Slightly OT: Ez-Passes good in all states

I found out today that EZ-Passes (those magic white boxes that get you through toll booths without haveing to stop) are now good in any state that uses that system, not just the state from which you got issued the pass. Now if only Ohio would break down and upgrade...

Not too off topic, since many of us travel from state to state, but most EZ Pass users have known this for a while. I still have yet to break down and get EZ Pass, since I have never really seen the benefit here in PA.

It's must for those of us that spend much time in Iliinois. In 2005 they doubled the tolls for users that pay cash so it's silly not to have one.

I'm actually from Iowa but I'm around Chicago enough and travel the other tollways enough that it's more than worth it.

It is a shame I did not know that until after my trip down the PA Turnpike. LOL!

I know for sure that the following have EZ Pass:

Atlantic City Expressway
Burlington County Bridge Commission
Delaware Department of Transportation
Delaware River & Bay Authority
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
Delaware River Port Authority
Garden State Parkway
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Maine Turnpike Authority
Maryland Transportation Authority
Massachusetts Port Authority
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
New Hampshire Department of Transportation
New Jersey Turnpike
New York State Bridge Authority
New York State Thruway Authority
Buffalo & Ft. Erie Public Bridge Authority
Pennsylvania Turnpike
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
Richmond Metropolitan Authority
Virginia Department of Transportation
West Virginia Parkways Authority

I am curious what others do, if any...this was the most complete information that I had available

This might be good for a sticky topic like the travel topic was. Good useful info.

EDIT - added more information to the areas where EZ-Pass or I-Pass can be used. *** Edited 3/22/2006 11:10:40 PM UTC by beast7369***

On a related question, can you take said white box with you and put it in a rental car? It would have been nice to have one of those last summer going through Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Depends on where you got the EZ Pass from. I know that the I-pass EZ Pass from IL allows you to do that. You just need to call them or go on-line and put down the Lic plate # and make model of the car.

Also since you are from WI I think you have an I-pass, I -pass would not worked with EZ Pass last summer as the I-pass system went on-line with the EZ Pass Network on September 26, 2005. *** Edited 3/23/2006 12:55:53 AM UTC by carlo18***

If you live on long island like me its a must. the wait for the tolls on the nyc bridges can be like 15 minutes long if you want to pay cash.

I just cant believe this actually happened, I mean states agreeing to share money? Expect something of this magnitude never to happen again, but Im sure glad I kept my I-Pass this year.

Sure, you can take it into a rental car. I've used my "white box" on other cars, without giving EZpass the license plate number or anything, and it worked just fine. Just as long as you don't have extra axles or whatever.

So my SunPass still helps me ONLY in FL, huh? *grumble*

There's even ONE bridge in Jax that our SunPass doesn't even work on....but you GOTTA love the name SunPass, LOL... :)

Yea, SunPass is not part of EZ Pass. But I remember an article a while ago stating that IL was connecting to the EZ pass network and IN and FL were currently researching the possibility to connect to the network as well. They said that OH said they had no interest in connecting to the EZ Pass Network.

LANE CUTTERS!

LOL!

Yeah, it's totally unfair that you choose to use an electronic device to avoid waiting in lines like the rest of us.

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phoenixphan :-) said:
I still have yet to break down and get EZ Pass, since I have never really seen the benefit here in PA.

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If you ever travel through the Mid County exit just North of Philadelphia you would see the benefit. They recently added a high speed lane (finally) which allows you to pas through at highway speeds.

I live just outside of Cleveland and I actually own an E-Z Pass. It get's used only a couple of times a year when we go on a weekend trip(This year, Memorial Day weekend, Hershey and Dutch Wonderland) and when we go on our big week-and-a-half vacation to Sesame Place and Ocean City, MD. I decided to get it after waiting for some insane amount of time to cross the bay bridge I believe. To me it has been worth the 3 bucks a year just for that, plus the high speed lane at Warrendale on the PA Pike is fun, I get to mock the people that blew by me on the way to it. :) The Ohio Turnpike claimed a few years ago that not enough commuters use the pike to make it feasable to spend the gazillion bucks to install it. Of course just last year they discoverd that WAY more people were using the Pike to commute from Lorain county than they originally thought, but that still won't make it happen. *** Edited 3/23/2006 3:29:06 PM UTC by LdScotsman***

^You should think of buying an I-Pass, there is no fee after the orginal $20 security deposit + $40 worth of tolls (everytime you go below $10 they charge your credit card again to boost up your toll amount back to $40.)

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Lord Gonchar said:
Yeah, it's totally unfair that you choose to use an electronic device to avoid waiting in lines like the rest of us.

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ROFL! :)

Unlike the "tollbooth pass-thrus" where you're going SO slow (~ 25 mph), Orlando area ALSO has these cool lanes you can drive at normal 60-70 mph and go AROUND the tollbooths by staying on the main part of the road...IF you have a SunPass...

The drawback? These nasty mailings I get from the State of FL (my *esteemed* employer, choke, gasp) saying that since THEY didn't collect my fee for driving thru THEIR approved lanes, that somehow *I* am the criminal trying to avoid tolls by driving in the appropriate lanes at the appropriate speeds....I an SUCH a criminal....BAD gator, BAD! ;)

Aahh... toll roads. One of the few things the state of Missouri has got right - I don't miss them at all...

That being said - the passes wouldn't do that much good in Ohio (where you only pay when you get off the highway) as compared to Chicago, Florida, etc. where the toll booths are on the main road every 5 miles...

Wasn't the Ohio Turnpike supposed to eliminate the tolls in, like, 1990 - when the road was "paid for"? Whatever happened to that?

There's no reason for Ohio to use the system. The volume of commuter traffic is too low. Most people using it are going a fair distance.

The one I've never been able to figure out is the Kansas Turnpike. It takes real nerve to charge a toll to drive across that dull stretch of road!