3 ms·

What do you mean by “the economics” here? I barely drive but I have a toll transponder, I set it up once and haven’t thought about it since.

seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
I don’t even have a toll transponder, OCR these days is good enough to detect your plate number and charge the linked account.
- esrauch 9mo ago
  Don't they charge you more if you do pay-by-plate though? I always see signs that have a price with local ez-pass, a higher price with out-of-state ez-pass, and an even higher price for pay-by-plate.
  - Scoundreller 9mo ago
    Ez pass billing is all over the place, each state/authority does whatever it wants. If you reg a secondary car’s plate to an ezpass account without using the transponder, a lot of states will just think it was a read fail and charge you the regular rate but it depends.
    - potato3732842 9mo ago
      The less honest states (New Jersey, probably others) will charge you a punitive fee (which doubles if you don't pay on time) for not having an EZpass on that vehicle. And then when you call customer support they'll argue with you, until you call on the last day when they finally agree that everything was good and proper.
  - ghaff 9mo ago
    Yes, bill for plate OCR is typically a lot more expensive in addition to having to logon to a site etc.
  - seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
    25 cents for me. I can get a sticker for $5 sticker that negates that (no transponder I think for Seattle’s first 520 bridge, maybe for carpools?). Oh, supposedly the sticker is a transponder, so I can save 25 cents if I buy a $5 sticker. Even though I don't use the bridge that often, it makes sense to buy.
  - patmorgan23 9mo ago
    Ussally if you don't have an account they charge you more. But at least for the systems in my area they'll charge your account wether you have your toll transponder or not (because they OCR your plate and charge the linked account)
  - loeg 9mo ago
    In Washington it's just 25 cents higher (if you're registered -- $2 higher if you're not registered) than without a pass. Not a huge deal.
ghaff 9mo ago
Toll collection used to be much worse in terms of collection efficiency (revenue-cost)--perhaps 50% as I understand it. With all the automated toll booths I assume it's much better today.

seanmcdirmid 9mo ago

I don’t even have a toll transponder, OCR these days is good enough to detect your plate number and charge the linked account.

esrauch 9mo ago
Don't they charge you more if you do pay-by-plate though? I always see signs that have a price with local ez-pass, a higher price with out-of-state ez-pass, and an even higher price for pay-by-plate.
- Scoundreller 9mo ago
  Ez pass billing is all over the place, each state/authority does whatever it wants. If you reg a secondary car’s plate to an ezpass account without using the transponder, a lot of states will just think it was a read fail and charge you the regular rate but it depends.
  - potato3732842 9mo ago
    The less honest states (New Jersey, probably others) will charge you a punitive fee (which doubles if you don't pay on time) for not having an EZpass on that vehicle. And then when you call customer support they'll argue with you, until you call on the last day when they finally agree that everything was good and proper.
- ghaff 9mo ago
  Yes, bill for plate OCR is typically a lot more expensive in addition to having to logon to a site etc.
- seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
  25 cents for me. I can get a sticker for $5 sticker that negates that (no transponder I think for Seattle’s first 520 bridge, maybe for carpools?). Oh, supposedly the sticker is a transponder, so I can save 25 cents if I buy a $5 sticker. Even though I don't use the bridge that often, it makes sense to buy.
- patmorgan23 9mo ago
  Ussally if you don't have an account they charge you more. But at least for the systems in my area they'll charge your account wether you have your toll transponder or not (because they OCR your plate and charge the linked account)
- loeg 9mo ago
  In Washington it's just 25 cents higher (if you're registered -- $2 higher if you're not registered) than without a pass. Not a huge deal.

ghaff 9mo ago

Toll collection used to be much worse in terms of collection efficiency (revenue-cost)--perhaps 50% as I understand it. With all the automated toll booths I assume it's much better today.