E-ZPass and national interoperability

[Duke87]

In the other, I paid cash when I was using a rental car to go to a job interview with IBM (which is IBM's corporate policy, no exceptions, even if you're not an employee) and I paid cash on the Thruway because I didn't know how their reimbursement of all expenses would be affected by using the rental company's toll pass.

I'm not quite sure I'm following here. Are you saying that if you go to a job interview with IBM they will reimburse you for your travel costs even if they don't hire you? Because if so, wow. Every job interview I've ever traveled to I did so on my own dime.

Companies often require a rental car for long drives on business trips because if you took your personal vehicle they'd have to reimburse for mileage which is currently 56 cents per mile (set by the IRS). Rentals are cheaper for them.

It's also pretty standard for companies to require paying cash for tolls to avoid the "convenience fees" that the rental car companies charge. The policies on that almost always have exceptions for electronic-only toll roads.

Interesting policy. I have driven my own car hundreds of miles for work and gotten expense reports approved for it with no trouble. I get more questions about why I drive rather than flying than I get about why I drive my own car rather than renting one. Of course relative to airfare I'm saving them money, so yeah.

Even still, I would argue that it doesn't necessarily actually save the company money for an employee to rent instead of using their own car. If I were to have rented a car for my most recent trip it would have resulted in a considerably smaller expense report, but between having to get to the rental place and everything it would have easily consumed an extra hour and a half of my time. When you consider how much an employee's time costs, the gap can easily close (unless you want to screw your employees over and tell them that the extra time required doesn't count as company time and can't be charged for). Additionally, being forced to rent a car would make it a lot more difficult to combine business trips with personal travel, which given the opportunity to roadgeek is of course something I do whenever I can. I just make sure the extra miles are left off the expense report and driven on my time.

As for tolls, my tendency to meander my way home usually results in fewer tolls being incurred than otherwise would, so I'm actually saving my company a bit of money by roadgeeking since of course I don't ask to be reimbursed for tolls I didn't pay. 

If you have a New York State issued E-ZPass, you can actually click on the individual transaction number in transaction view and it will let you print a receipt for that transaction for expense reporting purposes.

Never even thought of doing this. I just print out a recent transaction view and circle the relevant ones with a red pen for the purpose of generating a "receipt". It contains dollar amounts along with date, time, and location so all the necessary info is there.

The one time I had to rent a car for work I brought my own EZPass tag rather than using theirs. Because neither I nor my company wants to pay the stupid fees.

[vdeane]

In the other, I paid cash when I was using a rental car to go to a job interview with IBM (which is IBM's corporate policy, no exceptions, even if you're not an employee) and I paid cash on the Thruway because I didn't know how their reimbursement of all expenses would be affected by using the rental company's toll pass.

I'm not quite sure I'm following here. Are you saying that if you go to a job interview with IBM they will reimburse you for your travel costs even if they don't hire you? Because if so, wow. Every job interview I've ever traveled to I did so on my own dime.

Yep.  And the company I had my internship with paid me 55 cents a mile to drive down from Clarkson.  Those are the only places that have ever paid me interview travel expenses though.

I don't think I've ever had a job interview (aside from phone interviews and ones conducted on campus) that didn't involve some roadgeeking.  And interview for an internship involved clinching NY 250; the one at the internship I got involved driving on new routes just going directly there and allowed me to take my first sign pictures in Utica.  I took sign pictures and did clinching for both the IBM interview and the one for the last company I worked for, and my NYSDOT interview involved clinching US 20 between NY 28 and I-88.

[Revive 755]

Dusting off this thread . . .

It appears that when the interoperability starts rolling out, there may be a new sign symbol for it; mention of this shows up on Page 3/6 in this document, and on Page 4/4 of these meeting minutes for the Minnesota MUTCD committee's January 2016 meeting.

[lordsutch]

Dusting off this thread . . .

It appears that when the interoperability starts rolling out, there may be a new sign symbol for it; mention of this shows up on Page 3/6 in this document, and on Page 4/4 of these meeting minutes for the Minnesota MUTCD committee's January 2016 meeting.

Once upon a time there was a proposed sign for the MUTCD, although it wasn't adopted apparently.

[roadfro]

Dusting off this thread . . .

It appears that when the interoperability starts rolling out, there may be a new sign symbol for it; mention of this shows up on Page 3/6 in this document, and on Page 4/4 of these meeting minutes for the Minnesota MUTCD committee's January 2016 meeting.

Once upon a time there was a proposed sign for the MUTCD, although it wasn't adopted apparently.

According to the PowerPoint presentation I saved regarding the proposed updates for the 2009 MUTCD, it looks like the ETC interoperability symbol sign was adopted by FHWA but reserved for future use and not placed in the manual. When the 2009 MUTCD was being proposed and adopted, interoperability was envisioned but no significant effort to achieve this was yet underway.

[mtantillo]

The National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices adopted language at its June meeting for new MUTCD language for the national interoperability symbol.

Funny thing is, there was no symbol shown in the proposal!! That symbol is being developed by a committee combining engineers and marketing folks involved in the toll industry. These folks will also come up with the name for the interoperable network, in addition to branding and a symbol. The symbol proposed in the 2009 MUTCD draft was rejected as it looks too much like the wi-fi symbol.

The thought is that the new symbol would be "stuck onto" the local ETC brand symbol, in the corner or wherever there is space. The engineers do not want to install new (larger) signs with room for another symbol, so the thought was "wherever it fits". There was some discussion over whether or not use of the symbol should be mandatory, and I think it was left as Guidance, as toll industry officials feel that information should be shared via postcards and email to ETC account holders, rather than posted on signs.

--------

At this point in time, everyone knows that the October 1, 2016 deadline won't be met. But the industry hopes to have an implementation plan in place by then. The thought is that there will be a new national standard ETC protocol, and systems would quickly convert to read both their local protocol and the national one, and dual mode transponders issued to those who opt into national interop. Video tolling of license plates associated with toll accounts would fill in gaps, and a clearinghouse would be established to handle transactions across regions. Then toll agencies will have a decade or so to phase out legacy equipment in favor of the new national standard, which is likely to be one of the sticker tag formats. This is at least what industry chatter suggests.

But meanwhile toll agencies seem to be making progress negotiating IOP agreements. By the end of 2017 we are likely to see FL, GA, SC, NC, TX, KS, and OK all interoperable with each other as SC is looking to join FL's block and the TX/OK/KS block is working on complete IOP, and then linking the two would give a good chunk of the country access to one system. E-ZPass is the elephant in the room here as they use ancient equipment, but comprise of more than 3/4 of the toll industry, so they have effective veto power.

I've been looking for a good source of info which discusses the current status of IOP and the challenges associated with migration to a national standard. This article, while covering from a Minnesota perspective, covers the topic very well and concisely: http://streets.mn/2015/10/01/mn-pass-lacks-electronic-toll-collection-interoperability-and-technology/

Enjoy!

[MASTERNC]

Looks like the first major progress has been made, although it is imperfect (and possibly confusing).  The Central Florida Expressway toll roads will accept E-ZPass this spring (and will soon offer E-ZPass compatible transponders).  However, Florida's Turnpike and other roads will not accept E-ZPass.  That said, this is helpful for tourists from the Northeast who go to Orlando and Disney, as they will encounter compatible toll roads going from the airport and around Disney World.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/traffic/os-ezpass-central-florida-tolls-20171109-story.html

[1995hoo]

So what happens if you drive on one of those roads with both an E-ZPass and a SunPass on your windshield? Is the recommendation simply to stick the E-ZPass in the center armrest or the glovebox or whatever? (Not totally a hypothetical question since we will probably drive on FL-417, at a minimum, on our Christmas trip next month.)

[lordsutch]

So what happens if you drive on one of those roads with both an E-ZPass and a SunPass on your windshield? Is the recommendation simply to stick the E-ZPass in the center armrest or the glovebox or whatever? (Not totally a hypothetical question since we will probably drive on FL-417, at a minimum, on our Christmas trip next month.)

You might need to use an RFID-blocker baggie to be sure the E-ZPass isn't read. It's also possible they're planning on "accepting" E-ZPass without reading the transponder (by looking up plates in the IAG database when there's no EPass or SunPass read), in much the same way they already "accept" the 6C tags from NC and GA.

[mrsman]

So what happens if you drive on one of those roads with both an E-ZPass and a SunPass on your windshield? Is the recommendation simply to stick the E-ZPass in the center armrest or the glovebox or whatever? (Not totally a hypothetical question since we will probably drive on FL-417, at a minimum, on our Christmas trip next month.)

You might need to use an RFID-blocker baggie to be sure the E-ZPass isn't read. It's also possible they're planning on "accepting" E-ZPass without reading the transponder (by looking up plates in the IAG database when there's no EPass or SunPass read), in much the same way they already "accept" the 6C tags from NC and GA.

It is welcome to see more and more agencies accepting E-ZPass.  Even though the EZ-Pass technology may not be as modern or as superior in a technological way as the systems in Texas, Florida, or California, it is the system that is used in at least part of 16 states that together represent 40% of the US population, so in some ways it is the default national transponder.

The Orlando area certainly gets many visitors from the Northeast and Midwest who can benefit by this.  Hopefully, this will encourage other areas to follow suit, especially the other toll agencies in Florida.

[Joe The Dragon]

So what happens if you drive on one of those roads with both an E-ZPass and a SunPass on your windshield? Is the recommendation simply to stick the E-ZPass in the center armrest or the glovebox or whatever? (Not totally a hypothetical question since we will probably drive on FL-417, at a minimum, on our Christmas trip next month.)

You might need to use an RFID-blocker baggie to be sure the E-ZPass isn't read. It's also possible they're planning on "accepting" E-ZPass without reading the transponder (by looking up plates in the IAG database when there's no EPass or SunPass read), in much the same way they already "accept" the 6C tags from NC and GA.

It is welcome to see more and more agencies accepting E-ZPass.  Even though the EZ-Pass technology may not be as modern or as superior in a technological way as the systems in Texas, Florida, or California, it is the system that is used in at least part of 16 states that together represent 40% of the US population, so in some ways it is the default national transponder.

The Orlando area certainly gets many visitors from the Northeast and Midwest who can benefit by this.  Hopefully, this will encourage other areas to follow suit, especially the other toll agencies in Florida.

Central Florida toll road is near the auto train and has links to the non EZ-pass one will that one bill EZ-Pass users the penalty rates? Give them unlimited gates over X days with no penalty

I did some quick street viewing Central Florida toll road has Epass and Surpass logos at tolls. Some are just sun pass logos on parts of them. Say they put an we take E-pass E-zpass and surpass near the auto train on ramps that will confuse people and sending them a bill with $100 a POP base fines will kill tourism.

E-zPass has a history of local names with the EZ-pass logo mainly just at the border points with idea being push that our logo = e-zpass.

also E-pass to E-zpass users sounds like an local name based on E-Zpass

[Buffaboy]

So then are more of these blue signs going up in FL? How will people know that it means interoperability?

[1995hoo]

So what happens if you drive on one of those roads with both an E-ZPass and a SunPass on your windshield? Is the recommendation simply to stick the E-ZPass in the center armrest or the glovebox or whatever? (Not totally a hypothetical question since we will probably drive on FL-417, at a minimum, on our Christmas trip next month.)

You might need to use an RFID-blocker baggie to be sure the E-ZPass isn't read. It's also possible they're planning on "accepting" E-ZPass without reading the transponder (by looking up plates in the IAG database when there's no EPass or SunPass read), in much the same way they already "accept" the 6C tags from NC and GA.

It is welcome to see more and more agencies accepting E-ZPass.  Even though the EZ-Pass technology may not be as modern or as superior in a technological way as the systems in Texas, Florida, or California, it is the system that is used in at least part of 16 states that together represent 40% of the US population, so in some ways it is the default national transponder.

The Orlando area certainly gets many visitors from the Northeast and Midwest who can benefit by this.  Hopefully, this will encourage other areas to follow suit, especially the other toll agencies in Florida.

Central Florida toll road is near the auto train and has links to the non EZ-pass one will that one bill EZ-Pass users the penalty rates? Give them unlimited gates over X days with no penalty

I did some quick street viewing Central Florida toll road has Epass and Surpass logos at tolls. Some are just sun pass logos on parts of them. Say they put an we take E-pass E-zpass and surpass near the auto train on ramps that will confuse people and sending them a bill with $100 a POP base fines will kill tourism.

E-zPass has a history of local names with the EZ-pass logo mainly just at the border points with idea being push that our logo = e-zpass.

also E-pass to E-zpass users sounds like an local name based on E-Zpass

We were in Florida last week and the week before. The E-ZPass interoperability was not yet up and running as far as we could tell, at least based on the utter lack of any signage and there being no charges posted to our E-ZPass account (though I should note we do have a SunPass and it was properly charged, so that could also explain the lack of E-ZPass charges). The CFX press release says it's to be sometime during "spring 2018." We only used three toll roads anyway–the new Wekiva Parkway segment of FL-429 southbound when we first arrived, the full length of the main segment of FL-429 when we arrived and on our way back to the Auto Train at the end of the trip, and eastbound Alligator Alley on Dec. 22–and of those three Alligator Alley is not scheduled to have interoperability. (We didn't use the Wekiva Parkway segment on the way back because I diverted west to finish a clinch of FL-46.)

The thing that will potentially become very confusing for some users is when a road like FL-429, or more likely the well-established FL-417 on the other side of Orlando, switches toll agency jurisdiction. Both of those roads are partially Central Florida Expressway facilities and partially Florida's Turnpike Enterprise facilities, with the change of jurisdiction marked by roadside signs that probably don't mean much to most people. In the past that hasn't been an issue because both of them accept both E-Pass and SunPass. But going forward, only the CFX facilities are supposed to accept E-ZPass, not the Turnpike facilities, so that's likely to be a bit of a problem when E-ZPass users understandably don't understand why one toll plaza on a road accepts E-ZPass but another a few miles further down the road does not.

Regarding tourism and the Auto Train, Amtrak still offers maps to people at the station while you're waiting for your car, though I seldom see anyone other than elderly people requesting them. Their map recommends FL-46 to get to I-95 and I-4 to get to Disney World and points west. No doubt the FL-46 recommendation is due in part to not wanting to recommend toll roads, though it could also just be an old map they've never updated. The bigger issue will be for people whose sat-navs guide them onto the toll roads. This may be a topic for another thread, but I found it interesting to note last week that the sat-nav in my wife's car (a 2015 Acura TLX) told us to stay left for the ORT lanes on FL-429, whereas on past trips the sat-nav in my car (a 2004 Acura TL) would tell me to exit right to the cash lanes. I wonder what sort of programming convention they use for those sorts of places. I had assumed they probably routed you to the cash lanes for the same sort of reason they don't route you onto HOV facilities–defaulting to the option that is least likely to get you into trouble if you don't qualify for the "special" lane. But maybe that isn't true anymore.

Incidentally, I meant to post this in a Florida thread last week, but I'll mention it here instead. Driving on the main segment of FL-429 on the CFE portion, I was amused to see they used EXIT TABS with the SunPass logo to indicate SunPass users could use the ORT lanes at the toll plazas! See Street View image linked below. (The "exit tab" could arguably be in the wrong place on this sign if you're a stickler for right versus left.)

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6183126,-81.5366145,3a,75y,174.52h,90.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1IEy_a4E1hi4HBNgw6mtMQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[UCFKnights]

So what happens if you drive on one of those roads with both an E-ZPass and a SunPass on your windshield? Is the recommendation simply to stick the E-ZPass in the center armrest or the glovebox or whatever? (Not totally a hypothetical question since we will probably drive on FL-417, at a minimum, on our Christmas trip next month.)

You might need to use an RFID-blocker baggie to be sure the E-ZPass isn't read. It's also possible they're planning on "accepting" E-ZPass without reading the transponder (by looking up plates in the IAG database when there's no EPass or SunPass read), in much the same way they already "accept" the 6C tags from NC and GA.

It is welcome to see more and more agencies accepting E-ZPass.  Even though the EZ-Pass technology may not be as modern or as superior in a technological way as the systems in Texas, Florida, or California, it is the system that is used in at least part of 16 states that together represent 40% of the US population, so in some ways it is the default national transponder.

The Orlando area certainly gets many visitors from the Northeast and Midwest who can benefit by this.  Hopefully, this will encourage other areas to follow suit, especially the other toll agencies in Florida.

Central Florida toll road is near the auto train and has links to the non EZ-pass one will that one bill EZ-Pass users the penalty rates? Give them unlimited gates over X days with no penalty

I did some quick street viewing Central Florida toll road has Epass and Surpass logos at tolls. Some are just sun pass logos on parts of them. Say they put an we take E-pass E-zpass and surpass near the auto train on ramps that will confuse people and sending them a bill with $100 a POP base fines will kill tourism.

E-zPass has a history of local names with the EZ-pass logo mainly just at the border points with idea being push that our logo = e-zpass.

also E-pass to E-zpass users sounds like an local name based on E-Zpass

We were in Florida last week and the week before. The E-ZPass interoperability was not yet up and running as far as we could tell, at least based on the utter lack of any signage and there being no charges posted to our E-ZPass account (though I should note we do have a SunPass and it was properly charged, so that could also explain the lack of E-ZPass charges). The CFX press release says it's to be sometime during "spring 2018." We only used three toll roads anyway–the new Wekiva Parkway segment of FL-429 southbound when we first arrived, the full length of the main segment of FL-429 when we arrived and on our way back to the Auto Train at the end of the trip, and eastbound Alligator Alley on Dec. 22–and of those three Alligator Alley is not scheduled to have interoperability. (We didn't use the Wekiva Parkway segment on the way back because I diverted west to finish a clinch of FL-46.)

The thing that will potentially become very confusing for some users is when a road like FL-429, or more likely the well-established FL-417 on the other side of Orlando, switches toll agency jurisdiction. Both of those roads are partially Central Florida Expressway facilities and partially Florida's Turnpike Enterprise facilities, with the change of jurisdiction marked by roadside signs that probably don't mean much to most people. In the past that hasn't been an issue because both of them accept both E-Pass and SunPass. But going forward, only the CFX facilities are supposed to accept E-ZPass, not the Turnpike facilities, so that's likely to be a bit of a problem when E-ZPass users understandably don't understand why one toll plaza on a road accepts E-ZPass but another a few miles further down the road does not.

Regarding tourism and the Auto Train, Amtrak still offers maps to people at the station while you're waiting for your car, though I seldom see anyone other than elderly people requesting them. Their map recommends FL-46 to get to I-95 and I-4 to get to Disney World and points west. No doubt the FL-46 recommendation is due in part to not wanting to recommend toll roads, though it could also just be an old map they've never updated. The bigger issue will be for people whose sat-navs guide them onto the toll roads. This may be a topic for another thread, but I found it interesting to note last week that the sat-nav in my wife's car (a 2015 Acura TLX) told us to stay left for the ORT lanes on FL-429, whereas on past trips the sat-nav in my car (a 2004 Acura TL) would tell me to exit right to the cash lanes. I wonder what sort of programming convention they use for those sorts of places. I had assumed they probably routed you to the cash lanes for the same sort of reason they don't route you onto HOV facilities–defaulting to the option that is least likely to get you into trouble if you don't qualify for the "special" lane. But maybe that isn't true anymore.

Incidentally, I meant to post this in a Florida thread last week, but I'll mention it here instead. Driving on the main segment of FL-429 on the CFE portion, I was amused to see they used EXIT TABS with the SunPass logo to indicate SunPass users could use the ORT lanes at the toll plazas! See Street View image linked below. (The "exit tab" could arguably be in the wrong place on this sign if you're a stickler for right versus left.)

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6183126,-81.5366145,3a,75y,174.52h,90.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1IEy_a4E1hi4HBNgw6mtMQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Those tabs were added a while back as Orlando originally didn't post Sunpass signs at all, and many people got confused and thought they had to stop and pay tolls, and the design of the original signs was not conducive to adding the logo with just a simple small sticker. Technically Sunpass is accepted to both the right and left, so I'd say its shuldn't necessarily be on the left.

[MCRoads]

Sort of related to this thread, my parents have 2 E-ZPASS' from Virginia, just so if we do go to the "Toll Coast" , we don't have to constantly stop and pay cash. It would be nice if everywhere used E-ZPASS, but I doubt 100% of the US, Canada, and Mexico will ever switch to it. Some might, but others won't, for one reason or another.

[1995hoo]

Those tabs were added a while back as Orlando originally didn't post Sunpass signs at all, and many people got confused and thought they had to stop and pay tolls, and the design of the original signs was not conducive to adding the logo with just a simple small sticker. Technically Sunpass is accepted to both the right and left, so I'd say its shuldn't necessarily be on the left.

That's true, but since the sign on the right also has the E-Pass and SunPass logos in the top right corner, I construe the "exit tab" as referring solely to the ORT lanes. (BTW, our sat-nav would tell us to "exit left" onto FL-429 at those ORT lanes. I found the choice of wording odd because I view it as the cash-payers being the ones who have to exit to the right to stop and pay.)

Sort of related to this thread, my parents have 2 E-ZPASS' from Virginia, just so if we do go to the "Toll Coast" , we don't have to constantly stop and pay cash. It would be nice if everywhere used E-ZPASS, but I doubt 100% of the US, Canada, and Mexico will ever switch to it. Some might, but others won't, for one reason or another.

That's more or less why I have a SunPass. We live in Virginia, but most years we visit relatives in Florida twice a year and I hate stopping to pay cash at toll plazas, especially on roads like the ones near Orlando where you have to pay a couple of dollars every few miles.

One thing your parents ought to know about having a Virginia E-ZPass is that the terms and conditions say that if you don't use the transponder at all for a six-month period, they can cancel your account for inactivity. In practice, they don't do that–first they send you a letter saying your account will be cancelled unless you use the transponder or call them to say you want to keep the account open. I got one of those letters once about 12 or 13 years ago and when I called to say I wanted the account to stay open they said OK but also said that if I didn't use it in the next six months, the account would be cancelled without further notice to me. I have no idea whether they still do this because with the advent of the HO/T lanes I typically have at least two transactions per week.

[mrsman]

Those tabs were added a while back as Orlando originally didn't post Sunpass signs at all, and many people got confused and thought they had to stop and pay tolls, and the design of the original signs was not conducive to adding the logo with just a simple small sticker. Technically Sunpass is accepted to both the right and left, so I'd say its shuldn't necessarily be on the left.

That's true, but since the sign on the right also has the E-Pass and SunPass logos in the top right corner, I construe the "exit tab" as referring solely to the ORT lanes. (BTW, our sat-nav would tell us to "exit left" onto FL-429 at those ORT lanes. I found the choice of wording odd because I view it as the cash-payers being the ones who have to exit to the right to stop and pay.)

Is there any reason to encourage those with an E-Pass or a SunPass to exit and use the tollbooths? It seems like there is enough room for drivers to go through the ORT lanes and still safely merge to the right if they want the next exit.

[This wouldn't apply to many of the older style plazas like on NJTP or PA Tpk where everyone jockeys for position and it is nice to know that if for some reason you can't get to the ORT lanes, you can still pay w/o cash at the booths.  For the style of turnpike depicted in the link, one has to physically exit the highway to get to the booths so there is no reason why a car with a sunpass or epass could not just continue on the main highway lanes.

[lordsutch]

One thing your parents ought to know about having a Virginia E-ZPass is that the terms and conditions say that if you don't use the transponder at all for a six-month period, they can cancel your account for inactivity. In practice, they don't do that–first they send you a letter saying your account will be cancelled unless you use the transponder or call them to say you want to keep the account open. I got one of those letters once about 12 or 13 years ago and when I called to say I wanted the account to stay open they said OK but also said that if I didn't use it in the next six months, the account would be cancelled without further notice to me. I have no idea whether they still do this because with the advent of the HO/T lanes I typically have at least two transactions per week.

Yep, they still do this. However, they sent it to my email - I never got a letter in the mail.

[Joe The Dragon]

Sort of related to this thread, my parents have 2 E-ZPASS' from Virginia, just so if we do go to the "Toll Coast" , we don't have to constantly stop and pay cash. It would be nice if everywhere used E-ZPASS, but I doubt 100% of the US, Canada, and Mexico will ever switch to it. Some might, but others won't, for one reason or another.

Canada has like 2-3 differnt ones does Mexico have 1?

[Joe The Dragon]

Those tabs were added a while back as Orlando originally didn't post Sunpass signs at all, and many people got confused and thought they had to stop and pay tolls, and the design of the original signs was not conducive to adding the logo with just a simple small sticker. Technically Sunpass is accepted to both the right and left, so I'd say its shuldn't necessarily be on the left.

That's true, but since the sign on the right also has the E-Pass and SunPass logos in the top right corner, I construe the "exit tab" as referring solely to the ORT lanes. (BTW, our sat-nav would tell us to "exit left" onto FL-429 at those ORT lanes. I found the choice of wording odd because I view it as the cash-payers being the ones who have to exit to the right to stop and pay.)

Is there any reason to encourage those with an E-Pass or a SunPass to exit and use the tollbooths? It seems like there is enough room for drivers to go through the ORT lanes and still safely merge to the right if they want the next exit.

[This wouldn't apply to many of the older style plazas like on NJTP or PA Tpk where everyone jockeys for position and it is nice to know that if for some reason you can't get to the ORT lanes, you can still pay w/o cash at the booths.  For the style of turnpike depicted in the link, one has to physically exit the highway to get to the booths so there is no reason why a car with a sunpass or epass could not just continue on the main highway lanes.

there are a few places where the ORT point is to close to the exit so you have to take the slow lanes and they have ETC only lanes at the ones where need to use them.

[vdeane]

Sort of related to this thread, my parents have 2 E-ZPASS' from Virginia, just so if we do go to the "Toll Coast" , we don't have to constantly stop and pay cash. It would be nice if everywhere used E-ZPASS, but I doubt 100% of the US, Canada, and Mexico will ever switch to it. Some might, but others won't, for one reason or another.

Canada has like 2-3 differnt ones does Mexico have 1?

Canada has a lot because each toll road/bridge has their own, with none being interoperable.  Of the top of my head, I can think of separate transponders for ON 407, A-25, A-30, NS 104, and the Confederation Bridge.  There could be more out west.

[kphoger]

Sort of related to this thread, my parents have 2 E-ZPASS' from Virginia, just so if we do go to the "Toll Coast" , we don't have to constantly stop and pay cash. It would be nice if everywhere used E-ZPASS, but I doubt 100% of the US, Canada, and Mexico will ever switch to it. Some might, but others won't, for one reason or another.

Canada has like 2-3 differnt ones does Mexico have 1?

Mexico's primary electronic toll system is called IAVE (Identificador Automático de Vehículos), and it is the system used on highways that are under the control of CAPUFE (Caminos y Puentes Federales), which is the federal highway system.

Note that not every highway bearing a federal highway shield is administered by CAPUFE.  For example, the Autopista Premier (Agujita–Allende, Coahuila) is operated on concession.  It is federal highway 57D, categorized by the SCT as "Red Federal de Cuota" (despite Google Maps thinking it's a state highway), but it is not administered by CAPUFE.  I don't recall seeing a IAVE lane (though I could be mistaken), and I can't find any reference to there being one either.

A list of IAVE toll booths is here (.pdf warning).
A list of IAVE-interoperable toll booths is here (.pdf warning).

[1995hoo]

Those tabs were added a while back as Orlando originally didn't post Sunpass signs at all, and many people got confused and thought they had to stop and pay tolls, and the design of the original signs was not conducive to adding the logo with just a simple small sticker. Technically Sunpass is accepted to both the right and left, so I'd say its shuldn't necessarily be on the left.

That's true, but since the sign on the right also has the E-Pass and SunPass logos in the top right corner, I construe the "exit tab" as referring solely to the ORT lanes. (BTW, our sat-nav would tell us to "exit left" onto FL-429 at those ORT lanes. I found the choice of wording odd because I view it as the cash-payers being the ones who have to exit to the right to stop and pay.)

Is there any reason to encourage those with an E-Pass or a SunPass to exit and use the tollbooths? It seems like there is enough room for drivers to go through the ORT lanes and still safely merge to the right if they want the next exit.

[This wouldn't apply to many of the older style plazas like on NJTP or PA Tpk where everyone jockeys for position and it is nice to know that if for some reason you can't get to the ORT lanes, you can still pay w/o cash at the booths.  For the style of turnpike depicted in the link, one has to physically exit the highway to get to the booths so there is no reason why a car with a sunpass or epass could not just continue on the main highway lanes.

I don't know why they post the logos for the cash lanes on the one seen in the link I posted, as there is no exit right after the toll plaza. I suspect it's simply a reassurance thing so that people don't feel compelled to make last-minute lane changes, or alternatively perhaps it's there so that if for whatever reason the ORT lanes are closed, people know they can still use their transponders in the other lanes? (I encountered a situation on the PA-43 toll road some five or so years ago where the ORT lanes were closed for roadwork, so it's not a totally hypothetical notion on my part.)

[hbelkins]

An interesting observation about how my West Virginia E-Z Pass is billed.

My recent trip to the Delaware meet took me through three toll facilities -- the Bay Bridge, the entrance ramp to the southbound WV Turnpike at Beckley, and the toll booth at Ghent. My reads for the two WV facilities showed only the transponder number. My read for the Bay Bridge showed both transponder number and license number. (A WV E-Z Pass can be used in more than one vehicle as long as the license plate number is registered. MdTA must be doing some cross-referencing between transponders and camera recordings.

[jeffandnicole]

An interesting observation about how my West Virginia E-Z Pass is billed.

My recent trip to the Delaware meet took me through three toll facilities -- the Bay Bridge, the entrance ramp to the southbound WV Turnpike at Beckley, and the toll booth at Ghent. My reads for the two WV facilities showed only the transponder number. My read for the Bay Bridge showed both transponder number and license number. (A WV E-Z Pass can be used in more than one vehicle as long as the license plate number is registered. MdTA must be doing some cross-referencing between transponders and camera recordings.

Or your tag wasn't read, and they looked up your account via the tag number. 

Due to the literally hundreds of thousands of tag reads a day, there would be no reason to check a valid read.  What would they do if a tag was in a car which didn't have a registered license plate...take away the payment, mail a bill and hope that person sends in a payment?  That would be more costly and time consuming, and then there's no guarantee they'll be paid anyway.

In this case, I'm thinking there was a problem with the lane equipment which simply didn't read your tag.