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EZ Pass rip-off
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I just found out about this, and I can hardly believe it. Not only are
we still being treated as second class citizens by the complete lack of
motorcycle compatable tags, now it seems that the people who run the
bridges between PA and NJ don't care about our safety at all.
Motorcycle toll is $2 cash. (Motorcycles using E-ZPass will be charged
the passenger vehicle rate of $3.)
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If you ask/complain about this I know what they are going to tell you.
It's an enforcement issue. They are afraid that they will lose a few bucks
when people take their transponder, registered for a bike, and put it in a
car.....if they were to give a $2 rate for the bikes.
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Might help. The first time I was asked, I had to stop and think, as
my three bikes all have similar numbers. AA11BB, AA17BC, AA21CB ... so
I told the guy "I have three bikes, and it's something like (the above)
and let me show you the registration card." Before I could get my
wallet out, he said, "Move along. Enjoy your stay in Canada."
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Come up with a solution for that (other than the obvious one of don't
penalize the rest of us just because some people MIGHT be criminals) and I'm
sure they will rush to change it.
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That would be as simple as having a motorcycle only lane for the $2
tags. Anyone going through the other lanes that showed a $2 tag would
show as an unpaid toll.?
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Being from Upstate NY, I don't know specifically about those bridges,
but here in NY, we motorcyclists who use e-zpass get 50% discount off
the car fee.
You got your e-zpass from PA or NJ, so you should contact them and ask
if they provide a similar-to-NY discount for motorcycles. After
purchasing the e-zpass online, we New Yorkers then have to *snail* mail
a photocopy of the bike's registration card, and the serial number of
the transponder to the e-zpass people, along with a short note
requesting the discount. (It's apparently too easy to lie on the web
site.)
Look into it!
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So they would rather have you stop in a dangerous line, tying up time
and traffic, rather than rolling though the booth with both hands on
the handlebars. This is ludicrous, especially when so many other
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Motorcycles manage to stop, in perfect safety, at every road toll I've
ever come across, in many, many countries, over many, many years.
Pray explain why you think this is dangerous, because if you really do,
then motorcycling probably isn't for you.
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We New Yorkers ran into the same situation here. It was pointed out that
the video cameras are coordinated with the transponder in use, so if a
bike-registered unit passed through, and a car was pictured, why ...
there is his license plate! We got the discount.
Try driving/riding through an e-zpass lane without a transponder, and
you *will* get a notice about it.
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Try the above. It might work. Years ago I lived in Harrisburg, and my
BMW club pestered the state about three-axle rates for sidecar rigs, as
they would normally trip the treadle three times. It took a couple of
years, but they softened and since then sidecars pay only the standard
two-axle rate.
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I've never had a problem but have heard of M/Cers getting rear-ended
at toll booths. The ones here have big barriers so sleepy drivers
don't run into the booths themselves!
Also I've had the toll takers warn me to take off carefully because
the pavement next to the toll booth is always very slick when wet
(cars pause there and dribble oil).
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I have passed through exactly one toll in my life.
I stopped and fished in my pocket for the money, got my change and
left,
The attendant told me to take my time.
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An attendant said that to me once too. Of course the attendant isn't
going anywhere like the impatient drivers queueing up behind me. Mind
you, it's their fault for puting up a toll booth there in the first
place.
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Unfortunately it wasn't all that busy but Im objected to having to pay
$1 for about 5 miles of road. (Rockford IL)
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There's usually no hurry. The toll taker is paid by the hour. 8^)
The problem comes at rush-hour in a busy metropolitan area. Toll
booths are bottlenecks, and traffic lines up behind them. The worst
around here is the Bay Bridge from Oakland to San Francisco.
The Bay Area pioneered the practice of charging tolls in only one
direction because of this bridge. People leaving San Francisco at the
end of the day were lining up so far back from the bridge that they
were clogging city streets. So now tolls are only charged on the
Oakland side (all our other bridges are one-way toll as well). In
the morning, it's not unusual to have to wait 20-30 min. to get to
the toll booth. And this is a bridge with like 8 tollbooths,
including a big huge one for trucks, and about half of the cars (I'd
say) have transponders.
The fine for abusing the HOV lane on this bridge is the highest
anywhere, its like $500! And it's especially unfair because
everywhere else a 'carpool' is 2 people but on this bridge it's 3
people! (But motorcycles are OK, one good reason a lot of commuters
ride them.)
If 100 or 200 bikers got in line at 7:00 AM, then each took, say, 3
minutes taking off his helmet and gloves, fishing in his pocket for
change, it would affect traffic for an hour! I mean traffic would be
backed up for MILES! There would be helicopter footage on the evening
news!
If we were going to stage an event like this, this would be the best
place to do it.
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Organize a bunch of motorcyclists? in the Bay Area? hah!
Wait. If Doc Wong were to organize one of his Sunday rides on a Monday
morning ... we'd all go through the HOV lanes.
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agencies are offering discounts to bikes for using the pass and not
slowing down the toll lines.
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Here, I was just contemplating maybe thinking twice next time before
plunking down another $2 for the second cup of coffee each morning. There
has to be a better way to spend that money!
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So.....organize a large ride taking up all lanes and paying cash.
Stop, get off the bike, take of gloves and helmet, fish in your
pockets, pull out a large bill, wait for change, put your gloves and
helmet back on, get on the bike and go.
Repeat this as often as necessary before something is done.
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