Posted on 06/16/2017 3:53:52 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Will your E-ZPass allow you to pay a toll in a faraway state, where toll tags are named something else like SunPass or FasTrak?
The concept to do that is called "toll interoperability" and it was supposed to go nationwide last October under a federal mandate. That means is Jersey drivers could use their E-ZPass on any toll road or bridge even if it uses a different electronic toll payment system.
It would allow different toll systems communicate with each other and properly bill a driver who uses another agency's tag. The idea differs from electronic tolling which bills the vehicle owner for the toll, if they don't have a tag.
A reader who knew about the mandate asked what's happening, now that the deadline has passed.
Q: E-ZPass should be interoperable with other toll taking systems. When are they going to comply?
A: The answer is complex. There are four major regional toll collection programs in the nation, E-ZPass in the Northeast, SunPass in Florida, TxTag in Texas and FasTrak in California, and more than 65 toll agencies in the United States.
The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, a toll industry trade association, has worked on the issue since 2010 to design an electronic collection protocol that works for all agencies.
"We are currently testing three widely-used protocols to determine if any one is notably superior to another," said Bill Cramer, an IBTTA spokesman. "We hope to have a single protocol that can ... reliably provide the information that all toll operators need to process a transaction."
Testing is expected to be completed this fall, he said. IBTTA experts want to ensure using national protocols won't make a local toll collection system worse, Cramer said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Strange that they didn’t all use the same technology from day one
When you get your Federal Govt RFID chip inserted in your forehead.
I’d like to see an anonymous payment system.
It actually makes sense. Each toll agency has its own standards and its own needs. There's no reason to expect that a toll system in Florida would operate the same way as a toll system in California.
In the New York City area it was ridiculous because there were at least four different toll agencies in the region, and they didn't all use the same technology when E-ZPass was originally adopted in the 1990s. They were working on designing a regional system, and two competing technologies were under consideration. The New York State Thruway Authority got impatient and implemented their own system with one of the two, and a few years later the rest of the agencies adopted the other one. So the Thruway had to go back and retrofit theirs to match the others.
Now that’s Progressive!
Governments using advanced technology to make it easier for them and less painful for you for them to separate you from your money.
NJ.com pulled a clickbait headline.
There’s no answer to “When will you be able to use your E-ZPass nationwide?”
Here in Oklahoma we use PikPass to automatically pay our too many tolls. PikPass holders have a prepaid account with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and pay a slightly small toll than cars and trucks paying cash. Supposedly its compensation for having your money in their account and making interest off of the deposit. Usually about .20-.25 cents per length of toll. Do other states have a similar system where auto pay account holders pay a smaller toll?
I don’t trust that they will charge me correctly, so I pay cash at the toll booth.
Really? In a supposedly free market? (Likely different companies bribing different authorities differently.)
MA just went completely electronic on toll roads. E-ZPass MA residents pay slightly less, E-ZPass holders from other states pay what the toll was before it went electronic. Those without an E-ZPass get sent a bill through the mail from plate readers in the electronic toll gates. They pay much more.
Illinois does. And our I-Pass works all the way to NY on the Turnpike. It also works anywhere in Indiana, and we used it last week to cross the bridge at Louisville. I no longer know how much we are paying, actually, as we never receive a bill and only the cash rate is posted on the highway. Originally it was half off, but I don't know. We live in Wisconsin, so we only use our I-Pass when we leave the state. Wisconsin does not charge to drive on our roads.
My state of Maryland currently has EZ-Pass tolls that are usually 25 percent less than the cash tolls. For the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, EZ-Pass ($2.50) is 37.5 percent less than cash ($4.00). This is for automobiles. I don’t think that there is such a difference for trucks.
What a perfect way for the government to always track your whereabouts.
Among many if you have cell phone ect ect.
The etc. etc. includes license plate readers located on roads and highways. Big bro is watching.
Toll authorities typically charge a lower toll for the electronic tolls than for cash because it costs a lot less to collect these tolls electronically.
Cash tolls are eventually going to disappear entirely. We are seeing more and more toll facilities in the NYC region where there are no toll collectors and no toll booths.
Government tolls free market? Whoa. There’s plenty of history in other industries where settling early on with a format has advantages (Blu Ray, 1080P, 60Hz, 110VAC, etc)
Yes, NTTA and TxTag in Texas are run that way.
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