Save money on tolls while driving in 19 states, including Ohio, with E-ZPass | Janet Podolak
May 24—When I started writing about travel more than 40 years ago, my Janet's Jaunts column was framed around road trips of an hour or more but rarely requiring an overnight stay. Jaunts was aimed at families, especially those with kids and dogs, and other folks who worked during the week and just had weekends to get out and about.
Each Jaunt came with a map showing how to get there and included places to enjoy a picnic lunch and walk the dog. Special events often were included. As the years passed, Jaunts evolved to include overnight driving trips to closeby places such as Columbus; Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan; or Niagara Falls. Before heading out, I'd carefully map out my destination and grab handfuls of quarters to pay any tolls along the way.
But as my traveling evolved into more distant places reached by train or air, I stopped driving much beyond the airport. Janets Jaunts is now online with my travel stories and blogs from around the world at janetsjaunts.com.
But, by not driving, I missed the launch of E-ZPass.
It's a touchless system of paying highway and bridge tolls in which a tiny transponder attached to the inside of your car windshield pays the toll from an account you've established, usually with a credit card. I'd encountered the system before when renting cars in Florida but hadn't driven the Ohio Turnpike, the New York Thruway or the Pennsylvania Turnpike in years.
Turns out that having an E-ZPass would have saved me money on recent driving trips to Niagara Falls and Pittsburgh. Since the onset of COVID-19, toll-booths largely have been eliminated, so a high-speed camera captures images of license plates on cars without the transponders and a bill is mailed for the driver to pay, adding a service fee for the processing.
A sign on the New York Thruway gave a phone number to call to learn all about it, warning of fines for those who did not pay their tolls. Perhaps my passenger dialed the wrong number, but we couldn't get through on the phone number given. Not wanting to wait for the bill to be mailed to me, I hopped online when I returned from my trip and learned that my Thruway tolls totaled $10.22. I paid by credit card.
After noodling around online, I discovered that E-ZPass now works on toll roads in 19 states and includes tolls for highways, bridges, tunnels, parking and border crossings with many discounts. I paid a $4 cash toll to cross the Rainbow Bridge into Niagara Falls, Ontario from Niagara Falls, New York.
In many areas, discounted tolls are assessed for those using an E-ZPass, which is said to eliminate congestion at toll booths and lessen pollution from vehicle exhaust systems because it's not necessary to slow down for the toll.
The Ohio Turnpike Commission claims a 33 percent savings in tolls for those using its E-ZPass.
In Ohio, an E-ZPass costs $25, and the transponder is mailed to those who apply. The proper toll is deducted from that amount when the driver passes through a designated area. When the amount deposited diminishes to $10, the credit card used to enroll is charged to replenish it. To order one, call 440-971-2222, visit ohioturnpike.org or stop by any Ohio Turnpike Service Plaza. Transponders arrive activated and ready to install.
To learn more, visit e-zpassiag.com.
Now that I'm back on the road, getting one is next on my to-do list.
