Pikepass to become compatible with K-Tag

[bugo]

At the school district where I run the driver ed program in the Summer, they used to just have us pass around the one transponder. Now, they've had to buy a sticker for EACH car. It means a higher bill; since we have it in all cars, we cruise the 'pike a LOT more than we used to!

Pikepass is free.  You must initially deposit $40.00 but the there is no sign up fee or other cost.  The stickers are free.  When I was driving a different car, I went online and requested a Pikepass sticker for it and they sent it to me in a couple of days.  If you follow turnpikes often, it is a no-brainer to get Pikepass.  It can save a lot of money.  For example, to go from 31st Street to 51st Street on the Creek Turnpike costs 85 cents cash, but 30 cents for Pikepass customers.  The savings aren't usually so extreme, but an extra 50 cents can add up after a while.  It is far more convenient as well.  I took the Will Rogers Turnpike from Tulsa to Quapaw to see a Departed show and when I got to the toll booth, there was a line of cars 7 or 8 deep in the cash lane.  I just whizzed by at 75 MPH.  I made it there just in time, so I would have missed a couple of songs if I hadn't had Pikepass. 

[Duke87]

A question--can you just leave the sticker on the wax paper (or whatever backing is used for it) and transfer it from car to car as needed?

Florida's SunPass stickers work if left on their backing and scotch taped to the windshield (I have confirmed this personally). I would assume that the same would work for a similar toll sticker from another state.

[WichitaRoads]

At the school district where I run the driver ed program in the Summer, they used to just have us pass around the one transponder. Now, they've had to buy a sticker for EACH car. It means a higher bill; since we have it in all cars, we cruise the 'pike a LOT more than we used to!

Pikepass is free.  You must initially deposit $40.00 but the there is no sign up fee or other cost.  The stickers are free.  When I was driving a different car, I went online and requested a Pikepass sticker for it and they sent it to me in a couple of days.  If you follow turnpikes often, it is a no-brainer to get Pikepass.  It can save a lot of money.  For example, to go from 31st Street to 51st Street on the Creek Turnpike costs 85 cents cash, but 30 cents for Pikepass customers.  The savings aren't usually so extreme, but an extra 50 cents can add up after a while.  It is far more convenient as well.  I took the Will Rogers Turnpike from Tulsa to Quapaw to see a Departed show and when I got to the toll booth, there was a line of cars 7 or 8 deep in the cash lane.  I just whizzed by at 75 MPH.  I made it there just in time, so I would have missed a couple of songs if I hadn't had Pikepass.

Using K-TAG does give a discount as well. I think it is 15% less to use it versus paying with a ticket. Not a great savings, but when you are on it as much as I am anymore, it does help.

ICTRds

[WichitaRoads]

A question--can you just leave the sticker on the wax paper (or whatever backing is used for it) and transfer it from car to car as needed?

Florida's SunPass stickers work if left on their backing and scotch taped to the windshield (I have confirmed this personally). I would assume that the same would work for a similar toll sticker from another state.

The way ours are made on K-TAG, I don't think you could. The paper backing might interfere with the readers at the exits picking up the RFID.

ICTRds

[route56]

[FOX News alert SFX]

The KTA has announced that interoperability between Kansas's K-TAG and Oklahoma's Pikepass will begin November 1.

http://www.ksturnpike.com/travel_information/interoperability

Of note: K-TAG will work on the Oklahoma Toll Roads, but will not work on the NTTA system in Texas or at the Tulsa Airport parking garage (both of which accepts OTA's PikePass), and KTA does suggest that drivers who regularly use the Kansas Turnpike and the NTTA toll facilities use PikePass.

https://www.myktag.com/interoperability

Also, K-TAG stickers are now free.

[Brandon]

Would it really kill them (and other agencies) to become compatible with E-Z Pass?  Granted that the nearest E-Z Pass facility is in Illinois (ISTHA & I-Pass), but a national standard would be nice.

[lordsutch]

Would it really kill them (and other agencies) to become compatible with E-Z Pass?  Granted that the nearest E-Z Pass facility is in Illinois (ISTHA & I-Pass), but a national standard would be nice.

National interoperability is due by 2016; mark your calendars. (Meanwhile, Georgia's Peach Pass hasn't even hooked up yet with Florida's SunPass despite saying originally it would be done when SunPass went interop with North Carolina in 2013.)

[bugo]

One thing you might not know about Pikepass is that if your account goes below zero cents, your account balance will be negative and it will still charge you every time you go through a tollbooth but you can make a payment which will bring the balance out of the hole. The "Pikepass Thanks You" sign won't light up but the "Low Balance" sign does.

[route56]

I suspect that PikePass runs on a pay as you go system. I changed my K-TAG account from pre-pay to pay-go this week.

[galador]

I got an email from PikePass last night about this. Here is the PDF attachment they sent with the details.

[vdeane]

Would it really kill them (and other agencies) to become compatible with E-Z Pass?  Granted that the nearest E-Z Pass facility is in Illinois (ISTHA & I-Pass), but a national standard would be nice.

National interoperability is due by 2016; mark your calendars. (Meanwhile, Georgia's Peach Pass hasn't even hooked up yet with Florida's SunPass despite saying originally it would be done when SunPass went interop with North Carolina in 2013.)

At the rate they're currently going, I don't see how they'll have everything interoperable in a little over a year, especially since many agencies use completely different technology.

[bugo]

Pikepass uses a tiny passive RFID chip embedded in a sticker. I understand that E-Zpass uses an active chip and is housed in a large box.

[lordsutch]

Right; the current plan is to use a mix of multimode readers (that can read the two major passive RFID sticker formats and the EZ-Pass active transponder format), with a shared license plate database as the backup for situations where the transponder doesn't read. See eg http://tollroadsnews.com/news/are-we-there-yet-a-test-of-national-toll-interoperability

[vdeane]

It might be a rocky interoperability at first then, because if some agencies drag their feet on installing the new readers, and if one of those happens to still use gate arms, that could be an issue.

[Brandon]

It might be a rocky interoperability at first then, because if some agencies drag their feet on installing the new readers, and if one of those happens to still use gate arms, that could be an issue.

Why would you use a gate arm in an E-Z Pass lane?  That's what cameras are for.

[vdeane]

It might be a rocky interoperability at first then, because if some agencies drag their feet on installing the new readers, and if one of those happens to still use gate arms, that could be an issue.

Why would you use a gate arm in an E-Z Pass lane?  That's what cameras are for.

Because some of the northeast toll authorities are stuck in the 1960s.  I don't think the Bridge Authority even has cameras.

[Scott5114]

Speaking of gate arms, I'm pretty sure there's still some K-Tag lanes with a gate arm and an advisory speed of 10.

[route56]

Speaking of gate arms, I'm pretty sure there's still some K-Tag lanes with a gate arm and an advisory speed of 10.

Those are combined Cash/K-TAG lanes. Most K-TAG only lanes have a speed limit (those signs are white, not yellow) of 20.

[WichitaRoads]

Speaking of gate arms, I'm pretty sure there's still some K-Tag lanes with a gate arm and an advisory speed of 10.

Those are combined Cash/K-TAG lanes. Most K-TAG only lanes have a speed limit (those signs are white, not yellow) of 20.

True. But as for gates, a large number still have them in the K-TAG lanes. That is, when they haven't been busted off, waiting for repair/replacement.

ICTRds

[route56]

True. But as for gates, a large number still have them in the K-TAG lanes. That is, when they haven't been busted off, waiting for repair/replacement.

I don't think the KTA believes in Open Road Tolling.

[bugo]

The speed of most Pikepass lanes is 75. The only Pikepass lane that you actually have to slow down that I know of is the toll plaza south ("east") of Muskogee on the Muskogee Turnpike.

[route56]

Just in case you hadn't heard the news, the KTA made sure its Oklahoma neighbors got the message:


50416 by richiekennedy56, on Flickr

[leroys73]

Any news on Texas cooperating?

[route56]

Any news on Texas cooperating?

Nothing new, AFAIK. Pikepass is accepted on NTTA roads ONLY. There's been no word on interoperability agreements between KTA and any of the Texas toll authorities.

The KTA does,  suggest that users that are regularly on both the Kansas and Dallas toll roads go with a Pikepass instead of a K-TAG.

[Mdcastle]

http://kfor.com/2014/08/04/oklahoma-pikepass-will-work-on-texas-tolls-in-a-few-days/

Does this mean K-Tag will also work in Texas, or TollTag will work in Kansas?