E-ZPass


E-ZPass Interagency Group is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the eastern half of the United States. The group itself is composed of several states' member agencies, which share the same technology and allow travelers to use the same transponder on toll facilities throughout the network. It was created in 1987, since which time several states' compatible systems have rebranded to E-ZPass. Negotiations for nationwide interoperability are ongoing.

Functionality

Technology

E-ZPass tags are active RFID transponders, historically made by Kapsch TrafficCom under a competitively bid contract. They communicate with reader equipment built into lane-based or open-road toll collection lanes by transmitting a unique radio signature. The most common type of tag is an internal tag that can be mounted on the inside of the vehicle's windshield in proximity to the rear-view mirror. Though toll agencies advise adherence to the windshield with mounting strips, third-party options using trays with suction cups to adhere a pass to a windshield temporarily if used in multiple vehicles are available. Some vehicles have windshields that block RF signals; for those vehicles, historical vehicles, and customers who have aesthetic concerns, an external tag is offered, typically designed to attach to the vehicle's front license plate mounting points.
Although a tag can be used with a motorcycle, usually no official instructions are given for mounting, due to the numerous variations between bike designs and the small area of a motorcycle windshield which could prove a hindrance if the transponder is attached following automobile instructions. Transponders may be put in a shirt or jacket pocket, if necessary.
The E-ZPass transponder works by listening for a signal broadcast by the reader stationed at the toll booth. This 915 MHz signal is sent at 500 kbit/s using the TDM protocol in 256-bit packets. Transponders use active Type II read/write technology. In April 2013, Kapsch made the protocol available to all interested parties royalty-free in perpetuity and is granting the right to sublicense the protocol. Transponders are powered by a battery designed to last about 10 years.

Payment and tag types

Some E-ZPass lanes are converted manual toll lanes and must have fairly low speed limits for safety reasons, so that E-ZPass vehicles can merge safely with vehicles that stopped to pay a cash toll and, in some cases, to allow toll workers to safely cross the E-ZPass lanes to reach booths accepting cash payments. In some areas, however, there is no need to slow down, because E-ZPass users can utilize dedicated traffic lanes that are physically separate from the toll-booth lanes. Examples include:
Other roads in the E-ZPass system have eschewed toll booths altogether, and switched to all-electronic tolling. As vehicles pass at normal speed under toll collection gantries, tolls are collected either through the E-ZPass transponder or by billing the owner of the vehicle via automatic number-plate recognition. Examples include:
Each E-ZPass tag is specifically programmed for a particular class of vehicle; while any valid working tag will be read and accepted in any E-ZPass toll lane, the wrong toll amount will be charged if the tag's programmed vehicle class does not match the vehicle. This will result in a violation and possible large fine assessed to the tag holder, especially if a lower-class tag is being used in a higher-class vehicle such as a bus or truck. In an attempt to avoid this, E-ZPass tags for commercial vehicles are blue in color, contrasting with the white tags assigned to standard passenger vehicles. The blue E-ZPass is also used in government employee vehicles. In New York, an orange E-ZPass tag is issued to emergency vehicles as well as to employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and New York State Thruway Authority. New York also offers green-colored E-ZPass tags to qualifying low-emission and zero-emission vehicles.
For purposes of interoperability, all agencies are connected to each other by a secure network. This network provides the means to exchange tag data and process toll transactions across the various agencies. Tag data is exchanged among the agencies on a nightly basis. This data can take up to 24 hours on the primary network the unit is issued by, but may be delayed by as much as 72 hours on other networks.

Account fees/expiration

this is a partial list of states that charge additional account fees or automate account closure for inactivity:
  • New Hampshire: inactivity warning at 18 months, 24 months of inactivity automatically closes account
  • New Jersey: $1 monthly service fee and $1 statement fee.
  • North Carolina: $1 per month inactivity fee after 24 months
  • Virginia: warning at 12 months of inactivity, 30 days to respond

    Retail availability

Some issuing agencies offer a packaged E-ZPass transponder preloaded with toll funds sold over-the-counter at a retail setting such as a supermarket or pharmacy service desk that is valid immediately. A portion of the balance is available instantly; customers can access the remaining balance when they register their transponders with the issuing E-ZPass agency within several days of first using their E-ZPass.

Usage

According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 83.4% of vehicles crossing its six bridges and tunnels used E-ZPass for toll payment during all of 2016. As of 2020, about 86% of vehicles along the Pennsylvania Turnpike use E-ZPass for payment of tolls. According to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, about 90% of vehicles on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway use E-ZPass.

History

Creation

The first E-ZPass system was implemented on December 17, 1996, at all toll collection facilities of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, including 7 bridges and 2 tunnels. The earliest test of what was then known as the Automatic Vehicle Identification was conducted by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. They tested AVI tags on Staten Island and utilized a paper voucher as a control which proved to be far less accurate than the tags. As a result of the test, the two agencies agreed to convene a larger group of the region's toll authorities. Their initial idea was to develop independent systems that did not interfere with each other. TBTA suggested that there be a regionally cooperative system using a single tag, later forming the basis for regional cooperation. The tolling agencies of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which constitute two-thirds of the United States' $3-billion-a-year toll industry, met at an International Bridge, Tunnel and Toll Association meeting to create a compatible electronic-tolling technology that could be used on the toll roads and bridges of the three states, in an effort to reduce congestion on some of the busiest roadways and toll plazas in the US.
In 1991, the Interagency Committee was created to develop, and involved the participation and cooperation of seven independent toll agencies: the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the New Jersey Highway Authority, the New York State Thruway Authority, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and the South Jersey Transportation Authority. The E-ZPass trademark, however, belongs to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority has been aggressive at protecting its trademark, including forcing the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to rename the "EZ Pass" regional transit pass to "EZ transit pass" to protect its rights.
The seven agencies started making plans to test two possible technologies for E-ZPass in 1992. The technologies would be installed along the Garden State Parkway and New York State Thruway. E-ZPass was first deployed on the Thruway at the Spring Valley toll plaza on August 3, 1993. Over the following three and a half years, the New York State Thruway Authority installed electronic toll-collection equipment, in stages, along the Thruway. By December 1996, it was implemented at all of the Thruway's fixed-toll barriers, and by March 1998, E-ZPass was installed at all of the Thruway's mainline exits.
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which maintains all toll bridges and tunnels that begin and end in New York City, is the largest tolling agency by revenue in the United States. It began its E-ZPass implementation in 1995 and completed it at all nine of its toll facilities by January 1997. E-ZPass was popular among motorists who frequently used TBTA crossings, and by August 1996, nearly 2,000 motorists per day were signing up for E-ZPass. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates all bridges and tunnels between New York City and New Jersey, implemented E-ZPass at the George Washington Bridge in July 1997, and at the Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel in October 1997.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike planned to adopt E-ZPass by 1998; however, implementation of the system was postponed until December 2, 2000, when E-ZPass debuted on the turnpike between Harrisburg West and the Delaware River Bridge. By December 15, 2001, E-ZPass could be used on the entire length of the mainline Pennsylvania Turnpike. Commercial vehicles were allowed to use the system beginning on December 14, 2002, and the entire Turnpike system was taking E-ZPass by 2006.
On October 6, 1998, a U.S. patent for an automated toll collection system was issued to Fred Slavin and Randy J. Schafer.

Expansion

Meanwhile, various other agencies began work on similar electronic toll collecting facilities. This resulted in the emergence of other networks:
  • The MassPass system used in Massachusetts, changed to the compatible Fast Lane in 1998 and rebranded E-ZPass in 2012
  • The I-Pass system used in Illinois
  • The I-Zoom system used in Indiana, rebranded E-ZPass in 2012
  • The Smart Tag system used in Virginia, merged with E-ZPass in 2004
  • The TransPass system used in Maine, since replaced by the E-ZPass system
  • The M-Tag system used in Maryland, integrated into and rebranded E-ZPass in 2001
  • The Quick Pass system used in North Carolina, partially integrated in 2013 into the E-ZPass system.
  • The E-Pass system in Florida, partially integrated in 2018
  • The SunPass system in Florida, partially integrated in 2021
  • The MnPass system in Minnesota, rebranded into E-ZPass in August 2021
  • The PeachPass system used in Georgia, partially integrated with E-ZPass in November 2023.
Originally, these systems were not interchangeable with E-ZPass. However, since most of them use the same technology, all of them have been incorporated into the E-ZPass network. Though several still retain their own brand name for their own facilities, users of those systems can use E-ZPass and vice versa. As a result, all E-ZPass holders can use their transponders in any of the states that offer it.
The E-ZPass system continues to expand. The Indiana Toll Road Concession Company upgraded its toll plazas to include E-ZPass functionality on the Indiana Toll Road, while the Ohio Turnpike Commission upgraded its toll plazas in October 2009 for the Ohio Turnpike. On December 16, 2008, Rhode Island joined the network by activating E-ZPass lanes in the state's only toll booth, at the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which had a toll road system predating the E-ZPass system which was ended in 2006, announced at the end of July 2015 its entrance into the E-ZPass system as part of the financing for the Louisville-area Ohio River Bridges Project involving the new Abraham Lincoln and Lewis and Clark bridges.
On November 9, 2017, the Central Florida Expressway Authority announced that it was joining the E-ZPass group. CFX began accepting E-ZPass along its toll roads on September 1, 2018. On May 28, 2021, the Florida Turnpike Enterprise announced that its SunPass facilities would begin accepting E-ZPass. In addition, E-ZPass facilities began accepting SunPass Pro transponders.