EZpass Startup?

[Merrymeeting]

Since the other thread on this topic is getting a bit long, I thought I would start this one for reports on actual implementation and startup.

Has anyone received their transponders yet? Any news on an actual startup at any of the toll booths?

[BroadHopper]

There is a yellow sign as you appraoch the Hooksett toll that says EZ-Pass will be available at the Hooksett toll July 11th.

[PROPELLER]

Then they better mail those transponders real soon. July 11th is only 4 days away & I still do not have mine. They were ordered immediately once they were available.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by PROPELLER

Then they better mail those transponders real soon. July 11th is only 4 days away & I still do not have mine. They were ordered immediately once they were available.

I ordered mine the first day they were available too, and my credit card was charged immediately. But as of today, I haven't received them.

[arthurc]

I ordered mine two weeks ago and they wer in the mail today. But I was away for two weeks so I dont know when I actually received them. Signs on the highway today say EZ Pass starts 7/11 at Bedford and Hookset

[PROPELLER]

Funny, after my post yesterday. When I got home yesterday, there they were in the mailbox.

[Rockdaddy]

Where do you get the transponder & how much are they?

[Steve]

You can get them online at www.ezpassnh.com, or at a toll customer service center. As of now (it keeps changing), they are $5 each for private accounts. On 7/16 they go to like $27 each due to a change in the state's laws.

[Paugus Bay Resident]

Haven't gotten mine yet, ordred a couple of weeks ago as well.

[SIKSUKR]

Same here.Two weeks ago and have not recieved anything yet.

[Lakegeezer]

The E-ZPass I ordered on June 26'th at the Web site showed up in the mail today, July 8'th. There is a sticker on the envelope that says it won't work until July 11'th. No lights on the device to know when it works - maybe it makes a noise - guess we'll find out next week.

[ghfromaltonbay]

Lake Geezer,

I've had an EZ Pass thru the NY State Thruway Authority for many years. There are no lights or indicators on the transponder. At the toll booths on the NY Thruway and the Garden State Pkway here in NJ a traffic light type signal is mounted beyond the toll booth. As you drive thru it lights up and says "EZ Pass toll paid". On the Mass Tpke. the indicator lights up and says "Thank You" when you enter the pike and also when you exit thru the Fast Lane booths. I'll be glad when they finally install EZ Pass on the Everett Tpke. which will mean that I can drive from northern NJ over the Tappan Zee Bridge and will not have to stop or open the window to pay a toll the entire 310 mile trip. Most places you have to slow down to 15 mph to pass thru the EZ Pass tolls. However, on the Garden State Parkway and NJ turnpike there are now high speed lanes on the extreme left at many toll plazas where the booths have been removed and drivers maintain the speed limit (65 mph) and pass beneath overhead readers which read the transponders and debit your account. It's great!! I've had my account so many years that last year the Thruway authority sent me a new transponder based on the average battery life and I had 14 days to send back the old one in a prepaid mailer to avoid being charged for the replacement transponder. In the NY system, as long as you maintained a $25 base account and they had your credit card # there was no charge for a transponder. If you want to leave this system, you mail back the transponder and no charges are incurred.

[Island Girl]

Suppose I have a NH transponder, but want to use tokens on a given trip. How can I block the transponder from recording a toll?

[Island-Ho]

According to info I saw on the web site, the NH transponders come with a bag, probably foil, which will prevent the transponder from responding to the toll booth signal. You could also try wrapping the unit in tin foil. If you have a camera bag for protecting film in the airport x-ray machine that would also work. Does anyone use film anymore?

[PROPELLER]

Yes, they do come with a special bag.

[JTA]

Does the NH EZPass account also work on the Mass tolls??? and... can it be moved between two cars (same owner)?

[Merrymeeting]

Yet another example of a very minor startup problem.

Arrived home after vacation yesterday to find my transponders (2) had arrived in the mail. All looks well and instructions are clear. Except the instructions include the procedure on how to avoid being charged. I.e, put the transponder in the provided foil envelope.

The only problem is they only provided 1 envelope for 2 transponders.

I'm sure I can pick one up at one of the service centers....

[Steve]

That must have been a mistake. I actually got 2 envelopes for 2 transponders ordered.

[KBoater]

I recieved 1 order transponder. the instructions said there was an exra set of velcro strips. These were missing from the package.

[Sunbeam lodge]

Tried the EZpass lanes the other day.
The signs say use left lanes for EZ Pass but when you get to the booths you have to leave the left lanes and cut through traffic to get to the center EZpass lane at the toll booths.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by FLboater

I recieved 1 order transponder. the instructions said there was an exra set of velcro strips. These were missing from the package.

Same here. Neither of the two transponders I ordered came with the extra velcro strips the instructions said were included.

[VarneyPoint]

The state highway department needs to go over the signage and also the placement of the EZ-Pass lane. My two complaints (which is really one large complaint) is that A.) a sign that says "EZ-Pass Lane 5" is really of zero help to anyone who has not driven through the tolls before and can be rather deceiving since depending on the day, there may be 6 lanes open in a given direction or as many as 8 or 9 during peak travel times, ie. long weekends, nascar races, etc. B.) Why is the EZ-Pass lane in the middle of two exact change lanes? I am not a traffic engineer, but it makes little sense to me to have a lane that does not stop (EZ-Pass) sandwiched between two lanes that do stop (exact change). This past weekend alone, I had to swerve around numerous cars who were in the wrong lane (bad signage). It makes more sense to me to have EZ-Pass in the farthest left lane. That way no one is confused when they pull up to the toll plaza. The sign can say, "EZ-Pass, LEFT LANE ONLY." The purpose of EZ-Pass is defeated if you have to stop at the toll plaza because the signage is so bad that you and/or other drivers don't know where you/they should be. Also, more than one lane would be nice. Hopefully more will be added once the system starts to get more customers. I am sorry for the long rant, but I found it extremely dangerous this weekend with people getting caught in the wrong lane, changing lanes quickly, people expecting to fly right through the EZ-Pass lane having to stop and blare on their horns because someone was confused.

[Paugus Bay Resident]

3+ weeks and still no transponder

[RLW]

Originally Posted by Paugus Bay Resident

3+ weeks and still no transponder

Me too.... That stands for REALLY CONFUSED

[SIKSUKR]

My initial thought when there was talk about EZ-pass releiving a lot of congestion at the tolls was I doubt it will have much of an effect.In fact,right now it's probably the opposite.I really only got mine to receive the discount.I also thought about where the lane/lanes should be located.As Varney Point stated,the left lane would be the best and least confusing but VP also pointed out that during heavy traffic flows,more lanes are added from one side and taken away from the other.So that would make the EZ-pass lane not always the farthest left lane.However,having said that,I still think the EZ-pass lane should be on the lane furthest to the left when the fewest lanes are being used in that direction.If a few more are added to the left of it,so be it.It has to make more sense than having it in the middle.

[jonr]

To those of you who have not received your transponders yet. I was in the same boat. I ordered mine on the website on June 26.

My credit card had not been charged as of yesterday (July 18).

I went to the ezpassnh web site and tried to login. The error message I got said my account number could not be found.

I called this morning (1-877-643-9727) and ignored the message that says "don't ask about your transponder status, we're busy and you'll get it soon". The person I spoke to confirmed my suspicions. I had registered just before the New York flood at their hosting site. Anyone who registered on June 26 was lost. (Perhaps other dates as well, I'm not sure).

So I re-registered and we'll see what happens.

I think it is terrible customer service to tell people not to check their status when you know orders have been lost. They could at least have a FAQ or other message on the homepage saying if you registered on such and such dates, and your credit card wasn't charged, and you can't login to your account, call us or just re-register.

[KBoater]

I used my transponder yesterday and today. The only problem was that the non transponder users cut across the Ezpass lane and then back again.
If you start using the Ezpass remmeber the middle lanes are for Ezpass at Hocksett and Bedford.

[Lin]

Originally Posted by FLboater

I used my transponder yesterday and today. The only problem was that the non transponder users cut across the Ezpass lane and then back again.
If you start using the Ezpass remmeber the middle lanes are for Ezpass at Hocksett and Bedford.

We have the MA fast lane on our vehicles but I just spent the week up the lake with my mom, driving her car in the exact token lanes. We got the fast lane first time it came out in MA and have been using it ever since even on trips to MD so we understand which lanes to be in. However, driving this week through the tolls in NASCAR traffic was a difficult trip to say the least. I have never seen such a mess of people slamming on brakes and cruising into merge with the regular exact token lanes when they found out they had raced to the "empty" green light toll lane to find out it was the EZ Pass and they didn't have it. Talk about frustrating. I think NH has to do better signage at least for the short term till people get used to the EZ Pass. I was surprised not to see any accidents from the crisscrossers.

As a side note, I'd read in one of the local NH papers that the purchasers of the EZ Pass transponders far outnumbered the states expectations and they had to order many more and have a special order delivered. Just glad that it's finally happened. Been waiting so long for this. Tried to talk mom into getting one but no dice. Next time I'll take my own vehicle.

[RLW]

Originally Posted by jonr

To those of you who have not received your transponders yet. I was in the same boat. I ordered mine on the website on June 26.

My credit card had not been charged as of yesterday (July 18).

I went to the ezpassnh web site and tried to login. The error message I got said my account number could not be found.

I called this morning (1-877-643-9727) and ignored the message that says "don't ask about your transponder status, we're busy and you'll get it soon". The person I spoke to confirmed my suspicions. I had registered just before the New York flood at their hosting site. Anyone who registered on June 26 was lost. (Perhaps other dates as well, I'm not sure).

So I re-registered and we'll see what happens.

I think it is terrible customer service to tell people not to check their status when you know orders have been lost. They could at least have a FAQ or other message on the homepage saying if you registered on such and such dates, and your credit card wasn't charged, and you can't login to your account, call us or just re-register.

What happens if one fines this all out after the 16th of July and the rates go from $5 to $27 + shipping, which of the rates do they get charged.

[PROPELLER]

I have not used mine yet but going through the Bedford Toll I noticed only 1 lane is EZ-Pass. When it gets busy 1 lane is not going to cut it. Hopefully when more people start using it or when it gets busy more lanes will be open.

[jonr]

Originally Posted by RLW

What happens if one fines this all out after the 16th of July and the rates go from $5 to $27 + shipping, which of the rates do they get charged.

Good question. I reordered mine after the July 16th and the web site still said (and still does say) $5 per transponder. If my credit card is charged the higher amount, I will either call ez pass and see what they do or problably just dispute that portion of the charge with the credit card company (easier for me).

BTW I had used their web based customer support. I posted the question about not getting the transponders and the account # not working. That was last Thursday. It's Wednesday and I have not received a response. Again, lousy customer service. If they can't answer the emails with a couple of days they should not have the channel. It just makes customers frustrated.

[Steve]

From reading articles, it looks like the price will increase on 8/3. It was due to not being able to process the price increase quickly enough to make it effective on 7/16.

[Paugus Bay Resident]

My credit card was charged on 6/22 and still nothing.

[SIKSUKR]

Seems like they are a little overwhelmed.Click this link.http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/4747652/detail.html

[Senter Cove Guy]

Last weekend, I used my EZ-Pass in Mass., NH and NY. Each state has a different speed limit.

Mass. - 15 mph
NH. - 10 mph
NY. - 5 mph (you've got to be kidding me, right?)

Go figure. My vote is for 20 mph.

Does anyone know if EZ-Pass can be used anywhere in Canada?

[Merrymeeting]

I like the setups in Houston and Atlanta better. Special EZPass lanes that you can go through at 55!

[Old Hubbard Rd]

I used my EZPASS this past week coming up to NH. They had the EZPASS lane in the middle instead of the sides. People were accually driving like 1 mph thru them. It was no relief. They probably should of had them over to the side and not combine them with self serve or toll attendant lanes. Just move out of the way so I can fly thru!!

[jetskier]

We used EZPASS this weekend also. They indicated that lane 5 was for
EZPASS, however, folks without EZPASS kept getting in the way and then cutting back into the other lanes. I believe that some of the other lanes are EZPASS enabled, but with the lines it pretty much defeats the purpose. I think it is going to take a while for folks to figure this out and not block the EZPASS lane.

[Old Hubbard Rd]

I traveled South on 93 to Hooksett on Monday July 18. What a joke. About a mile out there was a sign that said EZPASS lane 5. As I got closer a sign said EZPASS lane 6 & 7. As I came upon the tolls everyone was confused and going in and out of the wrong lanes. People without the EZPASs were stuck in the EZPASS lane and not moving and clogging the lanes. I think I even saw lanes 1 & 2 saying they were EZ LANES also. Better signage is needed!!

[DRH]

We went through the Bedford tolls on the Everett Turnpike this evening on our way back up to the lake. I think a sign several miles before the toll booths said "EZ-Pass Left Lanes", but when we got to the toll plaza only the middle lane (lane 4) accepted EZ-Pass. There wasn't much traffic at that time so getting into lane 4 was no problem, and our new EZ-Pass transponder worked fine ... it's first usage.