Toll Road 'minimum service standards'

[Phone_Harold]

With the advent of All Electronic Tolling (AET) and transponders (E-Z Pass, SunPass, PikePass, etc.); what 'minimum service standards' should apply?

I read about issues where a few dollar toll ended up as hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

One 'standard' I propose are signals indicating successful read of a transponder. 

Here is an example used by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) on a ramp: https://goo.gl/maps/L99VLwgmcYN2.  The signal indicates a successful read with a white 'THANK YOU' indication.  If you account has a low, but still positive receives the 'THANK YOU' with a second light with red lettering 'ACCOUNT BALANCE LOW'.  If the account is negative, only the 'ACCOUNT BALANCE LOW' illuminates.

The standard I propose requires some successful indication at least for one lane ramps.  It would be nice to know if the transponder is not working as well as any account issues!

Any other thoughts..?

[oscar]

Lotsa luck getting that to work with high-speed open-road tolling.

Sometimes I'll bypass the ORT lanes and use one with a booth (if there's one with a short or no line), just so I can get visual confirmation that my transponder is working and I don't have a low balance issue.

[ilpt4u]

The only real way to do a Real Time Notification for High Speed Electronic Tolling (ORT or AET) with Passive/Silent Transponders would be a Phone call, Text message, and/or Email per transaction. And as many states discourage if not outright ban cellphone use while driving, even Phone/Text/Email alerts could be troubling

The 1st and 2nd Generation I-Passes had LED displays for Toll amount collected and Account balance. 3rd and 4th (current) Generation I-Passes have no LED nor Audio nor any other Transponder based notifications

[jp the roadgeek]

Many agencies require that you provide either a credit card or routing #/acct# so that your account is replenished when it reaches a minimum balance.  EZ Drive MA requires this, and although I've used it a few times (I picked it up because there's no fee, NY requires a payment to obtain one), I haven't had a balance issue.  I would think that if your transponder wasn't working and toll by plate sent you a bill, you can argue that you had a defective device, and they'll swap out the defective one and reduce the toll to the EZ-Pass rate and debit your account accordingly.  It's when you don't pay the toll by plate and late fees and penalties accrue that it can be an issue; some states will put an administrative suspension on your license, and since many states are reciprocal, it'll pop back to your home state, and then getting an operating under suspension violation ensues, leading to more fines, your insurance goes through the roof when you get your license reinstated, and now you're probably out over $1000 because of failure to pay one silly toll. 

[ilpt4u]

IL/ISTHA does not require a CC for the I-Pass, but the deposit doubles to $20 I believe for a cash purchase. Tolls can be added to the transponder via Tollway Gift Cards sold @ Chicago area Jewel-Osco grocery stores. Can use the Tollway I-Pass account management site or call the 800 number to have the Gift Card value added to the I-Pass

[Phone_Harold]

Lotsa luck getting that to work with high-speed open-road tolling.

→  OTA has signals on high speed lanes.  Here is an example:  https://goo.gl/maps/xFtmUUNN7FN2.  The signals have been here since the early 1990s..

[ilpt4u]

→  OTA has signals on high speed lanes.  Here is an example:  https://goo.gl/maps/xFtmUUNN7FN2.  The signals have been here since the early 1990s..

Tougher to implement that type of signal on ISTHA Tollways, with ORT plazas often having 3 or 4 high speed lanes - would have to put a jersey barrier between each toll lane, or at least each pair of toll lanes. Overhead could be another option, but in tight traffic patterns how does one know it is his/her signal, and not car before or car after?

[Scott5114]

Could always print the last four digits of the tag ID on the back of it and use that on signs as a reference number. If you know your tag ends in "7557" then you know "7557 THANK YOU" means you're okay and "1848 LOW BALANCE" doesn't apply to you.

[jeffandnicole]

ORT here on the GSP in NJ is 5 lanes wide.  Impossible to have any sort of meaningful device to show your tag read was successful.  https://goo.gl/maps/XT3wNXAuFyL2

As far as traditional ramps and booths ago, the standards you propose have basically been a part of Electronic tolling systems since their inception.  The problems are few and far between, and seem more related to unforgiving agencies or tolling groups (say, public/private partnerships), rather than the actual system.

[formulanone]

Here is an example used by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) on a ramp: https://goo.gl/maps/L99VLwgmcYN2.  The signal indicates a successful read with a white 'THANK YOU' indication.  If you account has a low, but still positive receives the 'THANK YOU' with a second light with red lettering 'ACCOUNT BALANCE LOW'.  If the account is negative, only the 'ACCOUNT BALANCE LOW' illuminates.

The standard I propose requires some successful indication at least for one lane ramps.  It would be nice to know if the transponder is not working as well as any account issues!

I know SunPass and EZ-Pass do that, although not everywhere, just where you crawl around at "5-25" miles an hour. There really isn't a way to display that information at 65mph (85 if you're on Toll SH 130) to motorists, unless you're theoretically the only one on the road.

A text/email would be nice.

Hello, account holder xyz655321, you have a balance of $16.04, stay off local roads whenever you can, and have a nice day.

But driving while texting is a no-no and I think people get bummed out about to many emails, but to me, that's a better place to put it.

[1995hoo]

I definitely dislike the systems that use some kind of message display, instead of lights, to tell you you've paid (such as "E-ZPass THX"  or "E-ZPass PAID" ). People seem to slow down all the more to watch for those or read them, and they'd be a disaster in an ORT setup.

I kind of doubt displaying the transponder ID would help simply because so many people don't even know their own license plate numbers. I can't imagine they'd know, or learn, their transponder numbers.

[jeffandnicole]

I definitely dislike the systems that use some kind of message display, instead of lights, to tell you you've paid (such as "E-ZPass THX"  or "E-ZPass PAID" ). People seem to slow down all the more to watch for those or read them, and they'd be a disaster in an ORT setup.

I kind of doubt displaying the transponder ID would help simply because so many people don't even know their own license plate numbers. I can't imagine they'd know, or learn, their transponder numbers.

Not to mention the speed at one goes thru an ORT plaza wouldn't allow them the chance to read the image.  When vehicles are close together, the message could only be displayed for a fraction of a second.

For the majority of rush hour travelers, they would probably ignore whatever message is displayed anyway.  I know I haven't read the message in years, to the point where I could go thru every day and not be exactly sure what it says.  Many others during rush hour are the same way - they're just going thru and not reading the message.  It's the person that doesn't use EZ Pass very often that'll drive slow, see the message, and try to comprehend what it says.  The worst is when it says "No Tag Read", because then some drivers stop and try to hold up the transponder to the message screen...which isn't going to do a damn thing.

I think Maryland has their Red/Yellow/Green signal on permanent green, just to keep people moving.  Sure, it doesn't exactly serve the intended purpose of telling you needed info, but it's better than having traffic stopped because a transponder wasn't read, with no one available to do anything about it anyway.

[vdeane]

Heck, on the Thruway, many people slow down to read the lights.  It's pretty annoying when you specifically chose the 20 mph E-ZPass lane because you wanted to actually go 20 mph and people are slowing down to 5 mph to read the lights.  Those things must be the greatest traffic calming device a toll plaza could ask for.

NY requires a payment to obtain one

When I got mine at Wegmans, it cost $25, of which $15 was available immediately in my account balance and the remaining $10 was refunded when I set up automatic replenishment with my credit card.

[Joe The Dragon]

If an rent a car system only remits the ETC rate then they must change users the same RATE for each toll + also an CAP on admin fees. The city of SF is suing over that.

at least 2-3 days of unlimited tolls with no fines for interoperable mix ups. says when there is local mix of system that are only sub compatible with each other.

HOV fine amnesty for interoperable compatible mix ups some say only system has hov as an switch +2 and other as +3 but no +2 and +3 switch.

[kalvado]

Heck, on the Thruway, many people slow down to read the lights.  It's pretty annoying when you specifically chose the 20 mph E-ZPass lane because you wanted to actually go 20 mph and people are slowing down to 5 mph to read the lights.  Those things must be the greatest traffic calming device a toll plaza could ask for.

It would definitely help if EZpass didn't have a history of screwing up people over tag read problems. My last EZpass issue was resolved  nice and easy (for EZpass, I would rate it 3 out of 10 elsewhere) - but I would still be VERY concerned over a reading glitch.

[Henry]

I've always imagined this scenario when passing underneath a toll gantry or through an E-ZPass tollbooth:

When you pass through the transponder areas, you will see a signal device that may look like a normal traffic light (red/yellow/green setup) but behaves differently. A light and accompanying sound will remind you of the funding level on your E-ZPass or similar account. These are the lights and sounds that I'd pair up with:

Green light/ding: Your account has sufficient funds to cover your toll.
Yellow light/rapid beeping: While your account is still over zero, you may need to replenish your funds.
Red light/buzzer: Your account balance is at zero or below, and you must replenish your funds immediately.

Sure, the syatem has drawbacks, but I think that would work very well to the users' advantage.

[Phone_Harold]

→  OTA has signals on high speed lanes.  Here is an example:  https://goo.gl/maps/xFtmUUNN7FN2.  The signals have been here since the early 1990s..

Tougher to implement that type of signal on ISTHA Tollways, with ORT plazas often having 3 or 4 high speed lanes - would have to put a jersey barrier between each toll lane, or at least each pair of toll lanes. Overhead could be another option, but in tight traffic patterns how does one know it is his/her signal, and not car before or car after?

I agree when there are more than two lanes.  Two lanes seems to work for OTA.  The location above reads at 75 MPH with no problem.  One lane on a ramp should be no problem (and I think it should be a requirement).  I am not aware of anyone slowing down or stopping to read the signals.

On one case, the signals help me diagnose a bad 'transponder sticker' installed on one car, which OTA replaced ASAP.