Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.comthat is the reason several states decided to go with their own cheaper
systems
I will post this again
http://www.sunpass.com/MiniWebPDF_E.pdf
well.. what is it about what you posted here that says it cheaper than
EZ-Pass?
Post by r***@gmail.coma sticker is not possible with easy pass
not right now.. but what would prevent them picking up on a good
idea ?
Post by r***@gmail.comI sincerely doubt that the federales will mandate a single system,
ever.
TX, FL, CA are three of the biggest states, what need do they have to
change over?
Now you are going to tell me the feds are going to mandate something
they don't want, don't need, and is of very little federal involvement
Put it to you this way,
How many TX plates or CA plates do you see using toll roads in VA?
OTOH how many times do you use their toll roads?
I dunno.. it sure helped going through several midwest states
and if they do HOT Lanes in Wash/MD/DC ....which also has a lot of
eastcoast traffic... don't you think it necessary there?
If in the future .. NC and SC.. start tolling interstates.. or new
lanes on interstates.. folks going from NY to Florida could do the
transit with one transponder?
Post by r***@gmail.comI will tell you again FL does not bother collecting a evaded toll from
out if staters.
right now... perhaps.. my impression is that.. especially in the
winter months that there are quite a few folks that head south to
Florida... but I don't live there so don't know...
Post by r***@gmail.comIf they were losing so much to those evaders, believe me they would
come after them.
or just add the lost tolls to Florida folks... that's what you'd do
if you used an incompatible system and wanted to keep costs down due
to "shrinkage".
so.. maybe you guys are, in fact, paying higher tolls to cover the
lost tolls...
no?
Post by r***@gmail.comThe initial costs of easy pass must have been substantially more for
those big states not to use it
naw...probably more like Md and Va which wanted to do their own
systems... that's what DOTs do.. they tend to want to handle
everything within their own states.
Post by r***@gmail.comE-z pass is an expensive system, I am sure the IAG is not cheap, I
know the electronic toll implementation is not cheap.
are there any studies that show comparisons between the systems?
Post by r***@gmail.comLike I said, probably 50%+ of the cbbt traffic is out of state, and I
am sure VDOT felt the convenience was worth it.
they changed over local toll roads in the Richmond Area... and both
the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway use EZ-Pass ... in fact all
of Virginia's toll roads use EZ-Pass and many if not most of them used
the earlier Virginia-only Smart Tag system....
WVA turnpike uses them... Maryland uses them.. Pennsylvania, New York,
Maine, New Jersey, Delaware,
" Various independent systems that use the same technology have been
integrated into the E-ZPass system. These include Fast Lane in
Massachusetts, I-Pass in Illinois, i-Zoom in Indiana, and the defunct
M-Tag in Maryland and Smart Tag in Virginia."
all of these systems changed over... why would they do it if it was
more expensive than their own systems?
but you may be right.. this could be a mostly northeast/midwest deal
that works because the states are relatively small compared to Texas,
Florida and California...
so a question for you.
Is FDOT expanding it's toll road system?
Post by r***@gmail.comthat is the reason several states decided to go with their own cheaper
systems
I will post this again
http://www.sunpass.com/MiniWebPDF_E.pdf
well.. what is it about what you posted here that says it cheaper than
EZ-Pass?
I said before, I read a while back in the St Pete Times that the
reason FL Tpk went with Sunpass was that it was cheaper.
I have emailed FL Tpk Enterprise and hopefully I will hear back from
them, and I will post it.
Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.coma sticker is not possible with easy pass
not right now.. but what would prevent them picking up on a good
idea ?
IIRC we have been thru this.
the eazy pass transponder requires a battery.
Some years ago, the Delaware River Port Auth had its own system that
used a sticker on the left side window.
I don't think it worked very well, and they subsequently switched to
easy pass.
Continuing, most states in the northeast allow only stickers for insp
and registration in vehicle windshields.
Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.comI sincerely doubt that the federales will mandate a single system,
ever.
TX, FL, CA are three of the biggest states, what need do they have to
change over?
Now you are going to tell me the feds are going to mandate something
they don't want, don't need, and is of very little federal involvement
Put it to you this way,
How many TX plates or CA plates do you see using toll roads in VA?
OTOH how many times do you use their toll roads?
I dunno.. it sure helped going through several midwest states
and if they do HOT Lanes in Wash/MD/DC ....which also has a lot of
eastcoast traffic... don't you think it necessary there?
If in the future .. NC and SC.. start tolling interstates.. or new
lanes on interstates.. folks going from NY to Florida could do the
transit with one transponder?
I would imagine ezpass would then move to the south, but that is a
long way off.
SC has its own system, Palmetto Pass for the toll road around
Greenville
Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.comI will tell you again FL does not bother collecting a evaded toll from
out if staters.
right now... perhaps.. my impression is that.. especially in the
winter months that there are quite a few folks that head south to
Florida... but I don't live there so don't know...
Post by r***@gmail.comIf they were losing so much to those evaders, believe me they would
come after them.
or just add the lost tolls to Florida folks... that's what you'd do
if you used an incompatible system and wanted to keep costs down due
to "shrinkage".
so.. maybe you guys are, in fact, paying higher tolls to cover the
lost tolls...
no?
I sincerely doubt if it is that much they are losing to out of state
evaders.
Like I have been saying 90%+ of the traffic thru a toll booth pays the
proper toll.
And there are no tolls comparable to the gwb or the MTA crossings.
They are mostly $1
You have to keep things in context.
And you know what they do when traffic is heavy? They station
troopers at the toll booths. Now if you evade a toll and he sees you,
you are getting a citation.
btw, I said out of state evaders, their sunpass operates just like
easy pass for for evaders, and if you have a FL tag, you will get a
violation notice.
It is just they don't send out of state.
If you want my theory, they do not want to piss off the touristas.
I mean have a nice enjoyable vacation in FL, and when you get home
there is a violation notice for a couple of dollars. They do not want
to do that.
Another thing I know from experience. If you get a moving violation
in FL, they do not send a conviction notice to your home state.
Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.comThe initial costs of easy pass must have been substantially more for
those big states not to use it
naw...probably more like Md and Va which wanted to do their own
systems... that's what DOTs do.. they tend to want to handle
everything within their own states.
Yep, that is true, but there is a matter of convenience.
Look to the map. VA is going to have one, and MD is going to have
another.
That makes no sense. And they are both going to have separate
administrations?
Again that makes no sense.
I suppose they could have done something jointly, but considering
where MD is, ez pass made sense for them
You know something else. the IAG is a cooperative group, and there are
certain advantages that I am sure make it worth the cost
One thing I know they do is this.
If you look on the overhead sign structures, some of them have ezpass
readers, on various "free" interstate hwys.
I don't want to get anyone's paranoia going, but I know they keep
track of where people go off the toll roads.
Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.comE-z pass is an expensive system, I am sure the IAG is not cheap, I
know the electronic toll implementation is not cheap.
are there any studies that show comparisons between the systems?
I have emailed FL Tpk Enterprise and hopefully I will hear back from
them, and I will post it.
Post by Larry GPost by r***@gmail.comLike I said, probably 50%+ of the cbbt traffic is out of state, and I
am sure VDOT felt the convenience was worth it.
they changed over local toll roads in the Richmond Area... and both
the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway use EZ-Pass ... in fact all
of Virginia's toll roads use EZ-Pass and many if not most of them used
the earlier Virginia-only Smart Tag system....
My hunch is this, if you are going to pay for one, you may as well pay
for everything.
VA is not a massive toll state, like the others.
What are you talking about 10-12 toll booths?
And I have to believe the new tolls in Richmond were built for easy
pass only.
Post by Larry GWVA turnpike uses them
WV never had its own system. The only system they had was ez pass.
And believe me, a lot of people like Idiot Arif and Kookie ar still
bitching about the cost. There are only 3 tolls, what did they need
it for?
You know how it goes.
... Maryland uses them.. Pennsylvania, New York,
Post by Larry GMaine, New Jersey, Delaware,
" Various independent systems that use the same technology have been
integrated into the E-ZPass system. These include Fast Lane in
Massachusetts, I-Pass in Illinois, i-Zoom in Indiana, and the defunct
M-Tag in Maryland and Smart Tag in Virginia."
all of these systems changed over... why would they do it if it was
more expensive than their own systems?
but you may be right.. this could be a mostly northeast/midwest deal
that works because the states are relatively small compared to Texas,
Florida and California...
You sort of have it backwards.
I believe it has more to do with toll hwy MILEAGE, then the actual
population.
TX and CA have very little toll mileage.
Most of the toll hwy mileage in the US is what you just describe.
My feeling is that the existing electronic toll systems in CA and TX
are very appropriate for their very short toll systems.
FL made a decision based on cost.
What I am saying given their huge populations, the federales are not
going to ram something they don't want or need down their throats.
You mention the states that had their own systems like MA.
They developed their own systems before ez pass really got going.
Remember it was strictly MTA B & T, Port Authority, and NY Thruway.
I got mine from the Thruway way before NJ had it.
Then they told me I had to turn the Thruway transponder in and they
sent me a Port Auth transponder. Why? I have no idea.
The only other time they contacted me was to send the PA transponder
for a new one with fresh batteries.
I remember the Thruway did a lot of testing as they were not sure how
well it would work in the snow and ice of Buffalo.
Also in the early days they were not sure how well it would work on a
ticket system like the thruway.
As a side note, having nothing to do with easy pass, OK changed from a
ticket system to a barrier toll system to implement their electronic
tolls
also they were building new tpks and a barrier system is cheaper
so a question for you.
Post by Larry GIs FDOT expanding it's toll road system?
http://www.floridasturnpike.com/about_system.cfm
there are also other authorities:
http://www.expresswayauthority.com/Corporate/
Orange Co.
http://www.tampa-xway.com/home.html
Hillsborough Co.
BTW if you read about the reversible lanes, they had a bridge collapse
during construction that made them and the contractors look like a
bunch of idiots
this is an interesting proj they are working on:
http://www.tampa-xway.com/GandyProject.html
they wanted to build east of I-75 a Brandon Bypass, but with all the
probs they had with the reversibles that got shot down in flames
and this is Miami Dade:
http://www.mdx-way.com/