Free Republic

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...

The authorities that run San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge announced that next year, they will remove the crossing's human toll takers and replace them with electronic sensors. The switch has been sold as a triumph for efficiency and traffic flow but is potential budget disaster for tourists who now risk stumbling into fines or having to pay more money for e-pass equipment. Cities and states across the world have been moving to sensor-based tolling systems, from TxTag in Texas to E-ZPass in 14 states, without regard to the burden it places on tourists who either don't understand the system,...

(11-23) 18:07 PST -- The idea of making San Francisco the first city in the nation to combat congestion by imposing a toll on motorists who drive on the local roads is "totally doable" from an administrative standpoint, a top city transportation official deemed. But clearing the necessary political and public opinion hurdles is another matter altogether. Charging people more for anything is always a tough sell. Talk about reaching deeper into people's pockets when the economy is in the tank is even more difficult. "We're going to have to get buy-in," said Jose Luis Moscovich, executive director of the...

With little fanfare, the Bay Area Toll Authority gave the final approval today for a new FasTrak plan that will change the face of bridge approaches and alter commutes for hundreds of thousands of motorists. The plan calls for adding 10 new FasTrak lanes, including two more on the Bay Bridge, and making it possible for motorists to buy toll tags in shopping stores throughout the region. Currently, 42 percent of rush-hour motorists use the FasTrak electronic toll system to cross bridges. The goal is to reach 70 percent, officials said. "We're trying to make the case real simple: that...

DANVILLE - Midnight settled on Dinah Thompson's Danville home, and the thief padded toward her car. Shrouded in darkness, the thief pried open the Subaru's door. He found the hidden keys. He motored out of the driveway, slid down the street and disappeared into the night -- a stealthy getaway, were it not for one common commuter device: FasTrak. From the early morning hours of Sept. 22, when her car was stolen, Thompson tracked the thief by logging on to her online FasTrak account. She knew, for example, that at exactly 2:22 p.m. that day, the car thief bolted across...

WHEN FEDERAL RULES changed in August to allow California owners of high-mileage low-emitting hybrid cars -- the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and some Honda Insights -- to drive solo in high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, there was joy in hybrid land. That joy, alas, turned into outrage at how ugly the oversized puke-colored decals are. Ugly is the least of it. Here in the Bay Area, where hybrid car owners have to wend their way through two bureaucracies -- the DMV and FasTrak hell -- many hybrid owners are still waiting for the ugly puke-colored stickers. Assembly member Fran Pavley,...