Community Forums

StockHR · 10-30-2010, 03:07 PM

As I was towing my Jeep Toad I noticed in the rear view camera the EZpass on the Jeep windshield. Here's the question; since I have a EZPass tag on the MH and one on the toad could I go through the EZpass lane and have the passes work like two separate vehicles and not have to go through the regular toll booth?

Thanks, Mike

RustyJC · 10-30-2010, 03:12 PM

Probably depends on the applicable toll road authority, what technology they have installed and what their rules are. HCTRA (Harris County Toll Road Authority) here in the Houston area says they have equipment installed that can count axles in the EZ tag lanes and says to go ahead and take the EZ tag equipped truck through the EZ tag lanes with or without the 5th wheel in tow - they can handle it either way.

Depending on whether or not the MH blocks the toad's EZ tag from the reader, HCTRA would either pick the toad up as a trailer or hit both vehicles with an EZ tag toll.

With any other toll road authority, YMMV....

Rusty

W8RLM · 10-30-2010, 04:44 PM

I had the same question for the EZ Pass people in Ohio. They said to remove the transducer from the Jeep, and the system would read the motorhome and count axles to include the Jeep. They also said that if I left the transducer on the Jeep to watch my account online and let them know if I got charged for the Jeep and they would credit me.

Since my transducer is held on by hook and loop fastners, I removed the Jeep's, wrapped in Reynolds Wrap, and stored it in the glove box. I ran through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and had no problem.

If I run the Jeep by itself on the turnpike, I can easily reinstall its transducer.

W8RLM - Bob

chiefdave · 10-30-2010, 05:58 PM

We have the IPass which is also good on EZPass lanes. We were told to use one only and it should be in the front vehicle - i.e. the motorhome. Both vehicles have to be registered for that transponder and it will calculate the number of axles correctly. We were told using two transponders would result in double charging. We only have one transponder so I don't know if it would double charge with two or not but it works just fine with one. We have used it with the toad attached to the motorhome, on the motorhome only and on the toad only - all worked fine.

johnsonjm209 · 10-30-2010, 06:33 PM

I have one ez pass and both the mh and the jeep are registered. When I am towing, i put the pass in the mh window and somehow (?) the toll people count the axles correctly. Even when I go through the 65mph ezpass only lanes in New Hampshire. When I use only the Jeep they charge me the correct price.
I never go through any other lane than the "EZPass Only" and I have never had a problem.

Joe from Ct.

rcoleman · 10-30-2010, 06:50 PM

I made this mistake going across country last year. Some toll booths, even the high speed EZpass only lanes, picked up just the motorhome and others picked up both the motorhome and the car. I stopped by the local EZpass office an they gave me an antistatic bag to put the the car transducer in and that has worked great.

bdaball · 10-30-2010, 07:50 PM

This is a "depends" question. I learned the hard way. Furtunately the head of the EZ pass program in Maine helped us thru this dilema.
First off, not all states play by the same rules. Some read off the front license plate. Some off the rear. Some require MH's due to there GVW to be registered as a commercial account. Some do not. Some allow multiple vehicles to use the same transponder. Some do not.

You would be best served to ask very specific questions to your local agency.

Trust me, we learned the hard way in New York, New Jersey and the GW bridge. We are now labeled as "repeat offenders" because our toad,(which was being towed) did not stop to pay the tolls. Dah!

Trying to explain that to someone on the other end of the phone line who speaks marginal english and does not know what a "mobile-home" is was not an easy task.

Ask first.

Midniteoyl · 10-30-2010, 09:25 PM

BS.. they have a picture of your tow.. If they cant figure it out from that, especially once you've called them, then you need to move up the chain and start hollering.

bdaball · 10-31-2010, 08:40 AM

We did. But it needed to be in Spanish

They had already sent us the pictures of the back of the toad going thru the gate.
Our local EZ Pass authority contacted them. We ended up paying one fine of $25.00.

I'm just telling you our experience. You can try it for yourself. After that experience we have not had any bad experiences with either transponder. We do request monthly statements occasionally that lists all of the transactions. You can then tell if you were mis-charged.

SUMMARY: It is not a unified program across all states.

StockHR · 10-31-2010, 04:46 PM

Thanks, for the information. Today I went through two tolls and over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I used only the EZ pass in the MH. We'll see what happens and I'll post the results here.

Mike