EZPASS strategy

[Anonymous]

I am tempted to buy a EZ pass in Pennsylvania because I just spent $70 in rountrip tolls and it will be half the cost if i by their ezpass now before payment is due. i live in dc and will do this drive at least once per year.

does this make sense? I just drove over the bay bridge and seems this ezpass will work for maryland, but i won't get the maryland ezpass rate, but pay the out of state ezpass rate (and fortunately not the higher video toll rate). advice appreciated!

[Anonymous]

seems PA charges $35 for transponder and in MD it is free. I have AAA. Not sure PA makes sense now

[Anonymous]

Wait what? Isn't it the same toll no matter what state's EZ Pass you have? And the investment in the EZP is nominal in the scheme of things. I've had mine for 10+ years. It just charges my cc when I get below a certain balance.

[Anonymous]

sorry, i am confused. on this page, i am not sure i understand what the "Non-E-ZPass Maryland Rates" and Video rate is. Is video for out of state drivers without ezpass?

https://mdta.maryland.gov/Toll_Rates/Bay_Bridge_Rates.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait what? Isn't it the same toll no matter what state's EZ Pass you have? And the investment in the EZP is nominal in the scheme of things. I've had mine for 10+ years. It just charges my cc when I get below a certain balance.

some states charge less to holders of their ez passes

https://mdta.maryland.gov/Toll_Rates/harbor_crossings_rates.html

[Anonymous]

We got our EZ-Pass in Pennsylvania years ago because they didn't charge a monthly fee on the account. Though about switching to Maryland recently, but I see they still do charge a fee if you don't pay a toll in the state in a given month. We often go months without using our EZ-Pass at all, so even paying the higher non-resident toll is a better deal for us than paying a fee every month just to keep the account open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got our EZ-Pass in Pennsylvania years ago because they didn't charge a monthly fee on the account. Though about switching to Maryland recently, but I see they still do charge a fee if you don't pay a toll in the state in a given month. We often go months without using our EZ-Pass at all, so even paying the higher non-resident toll is a better deal for us than paying a fee every month just to keep the account open.

I have a MD EZ PASS and do not pay any fees when I do not use it. I think that policy ended many years ago.

[Anonymous]

it's confusing, it seems PA will not charge you the $35 transponder fee if you do autoreplenish. But you will pay a $3 annual fee.

The DC AAA store only sells Virginia EZPASS and it seems the transponder fee ($25 or 35) can be credited to the upcoming tolls. But it will be deactivated if you do not use it at least once every 6 months.

If you buy a Maryland EZPASS, it seems you will be charged a $1.50 monthly fee if you are not a Maryland resident.

Very confusing. Tempted to not buy one at all and pay the extra fees since I don't know if I will use it for more than one $70 PA toll roadtrip per year. There doesn't sem to be a good clear explanation on this anywhere that is up to date. Even the AAA store could not offer guidance.

[Anonymous]

The New Hampshire EZ-Pass has no annual fee and they only deactivate it after 18 months of inactivity, which is longer than many other states. You may be able to order one online.

[Anonymous]

I had a MA pass for a long while because they don’t charge fees. Just changed to VA so I can switch the HOV function and travel free on some roads.

[Anonymous]

This seems like too much work to realize too little actual savings.