Va. residents oppose proposed E-ZPass monthly fee
Thursday - 6/14/2012, 8:18am ET
http://www.wtop.com/120/2903440/Va-residents-oppose-proposed-E-ZPass-monthly-fee

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Virginia Department of Transportation's proposed $1 monthly fee for E-ZPass users is drawing strong opposition from the public.

Department officials say most of the nearly 25,000 public comments submitted on the proposed fee oppose it.

Virginia Highway Commissioner Gregory A. Whirley Sr. tells The Richmond Times-Dispatch that state officials will take the comments into consideration.

Several new toll roads are scheduled to open over the next few years. The department says the monthly fee is needed to keep up with the costs of operating the E-ZPass program.

The department expects the fee to generate an average $13.8 million a year over five years.

Duh, of course people oppose it.

Duh, of course it won't matter and the fee will be put into place anyway.

Don't people know how the world works?

Quote

The department says the monthly fee is needed to keep up with the costs of operating the E-ZPass program.

dear VDOT,

if the cost of collecting tolls is too high, maybe we could just forget about the tolls?

just sayin.

Is there nothing that these bastards won't tax??

Wait, don't answer that.

Yet another tax. Thanks again for entitlement programs getting another boost. WTF??

Thankfully we aren't going after sodas and popcorn like Bloomberg yet, but its only a matter of time I fear.

Holy Toledo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there nothing that these bastards won't tax??
>
> Wait, don't answer that.

Fairfax has a tax on your cell phone if you have it billed to a Fairfax address.

Curmudgeon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if the cost of collecting tolls is too high, maybe
> we could just forget about the tolls?
>
> just sayin.

I don't know, I don't work for VDOT.

You are not required to get your EZ Pass transponder through your in-state agency so just cancel your Virginia EZ-Pass account and open up a new account via Massachussets or Maryland DOT.

Massachussets charges no monthly fee, charge no initial transponder fee & their minimim balance is $20 last time I checked.

If you frequently pay tolls in Maryland, you can also get it through Maryland. They have a $1.50 a month fee, but it's waved if you incur 3 Maryland tolls in a month AND you get a 10% discount on all Maryland tolls plus the initial transponder fee is only $9.

People can complain all day long but unless they think there's a valid thread of losing business, they aren't going to do anything more than give it lip service.

Flood the web with this info and get them worrying that people will be closing their accounts en masse and moving to another state's system and I bet they back off this plan (at least until they can convince every state to take up a minimum monthly fee).

One dollar monthly fee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Duh, of course people oppose it.
>
> Duh, of course it won't matter and the fee will be
> put into place anyway.
>
> Don't people know how the world works?

+1

VDOT wasn't even going to allow public comments. They claim they're not required to. They only did it because some politicians inquired about it. You just know that the whole thing is for show.

The bureaucrats have learned that if you let the stupid masses think they have a say, they won't resist much when they're shackled.

The other truth is that all these people will bitch and moan and puff their chests out, but won't have the stones to send back their transponders and jam up the toll roads with pennies.

duhhhh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are not required to get your EZ Pass
> transponder through your in-state agency so just
> cancel your Virginia EZ-Pass account and open up a
> new account via Massachussets or Maryland DOT.
>
> Massachussets charges no monthly fee, charge no
> initial transponder fee & their minimim balance is
> $20 last time I checked.
>
> If you frequently pay tolls in Maryland, you can
> also get it through Maryland. They have a $1.50 a
> month fee, but it's waved if you incur 3 Maryland
> tolls in a month AND you get a 10% discount on all
> Maryland tolls plus the initial transponder fee is
> only $9.
>
> People can complain all day long but unless they
> think there's a valid thread of losing business,
> they aren't going to do anything more than give it
> lip service.
>
> Flood the web with this info and get them worrying
> that people will be closing their accounts en
> masse and moving to another state's system and I
> bet they back off this plan (at least until they
> can convince every state to take up a minimum
> monthly fee).

The new lanes on the beltway will require a "special" ez pass that is probably not going to be available from other states.

The "special" EZPass ("EZPass Flex")is only required if you plan to be HOV-3 in the HOT lanes, then you don't get charged by flipping some switch on the EZPass Flex. Otherwise, a regular EZPass will still work in the HOT lanes and you will always get charged whether you're HOV or not.

4NGMj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The other truth is that all these people will
> bitch and moan and puff their chests out, but
> won't have the stones to send back their
> transponders and jam up the toll roads with
> pennies.

I already have another state's transponder on the way, if VA goes ahead with the fee I'm sending the Virginia one back. There are choices that don't involve getting back in the non-E-ZPass line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2012 01:47PM by justsayin.