those living near particular toll facilities. Many of these plans are only available to customers whose tags are issued by the agency that owns the toll facility in question. (Reciprocity only applies to tag acceptance, not to discounts.) The three New England turnpike authorities (Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire) restrict even their general discounts to their own respective tagholders.

E-ZPass tags are RFID transponders which communicate with equipment built into the toll collection lanes. The most common type of tag is mounted on the inside of the vehicle's windshield behind the rear-view mirror. Some vehicles have windshields that block RFID signals. For those vehicles, an externally-mountable tag is offered, typically designed to attach to the vehicle's front license plate mounting points.

Most E-ZPass lanes are converted toll lanes and must have fairly low speed limits for safety reasons (5 and 15 mph are typical). In some areas, however (typically recently built or retrofitted facilities), there is no need to slow down, as E-ZPass users utilize dedicated traffic lanes ("Express E-ZPass") outside the toll booth (examples include Delaware State Highway 1 and Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway).

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History

The notion of electronic tolling had been considered as early as the 1980s, particularly in the New York metropolitan area. The tolling agencies of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — which constitutes two-thirds of the country's $3 billion a year toll industry — sought to create a compatible electronic tolling technology that could be used on the toll roads and bridges of the three states, in an effort to reduce congestion some of the busiest roadways and toll plazas in the United States. In 1991, the E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) was created to develop an interoperable system, and involved the participation and cooperation of seven independent toll agencies — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The New Jersey Turnpike Authority, The New Jersey Highway Authority (operator of the Garden State Parkway at the time), the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York State Thruway Authority, and the South Jersey Transportation Authority (operator of the Atlantic City Expressway).

E-ZPass was first deployed on the New York State Thruway at the Spring Valley toll plaza on August 3, 1993. Over the following three and a half years, the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) installed electronic toll collection equipment, in stages, along the Thruway. By February 6, 1997, E-ZPass had been installed along the entire length of the corridor.

Meanwhile, various other agencies began work on similar electronic toll collecting facilities. This resulted in the emergence of other networks:

Originally, these systems were not interchangable with E-ZPass. However, since most of them use the same technology (or have since converted over to a compatible technology), all of them have been incorported into the E-ZPass network. Though each still retains its own brand name for its own facilities, users of the above systems can use E-ZPass and vice versa.

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E-ZPass Plus

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey offers to E-ZPass subscribers who replenish their accounts with a major credit card (i.e., American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard or VISA) the ability to pay for parking at three Port Authority airports — John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, through a program known as E-ZPass Plus. This program is also available at Albany International Airport in Albany, New York. Drivers obtain tickets as they enter the parking lots, as usual. Upon exiting the parking lot, individuals use either the "E-ZPass Plus Only" or manned lanes. Those wishing to pay using their E-ZPass accounts simply insert the ticket into the machine reader. The parking payment is debited from the prepaid E-ZPass account if the parking fee is less than $20. If it is more than $20, the amount is charged directly to the credit card used to replenish the E-ZPass account. The Port Authority reports that drivers save an average of 15 seconds by opting to pay for airport parking using E-ZPass.

In Atlantic City, New Jersey drivers can now park at the New York Avenue Garage and pay for their parking by E-ZPass Plus.

At this time, subscribers who replenish their E-ZPass accounts with cash or a check cannot participate in this program. Additionally, this service is only available to customers with New York (PANYNJ, MTA or NYS Thruway), New Jersey, Delaware (Delaware DOT, DRBA or DRJTBC) or Maryland E-ZPass accounts.

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Other Non-Toll Uses for E-ZPass

E-ZPass was tested by some McDonald's restaurants on Long Island (New York), where drive-thru customers are given the option to pay using their E-ZPass accounts. This program has ended and only tolls and parking are now supported by E-ZPass.

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List of E-ZPass Agencies

The following agencies accept E-ZPass at their toll facilities:

The following agencies are either implementing or considering the E-ZPass system:

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See Also

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External links

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/E-ZPass"