July 18th, 2008
EZ-Pass
I love EZ-Pass. We don’t travel that much where we need one but I got one anyway just to have it for when we do travel. That means that I have up to $25 sittting in my EZ-Pass not collecting interest but that is the only downside of having one. In virtually every case, having the EZ-Pass means never having more than one or two cars in front of you at toll booths. Just look at the picture… guess which lanes are EZ-Pass lanes.
I noticed something odd during our trip to Boston. Doesn’t anyone in Massachusetts use EZ-Pass? The EZ-Pass lanes were always empty but the cash lanes were backed up endlessly with cars and trucks. And why do they put the EZ-Pass line all the way to the right on the Massachusetts Pike? I’m cruising along in the left lane and then I had to shoot over to the right to get in the EZ-Pass lane. And this is the first place I have been where they name the EZ-Pass lane the way that baseball teams name their stadiums. “Keep right to use the Commerce Bank EZ-Pass Lane.”
Whatever. Anyway, the less people that have EZ-Pass the better for us smart people who have one! 
Ecki wrote,
Do they still charge a $1 a month if you don’t use your EZ-Pass that month? I think that’s what my FIL said. Sigh, we have so many appointments in Westchester, I might just have to get one.
Link | July 18th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Tom wrote,
It depends on who you get your EZ-Pass from. If you get it through the Port Authority then yes, there is a $1 monthly fee. But if you get it through the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority then there is no fee! Use this link: http://www.mta.info/bandt/ezintro.htm
Link | July 18th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Ulf wrote,
Using something like EZ-Pass is a tradeoff between convenience and privacy. If the thought of having a company you have no reason to trust is aware of wherever you go by car doesn’t bother you, then, by all means, use EZ-Pass. Having lived in MA I can tell you that folks there are privacy-conscious, so the fact that they avoid this is no surprise to me.
Link | July 27th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Dave wrote,
Don’t bother with NY/NJ/MA versions of this–all of them either charge monthly administrative fees or else they actually make you purchase the transponder.
Illinois I-pass doesn’t charge administrative fees, and the transponder deposit is totally refundable. Check out http://www.getipass.com
Link | January 25th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Tom wrote,
Sorry Dave, but the MTA version has no fees. State law prohibits them. You can check out at the MTA link from my earlier comment.
Link | January 25th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Joseph wrote,
Tom, you are wrong and Dave is right. Click on the sign up for E-Z Pass on the link you provided above and go down to Section 16 of the Terms entitled, “Schedule of Deposits/Administrative Fees.” The 8th fee down is listed as PANYNJ monthly Account service fee $1.00. The people in New York who do not pay the monthly $1 fee are people who signed up when E-Z pass first came out and are grandfathered in at no monthly account fee – anyone who signs up now in New York, doesn’t matter which agency, must pay the $1 monthly fee.
The Peace Bridge authority in Buffalo does not charge the $1 monthly fee, but they claim in their terms they will suspend your account after a certain period of time if you don’t actually use the Peace Bridge (which is the one that connects Buffalo and Niagara Falls, Canada.)
The best suggestion is what Dave said, which i myself have …the Illinois I-Pass, which runs on the E-Z Pass system. See Dave’s link above…
Link | August 23rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Tom wrote,
Joseph, you are almost correct. NY state law forbids the charging of the $1 fee to NY residents. This was done to get more occasional users of the bridges and tunnels (like me) to use EZPass. Since the Port Authority is a dual-state organization, NY state law can’t force them to do away with the fee. They would need New Jersey to also agree and NJ gets a significant amount of income from the admin fee.
Non-residents of NY get their EZPass from the Port Authority. That is why the fee is listed as PANYNJ. That is, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Since I am a NY resident, I got the MTA EZPass which has no fee. So unless you have a NY address to get your EZPass sent to, you will have to pay the $1 admin fee.
Link | October 26th, 2009 at 2:05 pm