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Tobin toll plaza shrinks tonight
By adamg on Tue, 07/08/2014 - 5:29pm
The state says it's permanently blocking the leftmost cash lane on the bridge tonight as it begins to prod motorists into getting an E-Z Pass transponder in preparation for all electronic toll collection later this year.
If you have a fondness for the leftmost tollbooth, visit it before 10 tonight.
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Comments
Um Left?
The LEFT toll booth (and the 2nd to the left) have been gone for well over a month now
don't they mean RIGHT? OR Left as in what's left for toll booths?
(and talking right/left as you APPROACH the existing toll plaza, inbound)
I was thinking the same
The left two booths have definitely been gone for at least a month, as you said. I'm going to assume they meant the leftmost *existing* cash booth.
I didn't pay attention this morning, so I cannot confirm. But I can certainly confirm that traffic was slower than usual!
Rental Cars
What's the procedure for using a rental car which isn't equipped with an EZPass?
My guess
I'd imagine it's the same as any car, rental or otherwise, that does not have an EZ Pass - my own car, for example. As you approach the point of no return, ample signage shouts at you that only EZ Pass is accepted. Options are to pull off the Tobin at the exit before the tolls, or continue and face potential fine. Kind of a pain, but I'm not gonna win that battle.
Simpler than that
A camera will take a photo of your license plate, then send a bill to whoever the car is registered to.
Correct
I believe that unlike now, if you go thru a toll that has a cash lane but went thru the EZ Pass lane anyways, you'd be issued a ticket + the toll + administrative fee. But now (Tobin/Open Road Tolls) you'll just be charged the toll + administrative fee and no ticket (because it's not fair to charge a ticket for a toll that has no cash lanes!).
I also believe that the admin fee is like 50 cents or something, just enough to cover mailing the bill to the plate holder. (watch this 'fee' become a money maker for the state without increasing tolls)
I think that's how that works.. I think. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
PS - Most car sharing services (zip, enterprise, etc) have transponders and have billing mechanisms in their systems to account for unpaid tolls. I suspect traditional car rentals will follow suit also.
The Problem
If the bill gets sent to the rental car company they will charge the toll + administrative fee + HUGE SURCHARGE to your credit card. Enterprise will "rent" you an EZPass but zipcar is smart and includes them in the cars.
This would be a good time for some legislation which requires rental car companies to include EZPass transponders in their cars and not charge more then the toll for using them.
I only think of this as I was someplace last week where I needed to rent a car in an emergency and didn't have an opportunity to take my own EZPass with me.
I doubt it
Giving the timing involved, this would involve the rental companies trying to collect small amounts months later. I bet they'll just bake the costs into the rental amount.
MA didn't invent this, and rental agencies will charge you
This technology and system have been around for some time. Not only are they nothing new in other places, the rental agencies have language in their contracts for this!
From the Hertz rental car agreement from the car that I turned in last week on the West Coast:
SO ... no, Lecil. I'm sorry. BostonDog is right and the comment below is naive. The rental agencies have this (and you, over a barrel). Cross the Tobin once in a week-long rental period and you will be hit with over $35 in charges.
Yikes
And to think: a staggering portion of Greater Boston's car rentals come from the airport, and a large portion of those numbers likely have to come through the Sumner or Ted Williams.
They do this and....
... they'll get hit with a huge class action suit.
Taking your EZ Pass does no good at all if your borrowed/rented car (and its license) is not registered with EZ Pass.
Why would the car need to be registered with EZPass?
The EZPass itself is registered, and either has a balance to draw down or can get money from your credit card or bank account.
Taking your EZPass works fine
Taking your EZPass works fine. You just have to log in to EZPass and put in the rental car's license place. I've gone to Chicago and taken my EZPass and it's worked like a charm; pretty easy to do from a smart phone.
As for car rental companies, most will rent you an EZPass. It's usually a daily fee. It's pretty steep ($8 per day?) but if you're driving a lot on toll roads it includes unlimited tolls. I took another trip to Chicago and was planning to hit a bunch of toll roads, so it actually worked out in my favor to rent it from the rental agency.
Also in Chicago, they have open road tolling with cash lanes on the side. It costs about double to pay cash. Massachusetts is doing them one better, getting rid of toll taking altogether and going with the speedy option and the administrative fee. Just get a goddamn transponder if you drive on the Pike or Tobin more than a couple times a year. It's easier for everyone involved.
I used to take my FastLane / EZ Pass into other cars
besides my own, and it was easy, just requiring a quick trip online. Now that I live in Southie and am registered for 40-cent Ted tolls, I can't do that.
>ou just have to log in to
>ou just have to log in to EZPass and put in the rental car's license place.
I've had trouble doing this in the past because the EZPass system finds the license plate associated with another transponder. Usually if the car has a rent-a-EZPass I can't get put the license plate on my account.
Why do you need to register it at all?
As long as it's working and has enough cash balance, why would it matter what car it's in?
Apparently because....
... somehow the system needs to match up a lknown icense plate with the payment made by the unit.
It's in case the transponder
It's in case the transponder isn't read properly.
If that happens, they can read your plates, and then charge your E-ZPass like normal, without you ever even realizing something was amiss. It's a beautiful failsafe mechanism, IMHO.
I wasn't certain of the details....
... but this was what I meant by your car had to "registered" with EZ Pass. ;-}
In the Northeast, rental car
In the Northeast, rental car E-ZPasses *never* include unlimited toll usage.
Just one NYC-area bridge toll, which go as high as $15, could put the rental company in the red.
Use the existing cash lane.
Use the existing cash lane.
I have a transponder but it
I have a transponder but it suddenly stopped working at a toll on the New York Turnpike; however, I didn't get any penalty charge. Here's what happened (I think). A camera took a picture of my license plate; and that plate number was matched to my to plate in the Mass database and I was charged the usual toll. So, in the future, maybe no transponders will be needed.......... just a database of plate numbers.
Rental Cars are usually equipped with EZ-Pass
every rental car I have ever rented between here and DC in the last 10 years has had an EZ-Pass. Since most rentals around here are going to and from Logan, you can bet that they are either all already so equipped or will be very soon.
Yes, they are, but if you
Yes, they are, but if you want to use that EZ Pass they tack on a substantial fee for the service. For example, if you look at Hertz, their PlatePass system:
- Costs $4.95 per day, including any days on which the pass is not used, up to $24.95 for the entire rental.
- Then adds on whatever the toll cost would be.
So, obviously one option is to avoid the Tobin bridge, which for someone who comes from out of town might be easier said than done. The other option is to pay roughly 9 times the cost of the bridge toll if you were renting for a week and even if you only needed to go southbound on it once ($24.95 + $3.00). This seems a bit crazy to me, and will be something that I think those who are pushing for this should address. It doesn't really go to the state, or anyone associated with the Bridge, it goes to big rental companies.
I know that when I rent cars, I don't use the pass and pay cash to avoid these insane fees that mostly amount to convenience fees.
They are
They are all equipped with an EZ-Pass. Just pull the little tab out.
Here's how it works on the
Here's how it works on the Golden Gate bridge in CA, which also has cash-free tolling. You have two options:
1) You drive through and let the state bill your rental company. The rental company with then bill you, with a service fee added.
2) You can pay in advance online, creating a temporary account for your rental license plate and depositing money into the account. When you cross the bridge, your temp account is debited. Since you never have a negative balance, no bill is sent to the rental company and no service fee is charged. I think some other places allow a ~7 day grace period after a toll is incurred to pay online without a fee before sending a bill.
Hopefully MA thinks about this from the consumer's point of view and implements a system that allows you to pay a toll without having to go through the rental company's system.
Great. Just when you thought
Great. Just when you thought traffic couldn't be any worse on the Tobin in the morning!
Anyone else see this?
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/07/08/massdot-warns-e-zpass-customers-ab...
Old news, still didn't hear about it until today though.