I wish MTA would stop the transponder discrimination, but I'll probably start using the Verrazano both ways now every time.
This right here… when in the hell did this start? I’ve had a MD ez pass for over 15 years why do I need to pay the cash rate? If that’s the case why use my ez pass at all?
Don't you know the answer?
Because you don't vote here, and we need money. EZpass is about convenience as much as it is about rates. With AET you would pay cash rate + overhead anyway.
Well that also is a factor in it but how can they keep saying it’s faster when pretty much most states don’t have toll booths as well. I understand some may forget or never get the toll by mail but I guess any extra money no matter the means is extra income.
But IMHO, it's a broken promise. It was originally billed as an EZ-Pass is an EZ-Pass and you just needed one. But quickly morphed into not all EZ-Passes are the same and where yours was issued affects what you pay. I would not be surprised if some people get multiple ones so they can get the various state discounts and change them as they move from one state to another. At least Illinois, where I live, extends the EZ/I-Pass rate to all EZ-Passes but it's the exception these days.
Which will likely change the next time ISTHA needs more revenue for capital projects or there's a severe shortfall for operations. It did last for quite a while that you paid the discounted EZPass rate wherever you went. That mostly went out the window when agencies started moving to cashless tolling options, because I think the original idea baked into the discount is "we pay for fewer toll takers since fewer lanes are manned". I do also find it annoying, but that is the way of the world and there's little anyone can do about it. I fully expect that the next phase will be for state residency requirements for transponder service centers, so you'll suddenly have a lot of NJ residents who got NYS transponders to get tolling discounts for MTABT tolls and the like (since PANYNJ doesn't have any transponder discrimination, and even if they started that, given the bi-state nature of the agency, I imagine they'd include both NJCSC and the various NY agencies that issue transponders to continue to get discounted rate) be stuck having to pay the full tolls because they're not NYS residents.
I got my Maryland one away back when they did not charge service fees (they do now) I did have a MTA toll tag but I can’t find it plus I used to live in NJ so the replenish amount was almost around $300 I ended up paying in cash or getting billed by plate.
When I first moved to Maryland, I also had a MD pass. I also dropped it when they started imposing the monthly fee. I was able to get a MTA tag, which doesn't charge a monthly fee. [That is usually hard to get as an out-of-state resident, since they try to push the PANYNJ tags which do charge a monthly fee. I was able to get one by using my sister's NY address and then later changing it to my billing address.]
Once Larry Hogan became governor of MD, he put in place several motorist friendly provisions like reducing tolls and ending the monthly fee on EZ-Pass by executive order. Even though MD's EZ-Pass is now free of the monthly fee, I decided to keep my MTA pass, since it is easy for a new governor to simply re-impose the fee in MD, but in NY the fee cannot be imposed without new legislation. I do take advantage of the lower fees with a NY EZ-Pass when I am in the NY area, but I have to pay the out-of-state rates when crossing the toll bridges in MD.
https://mdta.maryland.gov/blog-category/mdta-news-items/e-zpass-everyone
Maryland's E-ZPass still has a monthly fee if you don't have a MD address and don't have 3 Maryland toll transactions in a month. I have the Hatem Bridge E-ZPass ($20/yr, only works on that bridge) on top of my New York one, because that crossing is the largest single toll on my drive between Baltimore/DC and Philadelphia.
Good to know. Thanks.
This information furthers my resolve to keep the NY MTA pass. I place avoiding monthly fees far over the relatively small discounts on the MD crossings. Sure, a trip to NY will likely also involve the Tydings bridge (and trips to DE or Philly will involve the Tydings Bridge and none of the NY crossings that I can get a discount for), but I really don't make trips into toll territory that often. Pre-COVID I tended to visit NYC family about twice a year, but I haven't been up there for 2 years now.
Locally, I almost never take the ICC and generally use I-695 to get around Baltimore, so it is only the bigger regional trips to DE and beyond that will have me crossing the Tydings where I even consider tolls. But that is not often enough to justify a monthly fee or able to avoid a monthly fee.
So even though I necessarily will cross the Tydings (where I would get a discount with a MD pass) more than the NY area crossings (where I get a discount with my NY MTA pass), the overall benefit to me, who is not a frequent traveller on toll facilities, would be on avoiding the monthly charge. I am glad to have a NY MTA pass, even though I am not a NY resident.
Ironically, I was a student at a master's program at NYU prior to moving to MD. I lived in NYC for 10 months, but never changed my license plates (from CA) or did anything formal to declare NY residency. I rarely used a toll crossing when I was there. I used it more often when I moved to MD, since I started making more trips back up to NY for family visits. So I have a NY tag as a MD resident, but never had a tag of any sort when I actually lived in NYC.
