EZPass/fastlane- frustrated update!!

[Goofygirl17]

I know this might sound silly but I'm excited because we're getting a fastlane pass from Mass to use on our trip to Va beach! I've been waffling about getting one because I didn't want to pay for the transponder. Yesterday someone mentioned that Mass isn't charging for it right now and they also don't charge a monthly fee My DM is going to pick one up for me tomorrow (she lives closer to Mass than me).

This should make our trip a little easier- no waiting in line at toll booths and inhaling all the exhaust!

Just had to share!

Goofygirl

 

[ParrotBill]

My NY EZ-Pass has saved us a ton of time driving south to Virginia and Florida.

Many times we ran into toll barriers with 10 or 15 minute waits.. but we breezed through.

It does not work with Florida's E-Pass though .... phooey!

 

[Goofygirl17]

Too bad. That would be great! We're traveling from CT to Va so it should be a big help! I have a standard shift truck so I hate sitting in traffic!

Goofygirl

 

[Donald is #1]

Is Fastlane accepted everywhere that EZPass is accepted? I know that it is accepted in NH and that my EZPass is accepted in Mass. But I just drove from NH to VA in June and I didn't see any signs saying that Fastlane was accepted in NY, NJ, MD, or VA. I was thinking about this myself because I was thinking about suggesting that my sister get a Fastlane transponder since they are now free and she lives in MA.

 

[tiggerplus5]

I just went Friday and got my new transponder. I was kind of psyched too. I haven't used it yet. I read somewhere on the boards that they do work in many other states. How do you know that it is reading correctly when you pull up to the fast lane toll? Does it say "go" or maybe a green light? We are leaving on Friday for wdw (whoohooo!) and I don't want to try to use it in other states if it's not working.

 

[Donald is #1]

I just went Friday and got my new transponder. I was kind of psyched too. I haven't used it yet. I read somewhere on the boards that they do work in many other states. How do you know that it is reading correctly when you pull up to the fast lane toll? Does it say "go" or maybe a green light? We are leaving on Friday for wdw (whoohooo!) and I don't want to try to use it in other states if it's not working.

It depends upon the state/type of toll booth. In most places, you will either get a green light or a message that says "go" or similar. However, at some of them, I couldn't figure out if it worked or not. For example, I am not sure if there is a way of knowing if it was accepted at the high speed ones in NJ.

 

[abner1776]

I originally had a fastlane transponder but when the battery went dead they wanted another $27 for a replacement transponde so I went with NY even though I live in MA. No cost for the NY ezpass, but MA has apparently now finally come to their senses and do not charge for the new transponders.

Fastlane and Ezpass can be used on all of the same tollways which means they work from Maine down to Virginia.

 

[Goofygirl17]

My DM is getting ours tomorrow. It should really help our trip. This is the info from the MTA fastlane website.


1. Where can I use the FAST LANE?
Your FAST LANE transponder can be used in Massachusetts and on these EZ-Pass equipped toll facilities (map of states where transponder can be used):

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (including the Sumner and Ted Williams Tunnels)
Massachusetts Port Authority (Tobin Memorial Bridge)
MBTA/Amtrak Parking Garage (FAST LANE transponders only)
New York State Thruway Authority: Entire Thruway including the New Rochelle Barrier, Yonkers Barrier, Tappen Zee Bridge, Spring Valley (commercial only), Harriman Barrier, City Line Barrier, Black River Barrier and Grand Island Bridges.
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey: Bayonne, George Washington and Goethals Bridges, Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and Outerbridge Crossing.
Metropolitan Transit Authority Bridges and Tunnels: Bronx-Whitestone, Cross Bay, Henry Hudson, Marine Parkway Gil Hodges, Throgs Neck, Triborough and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges and Brooklyn-Battery, and Queens Midtown Tunnels.
New Jersey Highway Authority: Garden State Parkway.
New Jersey Turnpike Authority: New Jersey Turnpike.
South Jersey Transportation Authority: Atlantic City Expressway.
Delaware Department of Transportation: Interstate 95 and Route 1.
Delaware River Port Authority: Commodore Barry, Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross Bridges.
Delaware River and Bay Authority: Delaware Memorial Bridge.
Maryland Transportation Authority: Francis Scott Key Bridge, Fort McHenry, William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge, Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge, Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway and Baltimore Harbor Tunnels.
West Virginia Parkways: West Virginia Parkways - Economic Development and Tourism Authority: West Virginia Turnpike.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission: Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority: Peace Bridge.
New York State Bridge Authority: Bear Mountain Bridge, Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, Mid-Hudson Bridge, Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
Virginia Department of Transportation: Dulles Toll Road, Dulles Greenway, Coleman Bridge, Chesapeake Expressway, Powhite Parkway, Boulevard Bridge.
Maine Turnpike Authority
New Hampshire Department of Transportation-Bureau of Turnpikes: Hampton, Hooksett, Bedford.
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority: North-South Tollway, Tri-State Tollway, Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, Northwest Tollway.
Indiana Toll Road
Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority: Claiborne Pell Bridge (Newport Bridge)

Important: When you open your FAST LANE account, you must wait 3 days before using your new FAST LANE transponder to travel on EZ-Pass equipped toll facilities outside of Massachusetts.


HTH!
Goofygirl

 

[WDWTigger72]

There is a FAQ on the Fast Lane page that gives all kinds of great information where it is accepted and not accepted:

http://www.masspike.com/travel/fastlane/fastlanefaq.html

To answer some questions really quickly, Yes the transponders are currently free if you decide to get one in Massachusetts. They Turnpike Authority which is being absorbed into another part of the Massachusetts government branches was suppose to start charging for the transponders, something like $0.50 per month but with all the tax increases I am not sure if they decided to cancel this or not. Here is the fee schedule for other things:

http://www.masspike.com/travel/fastlane/fees.html

Here is the where you can use Fast Lane:

http://www.masspike.com/travel/fastlane/fastlanefaq.html#1

 

[poohbear8]

In case this helps anyone...from the Va EZpass website:

Current E-ZPass States: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Indiana and Illinois

E-ZPass users have a smooth and easy drive on toll roads not only in Virginia, but also in other states that use E-ZPass. Just drive through any toll lane marked 'E-ZPass', and you will be good to go.

What should I do if I plan to drive out of state?

A trip out of state or a change in your driving pattern may have an impact on your E-ZPass account. Contact the Service Center to check your available balance to be sure you have adequate funds for your tolls. You may also want to make a payment, adjust your replenishment amount and your low balance level.

It can take up to 24 hours for new accounts, payments, and new transponders to be activated and reflected at Virginia toll plazas, and up to 48 hours out of state. We recommend you make changes to your account several days in advance of your trip.

I don't know what happens if my account is low in NJ if I drive up there. So if traveling, be sure there is $$ on the account, so you don't get a ticket.

 

[Goofygirl17]

Yay!! We got it. It will be ready to use in 3 days which is perfect because we leave Friday morning.

Goofygirl

 

[Donald is #1]

Yay!! We got it. It will be ready to use in 3 days which is perfect because we leave Friday morning.

Goofygirl

Awesome!

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Add Ohio to your list for sometime during the 4th Quarter of 2009 as the Ohio Turnpike implements E-ZPass. With Indiana and Illinois already on board, those in the Northeast can drive to Chicago using the transponder.

Unfortunately the 3 systems used in Florida (E-Pass, SunPass & LeeWay), although interoperable with each other, are not interoperable with E-ZPass.

BobK/Orlando

 

[Goofygirl17]

That's interesting.

I wonder if florida will ever be added. That would be cool!

 

[kneemeister]

Ohio is slowly installing the equipment, last week everything was in place except for the gates and ez-pass accepted signs at my nearest exit. Its as if they install one device every week or so starting on Westgate all the way to Eastgate then they repeat, repeat, repeat. But I couldnt wait so I went ahead and got an I-Zoom from Indiana. Funny how they all call it ezpass, except Indiana and Ill. which is I-Zoom and I-Pass, so every exit or plaza has to have a big sign noting that all three are one and the same.

 

[goofy4tink]

We put my ds's car on our FastLane account when he moved to Tampa, from central Mass. Then, gave him my transponder to use for the trip down. He loved it..said it made it so much faster. It was wonderful to not have to stop at the toll booths..just drive right on through!! Then, he mailed it back to me when he was settled in. He did say it would have been nice to use it in Fl but it was wonderful up to that point.

 

[seashoreCM]

OT: For those driving on the Mass 'Pike there are a few portable signs advertising the Fast Lane transponders and calling it Fast Pass.

 

[Goofygirl17]

The Mass website says that transponders are available at some of the rest stops. I think they work immediately in Mass but it takes 3 days for them to work at EZpass tolls.

I'm hoping this cuts down on our travel time. Right now the AAA map says 8 hours 8 minutes from CT to Va beach. That sounds good to me! I wonder if it includes delays for tolls etc.

 

[Goofygirl17]

I am soooo frustrated!! My DM went to Mass RMV yesterday specifically so we could get our transponder and it would be working for Friday when we leave for Va.

Well... I just got a call from fastlane saying that because I didn't sign the form, DM did, that they couldn't process the application. The woman was nice and finally said that they would put it through with my mom's name and my vehicle information. I explained that my mother told the woman at RMV what we were doing and accepted the application and credit card info. She said that the person at the registry probably didn't understand the problem.

Then she said that it won't be activated in NY etc for three days I said that my mom went yesterday so we could use it for our trip to Va on Friday. She said that it takes time for the other states to process our information and that I could call the other states before I leave to see if it is active yet.

I am soooo frustrated!!!