EZ Pass...

[NHBB]

thanks to the new gov. lynch in NH we are now accepting this technology against vast opposition. personally I would rather take the time to ride through a toll and not have some transponder deducting soft money from a prepaid account.

no one from mass cares, they have dealt with it regularly and accepted it as a convenience. me personally, I am not a fan whatsoever. ill take the cash lane please. thoughts, comments?

 

[geekWithA.45]

EZ pass makes a huge, positive contribution to lane flow.

Routine backups @ tolls are a thing of the past because of it.

If you don't want to be tracked outside the toll lane, retain the shielded bag the transponder comes in.

As for being tracked in the toll lane, they've been snapping plate pix for years, that horse has already escaped the barn.

 

[NHBB]

I understand, but this is completely new in NH. every lane has cameras now, and EZ pass only lanes... tokens offered the option to pay 33%, EZ pass allows 50 percent. lynch's whole platform was ran on the same themes that shaheen pushed, and she lost bad. benson was a true libertarian conservative type, but he built a lot of bad blood up in cutting state programs that needed trimming... and well lynch had teamsters from MA coming up and cracking heads at political rallies. wonder who got the contracts to instill this whole new program?

I know personally a very politically active dainty woman who got beat over the head by a bussed up teamster from MA with a bullhorn... makes you think.

 

[R.H. Lee]

{talking into cuff} "Abner, this is Zulu. Establish high priority surveillance on NHBB, code alpha gamma niner. Lock his position into the bird and record all electronic communications for pattern analysis. Keep me posted. That is all". {/talking into cuff}

 

[dolanp]

We have "TollTags" around here but I don't mind it. They do still have pay lanes though, and it's what makes the tollway so annoying during rush hours.

Those things have a very limited range anyways, not useful for tracking.

 

[AirForceShooter]

When I lived in NY I used EZ simply because it saved me a ton of time.
If I was out doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing I would put the Pass in a metallic bag they give you which in effect deactivates the pass and you go through the pay lanes. No Problem. No record of your passing the toll.

AFS

 

[MikeIsaj]

50% discount! Lucky you. No discount in Pa. they're trying to harrass us into participating. They change the cash lanes around every day on the bigger turnpike interchanges so you suddenly need to shift over six or eight lanes.

 

[lysander]

We got this same technology force fed to us in Illinois. The policy makers decided that in order to give people an incentive to use the toll devices (called I-Pass in Illinois) they would raise the cash tolls 100%. You don't want the State to have your credit card number and the ability to track your movements? Pay double.

It's all garbage....and those who think that it is just an innocuous bit of technological progress best think again. England already has test systems in place which monitor speed and issue tickets via satellite. Our own federal government has already used Onstar like devices for passive listening in the cab of the vehicles which have them. In addition....the powers that be are already working on integrating systems for cooperation between states.

This is one more collar...added to the other collars.

Somebody else said it best.....

"Security through obscurity ain't."

 

[TimH]

Here in NY I think that ez pass users get a discount. I refuse( so far ) to get one. I wonder if they have ever given a speeding ticket to a person that got from exit 24 to exit 35 too fast? (Tinfoil hat on)Plus you gotta figure they could easily put something in the ez pass thingie that could be used to track you. Its probably already in there

 

[thorn726]

Tracking Info!

ok i LOVE fastrak, our version, mostly cuz on a motorcycle, getting out the $ is a REAL pain, and i love to split lanes etc.

ANYWAY= last year Caltrans started "tracking" us across the bridge and other places on the freeway- supposedly anonymous, for the purpose of estimating travel times. we are "assured" this info wont be used for ticketing (yet)

HOWEVER= they offer an alternative- they give you a static bag, like the gray one a hard drive or motherboard comes in- and you put the transponder in there. you take it out only when going thru the toll plaza. theyre getting everyone's plates regardless, so you're getting id'd there if they feel like it.
but if you prefer not to be tracked the rest of the time, you just put it in the bag. im sure there are plenty of other solutions as well, = the stupid thing wont get my toll if its too deep in my pocket or too close to my cell or pager.

 

[c_yeager]

I didnt realize that people still used toll roads.

 

[thorn726]

I didnt realize that people still used toll roads.

ha! right, i still expect it at bridges, but on roads? oh, the days of my dad and that stupid yellow ticket telling how far you went.

you were never allowed to call them "freeways" back there. they weren't.

 

[mussi]

They should rather introduce the Swiss system for motorway financing - you have to buy a funny-looking sticker and stick it your windshield so it's visible from the outside.

The sticker (for the small Swiss motorway system) is 40 CHF (about 32 US-$) for a year, trucks have to pay via different system.

At a few places, there are lots of cameras that film every car or motorbike. Every car who doesn't have a sticker gets filmed, it's number plates recorded and they get a fine. Once they pay the fine (140 CHF), they get mailed a sticker as the fine is only CHF 100. The system is actually very sophisticated and has a 70% chance of recognizing a sticker that's only attached by bogus means (like grease), and if the state catches you, they descend big time on your, which means the average fine is 1500 CHF for falsfication of official documents).

The problem with this system is that private motorway operators will probably not be able to find an agreement on how to split the proceeds of this sticker system.

But then, as long as the system detects a correctly-applied tax sticker, no numberplates get recorded, and we save big time on toll booths etc.

 

[benewton]

NHBB:

I got a pair of them for our vehicles, and, I'd note that, if you want any discount at all, you'd better do so also. The tokens are going away 1/06. As already noted, they've been photographing plates, no doubt with a time and date, so they really already have any information that they might want about your travel.
Note, too, that they can track you cell phone...

While I dislike their access to my banking account, I use the one I maintain for web purchases, which is alway kept below $100 or so, so the damage'd be limited.

These were bought in support of my consulting, which often takes me on the road. Given that the lane speed limit is 10 MPH around here, they're not all that much faster than tokens, but then we seldom use toll roads here anyway. But I've got to say that the speedups are great along the 95 corridor to DC, since many of the EZ pass lanes only require 50 MPH, a simple 20 MPH slowdown from normal cruise.

 

[c_yeager]

Is it mandatory that they attach directly to a bank account? I would think that providing a monthly bill would make just as much sense and provide some peace of mind.

I cannot imagine allowing a state-level government agency to access my bank account. If you are comfortable with that notion i think a short trip to the DMV will divorce you of it.

 

[davec]

You can have my EZ-Pass when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

I travel on the NJ Turnpike and into Manhattan almost daily...I couldn't even begin to calculate the amount of time its saved me.

 

[Blue Line]

Don't forget that strip in your paper money sets off the toll scanner too so the G will know how much money you have!

 

[AirForceShooter]

TinH:
I always wondered about that. The pass does time you.
Pass the foil please.

AFS

 

[Beren]

Closing this as off-topic. I struggled to find some connection and failed. Try APS for this.