Best E-Z Pass state?

[rpm]

I ride through the Northeast 3-4 times per year and am considering an E-ZPass. I live in GA, so I could get one from any of 15 states. DE looks good (no ongoing fees), but is there a better state?

Do you have to mount the device on your screen, just keep it in your pocket or tank bag, or waive it in the tollway?

 

[Teehaml]

I don't know how the fee set up is in other states but in NJ my EZ Pass account is attached to a credit card or checking account. Start with a $25 balance in account. When balance hits $10 another $25 is automatically withdrawn. Ride rinse repeat. I mount mine to my wind screen low center over brace although there are no mounting requirements as long as it works. It has also worked in my jacket pocket. I haven't tried the tank bag.

 

[TomInPA]

PA is $3.00 per year service fee and discounts PA turnpike tolls. Like MD, the deposit is applied against tolls. I can mount it at the base of the windshield. or in the tank bag, It should work from the left compartment or top case, but I have not done that. Note the PA pass is motorcycle specific (weatherproof) and the tolls are lower than cars.

EZ Pass is quickly becoming the best option for the Northeast, and a federal mandate requires all toll transponders to work on every system by Fall 2016. Choose wisely because next year the system will work everywhere a toll is collected.

Anyone paying cash at toll booths is a maroon. It takes time, costs more money and ultimately, cash will not be accepted. Get used to it and get a transponder.

 

[Bustanut joker]

You're right about the northeast Tom.. Those fuks charge you to pull outa your driveway.

I used to bitch about the tolls in the windy. They don't compare.

 

[blassoff]

Naw Baar....we charge YOU to pull outta the driveway. TGIF....

 

[Bustanut joker]

You know that's right.. I spent 10 bucks before I got 6 miles from yer place.

Every stop sign somebody was asking for a buck before I could pass through.

 

[blassoff]

But the gps was free. Couldn't believe you asked me "now what's that gonna cost me". Hope it helped. Hell, hope it worked!

 

[Uncle Hud]

rpm: You probably already know this, but Georgia's Peach Pass in accepted in GA, FL, and NC only. Modern toll tags are supposed to be mounted on the windshield, but should also work in a tank bag or in a pocket on your chest or sleeve -- they're RFID, so don't cover them with anything metallic.

There has been a big push over the past few years to get all US toll collectors to exchange information and tolling charges. The obstacles are political and "turf related" -- mostly by the toll tag manufacturers and private-company toll system providers, not the states or state DOTs.

Just a guess, but I'd think DE and NH would be your best candidates for inexpensive EZPass programs, if only because of those states' reputations for independent thinking.

 

[ionbeam]

I would say to go with Ma or NH EZ-Pass with a lean toward NH. Remember to put all your vehicle license plates on your account in case you want to toss it on another vehicle. If you buy a new to you vehicle and get new plates remember to put the new plates on your account or it could take more than a year to straighten out and could cost a lot of money, DAMHIK. I changed my FJR's plate from a DMV issue number to a vanity plate and forgot to tell EZ-Pass

and that also took over a year to sort out.

Be aware that there are active toll tags and passive toll tags. The FL SunPass uses a passive RFID which will soon be accepted in GA & NC (if not already). Mounting a passive SunPass is tricky, a car SunPass is made to work with a glass windshield and does not work with plastic. The EZ-Pass is an active toll tag with a battery that has an anticipated life of 10 years. Recently NH sent mail to the early EZ-Pass adapters telling them that the batteries will be dying soon and asked them to swap the passes for new units. They failed to realize that hundreds of thousands would be turned in over just a few days and created a massive cluster phuck.

I'm a big fan of the new Open Road Tolling

that is now available in some locations in New England.

 

[Steel_Gin]

Getting one from DE would cover you for many states in the northeast. Make sure you have it in a spot it can be read reliably. People say they can read your plate if the transponder doesn't get read, from first hand experience no they don't. (I have added nothing that would block the view of the plate, the back of my FJR is stock.) I thought that for the first month I had it and noticed two or three times a week it wouldn't read getting on or off the thruway. I had it strapped to my upper arm facing up. When I got the statement at the end of the month I got nail for the max toll each time it happened. It took six months and talking to five different people to get refunded, customer service there is complete garbage. The only person that would do anything was a manager. The kicker was when she pulled up my account to see who I had talked to about getting a refund there was no record that I even called.

Now the transponder is on my left forearm, I hold my arm straight out when I go through the toll and in two years it has not read only one time which was earlier this season. It only took a month to get a refund that time..............

 

[TomInPA]

I'm going to repeat this because I'm not sure everyone is on-board. Motorcycles pay less. If you use the same transponder you get for your car, you don't get the discounted tolls. Using a motorcycle transponder in a 4-wheel or more vehicle is illegal. I have my transponder at the bottom center of the windshield, and it is no problem at all with it falling off. If there is a security problem, I put it in my pocket or a bag.

It is not really very noticeable from the driving position.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Anyone paying cash at toll booths is a maroon.

I travel toll roads so infrequently, that I still pay cash...so I guess I'm a maroon.

You know, I could come up with a new FYT! sticker...

 

[Intech]

You know, I could come up with a new FYT! sticker...

It just wouldn't have the same ring plus no good story to back it up.

 

[Spud]

To answer the question, I'm going with ID, WY and MT as the best states for E-Z Pass. Cost is $0, and if you forget to bring it on a ride there will be no consequence.

 

[lonerider]

Anyone paying cash at toll booths is a maroon.

I travel toll roads so infrequently, that I still pay cash...so I guess I'm a maroon.

You know, I could come up with a new FYT! sticker...

Same here; I looked into getting one from MD a year and a half ago. Their web site said if I don't use it for a minimum number of times per month (don't remember how many), they would hit me with a maintenance charge and nowhere on the site did it say how much that charge would be. Most of my riding is for pleasure and the roads I favor are far from traffic, interstates, and tolls.

 

[PhilJet09]

I use mine almost every day to get to work with zero problems in Ohio. It's mounted on top of my front brake reservoir with some Duo-lock so I can pull it off and stow it easily when needed. It's supposed to work for Indiana and Illinois, but in those states only seems to work about half the time. That becomes a real PITA with the minimum/unstaffed condition of the toll gates. Last year I got so frustrated I just squeezed around one of the gates. Expected to get something in the mail, but never did.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Move west and tell toll-roads to suck it.

 

[BkerChuck]

As a PA resident I've considered getting EZ pass. Discount for motorcycles is set at 30%. Problem being wife and I each ride our own bikes and would need 2 of them. We used to use turnpike from Harrisburg to Bedford a couple times a year but with rate increases paying for 2 tolls out and back we've just stopped using that route.Taking alternate routes adds about 30 minutes to our travel time wise and a few miles but saves us each almost 12 bucks one direction. I figure my taxes are high enough already without paying to use the turnpike.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Last time I was was on the PA Turnpike was 5 years or so ago. I couldn't believe they made me pay to drive on that horrible excuse for a road.

Yup, no tolls out here.