Forum Discussion

prstlk's avatar
prstlk
Explorer
May 17, 2016

EZpass help please

We are heading up the east coast and are getting into toll road territory. We north-westerner's don't use these things much so a little advise and help would be appreciated.

It is our understanding that you only receive the discounts from the state that you purchased the EZpass transponder from and not any of the other states that use it in. They will charge you the same rate as if you were going through the toll booth. Is this true?

We were told that if we do not use our EZpass 3 times per month then we would be charged $1.50 per month service fee- this is if we purchased it in Maryland. We don't plan on using it more than once or twice in Maryland. Is this the same in all of the states that use it?

Our route will be taking us up the east coast into Maine. When going back south we will be on the interior side of these states where the toll roads are less frequent.
Do they work for motor homes? We also noticed that the bay bridge toll booth (outside of Annapolis MD) for EZpass lanes state nothing over 5 tons GVW. We would have to then go through the regular lanes anyway.

We ran into a toll road situation in Houston while driving our tow vehicle. By the time we went through all of the toll booths to get the 22 miles to our destination it cost is nearly $15.00! Not really wanting to do that again.

Hopefully there's someone out there who has taken this route and can give us some advise.

28 Replies

  • rk911 wrote:
    prstlk wrote:
    ..It is our understanding that you only receive the discounts from the state that you purchased the EZpass transponder from and not any of the other states that use it in. They will charge you the same rate as if you were going through the toll booth. Is this true?


    not true. EZ pass/I-Pass is accepted and treated equally in all participating states

    prstlk wrote:
    ...We were told that if we do not use our EZpass 3 times per month then we would be charged $1.50 per month service fee- this is if we purchased it in Maryland. We don't plan on using it more than once or twice in Maryland. Is this the same in all of the states that use it?


    not sure but I can tell you with complete certainty that there are no monthly fees if you purchase your device from Illinois (their program is called I-Pass). we have an I-Pass device.

    prstlk wrote:
    ..Our route will be taking us up the east coast into Maine. When going back south we will be on the interior side of these states where the toll roads are less frequent. Do they work for motor homes? We also noticed that the bay bridge toll booth (outside of Annapolis MD) for EZpass lanes state nothing over 5 tons GVW. We would have to then go through the regular lanes anyway.

    yes, the device will work in your motorhome. when we purchased our I-Pass we created an on-line account and "registered" all of our motor vehicles to the device.

    prstlk wrote:
    ..We ran into a toll road situation in Houston while driving our tow vehicle. By the time we went through all of the toll booths to get the 22 miles to our destination it cost
    is nearly $15.00! Not really wanting to do that again.

    AFAIK Texas is not part of the EZ Pass/I-Pass group.

    good luck.
    First comment is wrong. States charge varying amounts for tolls depending on if you have their EZ Pass or the EZPass issued by another state. I use the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Bridge and pay a higher toll than Maryland posts on their signs because I carry a Delaware EZPass. In addition, initial cost for the pass, replacement costs and periodic fees are a convenient way for the Politicians to lie about their tolls, while transferring real costs to hidden and un-publicised costs. For example, If I go across the Bay Bridge in my RV hooked up to the toad, it costs me about $10 more than if I drive both vehicles across, separated.
  • A word of advice. Stay off the Pa. Turnpike if you have anything more than a car. It is BIG BIG BIG $$$ anywhere on it with a MH. And most of the road is either in construction with 40MPH speed limit or is so rough you will want them to pay you.
  • I got mine thru Delaware no monthly fees. I think MD might have changed their rules a little bit?
    bumpy
  • prstlk wrote:
    ..It is our understanding that you only receive the discounts from the state that you purchased the EZpass transponder from and not any of the other states that use it in. They will charge you the same rate as if you were going through the toll booth. Is this true?


    not true. EZ pass/I-Pass is accepted and treated equally in all participating states

    prstlk wrote:
    ...We were told that if we do not use our EZpass 3 times per month then we would be charged $1.50 per month service fee- this is if we purchased it in Maryland. We don't plan on using it more than once or twice in Maryland. Is this the same in all of the states that use it?


    not sure but I can tell you with complete certainty that there are no monthly fees if you purchase your device from Illinois (their program is called I-Pass). we have an I-Pass device.

    prstlk wrote:
    ..Our route will be taking us up the east coast into Maine. When going back south we will be on the interior side of these states where the toll roads are less frequent. Do they work for motor homes? We also noticed that the bay bridge toll booth (outside of Annapolis MD) for EZpass lanes state nothing over 5 tons GVW. We would have to then go through the regular lanes anyway.

    yes, the device will work in your motorhome. when we purchased our I-Pass we created an on-line account and "registered" all of our motor vehicles to the device.

    prstlk wrote:
    ..We ran into a toll road situation in Houston while driving our tow vehicle. By the time we went through all of the toll booths to get the 22 miles to our destination it cost
    is nearly $15.00! Not really wanting to do that again.

    AFAIK Texas is not part of the EZ Pass/I-Pass group.

    good luck.
  • We have the NY ezpass and have used it from Maine to Pennsylvania and Maryland.
    As far as we know haven't had any major jumps in charges but we only have it on our fifth wheel.

    We haven't used it in almost a year and haven't seen any service fees and I don't remember seeing that in our contract.
  • We have the I-Pass also, have used it out east too and it works well, can't tell if I got any discounts though but really don't care. Not having to stop/wait is the key here...
  • Look into the IPass from IL. You can order one by phone but it takes 2 weeks to get it. You get the discount no matter what state you're in. There are no monthly fees.IPass and EZ Pass work in all the northeastern states, but not in Texas yet
  • Got my I-pass via the Illinois website.

    Some other states require a commercial account for a Moho ridiculously based on only weight alone.

    Faster and cheaper than cash. Highly rec'd.