Beware driving in New England with a Enterprise loaner on the Pike!

[David29]

They say they will bill you by mail...

They will, but it costs more than if you use EasyPass. Plus, you run the risk of mis-read plates. There were newspaper stories when the system first went into use about plates being mis-identified, especially special series plates like Red Sox (RS) or EV, etc. Apparently the gantry systems would apparently read only the numbers reliably, and there were/are multiple plates with the same numbers but different letter series. I do not know if that problem has been fixed.

 

[yousexy]

I don't know if the state is plate matching with the transponder. In my wife's case, she transferred her plate, so if the state does the plate matching, she would be fine (just not the same car on EZ-Pass account record)

Given the limitation of OCR technology, I tend to think as long as the overhead sensor detects your transponder and is able to charge the fee, there is no plate matching with the transponder in the process. This will be a labor heavy work if they do.

 

[David29]

Here is one way you can get into trouble if your account does not have your current plate number on file.

In July, we drove from Boston to Philadelphia and back, encountering tolls in MA, NY, and NJ. On the way home, in NJ I noticed that we got the yellow light and a message saying the toll was not collected, on the Garden State Parkway. I was not sure what to make of that. When I got home, I checked my EasyPass account online and realized that some of the tolls we had incurred were not listed. The reason was that the battery in my transponder had died. Not too long after that, I got bills from NJ for tolls not collected along with a large fine or fee -- I think it was either $25 or $50 for each of two tolls. They had read my plate and billed through the mail, because the transponder was dead AND because my EasyPass account did not have my current license plate number.
I immediately corrected my oversight and listed my plate in the account. After i got the NJ bills, I called the office in NJ and explained i di have an EasyPass account but had the wrong plate listed. They told me to file a form saying that (it came with the bill), and to pay only the toll, not the fine. Nice!
I also incurred tolls in NY, but apparently they were slow enough to bill that when they queried the MA database, they saw my EasyPass account with the corrected plate number, and all I had to pay was the tolls.
The transponder battery lasted several years (five or more), so this combination of events would not happen often. But even if the transponder is not read correctly for some other reason (rain, snow, bad signal, etc.), the collecting agency would query the MA database so a current plate avoids issues and fines.

 

[tga]

The transponder battery lasted several years (five or more)

I just exchanged 2 NH EZ-Pass transponders from 2005 (from right after NH joined EZ-Pass). One had a dead battery, but the other still worked after 13+ years. Oddly enough, the one that died was the one that rarely got any use.

 

[David29]

I just exchanged 2 NH EZ-Pass transponders from 2005 (from right after NH joined EZ-Pass). One had a dead battery, but the other still worked after 13+ years. Oddly enough, the one that died was the one that rarely got any use.

The new transponders are about half the size of the one I had that died. i wonder how much of the size reduction might be smaller batteries? It will be interesting to see how long the new ones last....

 

[JWardell]

Amassing a state-wide database of all travels along I-90 including vehicle, entry and exit timestamps, entry and exit ramps, presence of transponder (the flat sensors) and license plate... and as far as I know, no limitation on data retention period.

Quite a step forward on the surveillance machinery, including the Surveillance Wayback Machine. And let's not forget the potential ability to correlate the Turnpike Authority's database with those of the major cellphone providers, so that we can watch all the passengers travelling together along with their texts and whatever metadata are retained for Internet services. Wheee!

What could possibly go wrong with that?

Good thing we as a country have decided we will never spy on nuns, civil rights activists, political activists, environmental activists or women who want to march together in large numbers wearing threatening headgear. /s

Alan

Huh??

It is not difficult at all for modern computers to OCR every plate live. In fact it's easier and cheaper than dealing with transponders and dead batteries.
In fact half the police cars now read and process every license plate they drive by, including street parked cars at an angle. That's much more difficult.
I also hate to brake it to you, but for many years now Mass has been tracking the bluetooth signal of every cell phone and used it to display real traffic delay times on its signs all around the state.
Seriously, none of this is even a challenge for current tech. Thankfully our state uses it for good to reduce traffic and increase convenience.
Of course it wouldn't take much to use it nefariously to track or automatically send tickets, but Mass rules again because here that's literally against the law.

 

[tga]

Huh??

It is not difficult at all for modern computers to OCR every plate live. In fact it's easier and cheaper than dealing with transponders and dead batteries.
In fact half the police cars now read and process every license plate they drive by, including street parked cars at an angle. That's much more difficult.
I also hate to brake it to you, but for many years now Mass has been tracking the bluetooth signal of every cell phone and used it to display real traffic delay times on its signs all around the state.
Seriously, none of this is even a challenge for current tech. Thankfully our state uses it for good to reduce traffic and increase convenience.
Of course it wouldn't take much to use it nefariously to track or automatically send tickets, but Mass rules again because here that's literally against the law.

Which is why I was so irritated (back when I was a MA taxpayer) by the utter stupidity of the "tear down the toll booths and put up gantries" project. It smacks of a classic "make work for someone's cousin" project.

They already had the ability to OCR license plates and read EZ Pass tags of cars entering and exiting through the already existing toll booths. They could have fired all the toll collectors and used the existing infrastructure already in place. There was no reason to waste taxpayer money on "cleaning up" the exits.

 

[JWardell]

Which is why I was so irritated (back when I was a MA taxpayer) by the utter stupidity of the "tear down the toll booths and put up gantries" project. It smacks of a classic "make work for someone's cousin" project.

They already had the ability to OCR license plates and read EZ Pass tags of cars entering and exiting through the already existing toll booths. They could have fired all the toll collectors and used the existing infrastructure already in place. There was no reason to waste taxpayer money on "cleaning up" the exits.

Except that toll booths force traffic to slow to 15mph and cause miles of traffic, gridlock, wasted time, money, environmental damage, foreign oil dependency, etc etc...electronic tolling is heaven in comparison*
*proper taxation and zero tolls is even better...

 

[yousexy]

To speed up the traffic, have you thought about that?

 

[saltsman]

Just add the rental plates to your account when you get the loaner and remove them when you return it. Done.

 

[tga]

To speed up the traffic, have you thought about that?

Meh. Eliminate the stopping at toll booths and you have a ~25mph bottleneck vs 35-40 without toll booths. Hardly seems worth ~$150 million to tear them all down.

 

[yousexy]

$150M for tear down or for everything else altogether?

 

[David29]

Which is why I was so irritated (back when I was a MA taxpayer) by the utter stupidity of the "tear down the toll booths and put up gantries" project. It smacks of a classic "make work for someone's cousin" project.

They already had the ability to OCR license plates and read EZ Pass tags of cars entering and exiting through the already existing toll booths. They could have fired all the toll collectors and used the existing infrastructure already in place. There was no reason to waste taxpayer money on "cleaning up" the exits.

Personally, I am glad the toll booths are gone. But I do wonder about the expense. It is all going to contractors,who run the system, instead of state employees. Seems like a huge cost. And i wonder about accountability for errors and failures. I have forgotten the contract terms, but at the time I read about them, it seemed like a rather one-sided deal in favor of the company running the system.

 

[eladts]

Except that toll booths force traffic to slow to 15mph and cause miles of traffic, gridlock, wasted time, money, environmental damage, foreign oil dependency, etc etc...electronic tolling is heaven in comparison*
*proper taxation and zero tolls is even better...

Besides that advantage, tool booth takes a lot of space. If they are eliminated some of this space in urban areas can be sold to developers.

 

[tga]

$150M for tear down or for everything else altogether?

I found New Mass. Pike electronic tolling: Will there be any cost savings from eliminating toll plazas? which says:

The plazas are set to be taken down as the state transitions to all-electronic tolling, also known as AET. The cost of reconfiguring the plazas, from the New York state border to the Ted Williams Tunnel, is estimated at $150 million.

I'm assuming that's just the toll booth construction. This article throws out $461 million for "construction and operating contracts"

 

[yousexy]

@tga

The cost by estimate in the article is ambiguous to be the least. Without the details, we can't assert that $150M is just for tearing down the plaza.

That being said, I disagree with

"make work for someone's cousin"

without evidence.

I do enjoy the pike more than before where there is a lot of congestion derived from the toll booth. "At what price tag this is a wise investment?" is very subjective and controversial. For me, I like the Electronic Toll setup on Mass Pike as it is today.

 

[Farmer]

Just add the rental plates to your account when you get the loaner and remove them when you return it. Done.

And of course, be sure to remove those rental plates from your account quickly after the rental is done, else....!