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[Revive 755]

For some reason the IN 62 bridge across the Wabash River uses Wabash Pass instead of going with EZ Pass:
http://www.in.gov/indot/2708.htm

[mgk920]

Part of the reason for coming up with goofy spellings or weird words has to do with trademark law. A mark that is merely "descriptive" is less likely to be granted strong protection under common law trademark principles than a mark that is "fanciful" unless the owner of the descriptive mark can show that it's obtained "secondary meaning" (and, even then, his trademark rights might not extend beyond the area in which he competes). The word "Xerox" has nothing to do with, well, anything, so it's more reasonably protected than a name like "Fred's Photocopiers" (because another guy named Fred might well be able to open an identically-named business elsewhere—indeed there was a lawsuit against a garage owner whose business was named Ed Sullivan's, and he won). The name "Easy Pass" isn't really creative in any way and could arguably be "merely descriptive" of any sort of system that speeds your way through any kind of barrier.

That's all vastly oversimplified, of course, but it's part of the reason for the dopey spellings and cutesy names.

(Wal-Mart's corporate name is actually written as I just spelled it; the branding of the stores as "Walmart" is more recent, as until the last few years many, perhaps most, were signed as "Wal[star symbol]Mart.")

That was the reason given when a local micro-brewer here in Appleton was recently denied a federal trademark for their signature name 'Stone Cellar', but scored a federal trademark when they changed it to 'Stone Arch™'.

The same thing, we all know that AASHTO holds the federal trademark to the interstate highway system and sign design, but not to anything else that might be called 'Interstate' (ie, 'Interstate Batteries™').

Mike

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

Note that in all cases, there may still be toll facilities within given states that don't accept the ETC system in question. Also, in many cases some states have, or used to have, other ETC systems that are compatible with the better-known one named below (example: the LeeWay ETC system in the Fort Myers area is compatible with SunPass), and I haven't tried to list all the various compatibilities. Likewise, some states rebranded their systems (example: Virginia's "Smart Tag" became E-ZPass) and I haven't tried to list the old names.

E-ZPass: Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia; also the Peace Bridge's toll plaza is in Ontario but accepts E-ZPass

NC QuickPass: North Carolina (limited interoperability with E-ZPass if you get the hard-case unit; the sticker-type transponder isn't interoperable)

Palmetto Pass: South Carolina

Peach Pass: Georgia

SunPass: Florida; a couple of the causeways in the Miami area used an incompatible system called "C-Pass" that was supposed to be joining the SunPass network, but I don't know whether that actually happened

Freedom Pass: Alabama

MnPass: Minnesota

K-Tag: Kansas

Pikepass: Oklahoma

TxTAG: Texas

EXpressToll: Colorado

FasTrak: California

Good to Go!: Washington State

A couple of different ETC systems in Nova Scotia and PEI are compatible with each other but not with E-ZPass or other US-based ETC systems.


I'm sure there's something I've overlooked.

Also, there is GeauxPass in Louisiana (gotta spell it the Louisiana way) used on the LA 1 expressway, the CCC in New Orleans (as long as they are collecting tolls), and any future toll roads in the state.

[cpzilliacus]

For some reason the IN 62 bridge across the Wabash River uses Wabash Pass instead of going with EZ Pass:
http://www.in.gov/indot/2708.htm

Curious.  Wonder if Indiana did not bother to install an E-ZPass participating electronic toll collection operation because the big E-ZPass operation in the state is the Indiana Toll Road, run by a private-sector concession?

[Brandon]

For some reason the IN 62 bridge across the Wabash River uses Wabash Pass instead of going with EZ Pass:
http://www.in.gov/indot/2708.htm

Curious.  Wonder if Indiana did not bother to install an E-ZPass participating electronic toll collection operation because the big E-ZPass operation in the state is the Indiana Toll Road, run by a private-sector concession?

The Wabash Bridge is also way at the other end of the state from the Toll Road.

[hbelkins]

The Wabash Bridge is also way at the other end of the state from the Toll Road.

So, too, will be the new bridges across the Ohio River between Southern Indiana and Also Southern Indiana a/k/a Louisville, and no doubt they'll use E-ZPass.

[oscar]

In Utah, there's Express Pass for the I-15 HOT lanes in the Salt Lake City area.  I don't know the details of its transponder technology.  AFAIK, no interoperability with other e-toll systems, all of which are far away from Salt Lake City.  The transponders are switchable for toll-free use when carpooling, but the switch and the rest of the transponder look a lot different than for E-ZPass Flex transponders in the D.C. area.

[vdeane]

I don't mind the MiddleCapitals, though I don't like the odd placement of E-ZPass and a I detest exclamation marks in brands.  It makes it impossible to write about the brand without looking like you're endorsing it.  Plus it's grammatically incorrect.

I don't see why toll tags should need brand name protection anyways.  It's not like there's any competition, they have guaranteed monopolies.

[agentsteel53]

I detest exclamation marks in brands.

indeed.  the only thing worse is question marks in a brand, like "The Thing?" (Arizona tourist trap), and a brand of jeans which placed, oddly enough, a question mark after an imperative - but I believe they have gone away from it and now are simply "Guess", which is abstruse and postmodern-for-the-sake-of-being-postmodern* but otherwise not all that objectionable.

* is there any other sake? probably not

[pctech]

Yeah Geaux pass is the state wide electronic toll system for Louisiana. We are late to the toll road, HOV express lane game here.

Mark

[Mdcastle]

So to revisit this:
EZ Pass uses Mark IV/ Kapsch Trafficom with active transponders and most/all readers can accept only these transonders?

South Carolina uses EZ-Pass compatible equipment but is not linked?

Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma use Transcore ATA1500 passive transponders and 6B stickers.

Florida used old ATA active transponders, ATA1500 passive, and 6B stickers. The old active ones are going to be terminated so that EZ-Pass can be programmed into tri-mode readers.

Georgia uses 6C stickers. But how does Florida read them and vice versa with only tri-mode readers in Florida.

Washington, Utah, and Colorado use 6C with no linkage, assuming these all have single mode readers.

Minnesota decided to be weird and use Telematics wireless.

What does Michigan use?

What does California use?

North Carolina uses Transcore transponders that can be read by EZ-Pass equipment and vice versal

[myosh_tino]

What does California use?

It's called FasTrak using a specification called "Title 21".  It is not compatible with any other ETC system.

[iBallasticwolf2]

Kentucky will soon be joining E-ZPass (Or whatever it is called now) with the new Louisville toll bridges opening.

[Buffaboy]

Some bridges crossing the Hudson in NYC are supposed to get AET (or it may be the new TZ Bridge).

[Brandon]

So to revisit this:

What does Michigan use?

Michigan doesn't.  None of the bridges use electronic tolling, nor does the tunnel.

[Rothman]

Some bridges crossing the Hudson in NYC are supposed to get AET (or it may be the new TZ Bridge).

Bridges crossing the Hudson in NYC...so...GW Bridge.

[froggie]

It should be noted that, while North Carolina uses Transcore transponders, their toll facilites are set up to not just read EZPass transponders, but also Florida's.  http://www.ncdot.gov/turnpike/tolls/

According to the website, NC's Transcore transponders also work in Florida.

[Mdcastle]

Did Washington State originally use Telematics Wireless like MN?

[DeaconG]

Florida's SunPass and Georgia's Peach Pass are interoperable, they have been for almost a year.

[Rothman]

Florida's SunPass and Georgia's Peach Pass are interoperable, they have been for almost a year.

Now it makes you wonder if NC transponders work on both of them.

[Thing 342]

Florida's SunPass and Georgia's Peach Pass are interoperable, they have been for almost a year.

Now it makes you wonder if NC transponders work on both of them.

They do. Theoretically, one could travel throughout the east coast and use a hard-case NC Quickpass for pretty much every ETC road encountered (including SC's roads which were made compatible in the past year). I would get one were it not for NC's inane requirement that a single transponder can only be used with the same license plate.

[jeffandnicole]

Florida's SunPass and Georgia's Peach Pass are interoperable, they have been for almost a year.

Now it makes you wonder if NC transponders work on both of them.

They do. Theoretically, one could travel throughout the east coast and use a hard-case NC Quickpass for pretty much every ETC road encountered (including SC's roads which were made compatible in the past year). I would get one were it not for NC's inane requirement that a single transponder can only be used with the same license plate.

I think many have that requirement, mostly so that if the tag doesn't work, they can review the tag and see that it's associated with an account.

What would stop you from updating the license plate when you switch it to another car?  And if you are constantly moving the device around, then you should get another one.

[peterj920]

Thanks to MAP 21 signed into law in 2012, all state electronic toll collections have to be networked by October 1, 2016 so we're a year away from only needing one pass that works nationwide!

[myosh_tino]

Thanks to MAP 21 signed into law in 2012, all state electronic toll collections have to be networked by October 1, 2016 so we're a year away from only needing one pass that works nationwide!

Call me skeptical but I have a funny feeling that Oct 1, 2016 deadline is probably going to be extended.  Trying to get the hundreds of different tolling agencies to agree to one single system is a pretty tall order IMO.

[jeffandnicole]

While there aren't 'hundreds' (probably several dozen), there's still the issue to trying to connect them all.  And considering the entire Northeast is already connected, it's really a matter of connecting those further away from that area - Florida, Texas, California, etc. 

The biggest hurdle isn't connecting everyone; it's the fees involved to do so.  Why would California want to connect to EZ Pass, when the fees probably will cost more than the revenue brought in with tag usage from other regions.