Many E-Z Pass customers said not notifying them isn’t fair. Turns out, not a single customer was notified. The number of notifications to customers about V-tolls is: We followed up again to find out how many customers were notified in the years prior to COVID-19. When 11 Investigates followed up, the commission sent a response: “The number of customers notified in 2021 has been minimal because of COVID-related decreases in travel.”īut when 11 Investigates asked how many exactly was “minimal,” the response was “None.” Actually, we do,” he said.īut when 11 investigates pressed for specifics on whether there was a policy or threshold number of V-tolls that triggered the notification, he said he didn’t know and would have to find out. We wanted to know why the commission doesn’t notify customers. They keep hitting you with the $10 charge,” he said. “If you don’t check your account, they don’t notify you it’s not working. Not notifying customersĬarlisano said he didn’t even realize he was getting the charges for months because the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission never notified him. If they do, he said most of the time the charge will be reduced. I mean, it’s incentive to call the Turnpike,” DeFebo said.ĭeFebo said it’s up to customers to monitor their accounts for V-tolls and call customer service to dispute the charges. “Man, that’s crazy,” agreed Koran Johnson.ġ1 Investigates asked DeFebo if it’s punitive to charge customers so much to go just one or two exits. “Oh my goodness!” said E-Z Pass customer Adam Lancaster when he learned the charge could be $10 on just one exit. Other E-Z Pass drivers echoed his sentiments. “Ouch! Not nice!” said E-Z Pass customer Neal Atwell, who was traveling through the New Stanton rest stop in August. Whatever the reason, many E-Z Pass customers we talked with thought $10 was too steep of a penalty for people taking just one or two exit trips. “That was showing the age of the transponder could be impacting the number of tolls.” Steep penalty for short trips “When we looked at why those V-tolls were being generated, the majority of the customers had a transponder between 8 and 10 years old,” Ritter said. In an interview with Stacia Ritter, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s assistant chief operating officer and head of Toll Collections, she admitted old transponders are a part of the problem. Other reasons a transponder might not register going through the toll plaza include: And if they don’t, it might not work effectively.īut even if the transponder malfunctions, DeFebo acknowledged customers can still get a $10 V-toll charge. He said customers are supposed to mount their transponder on the windshield just behind the rearview mirror. “These V-tolls typically involve people that don’t mount their transponder, or a lot of people hold the thing up at the wrong moment,” said commission spokesperson Carl DeFebo. Turnpike blames customersīut the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission blames customers for the problem. But if they don’t get two usable images, you can still get the $10 penalty fee. With the addition of cashless, all-electronic tolling last year, some of those V-tolls can be the normal discounted rate if Pennsylvania Turnpike matches license plate pictures to your account. “It’s theft!” The toll normally costs him just $1.60. “Ten dollars a clip just to go, to go from here to Irwin,” he said incredulously. They can add up fast and cut into your E-Z Pass savings if you don’t catch them and dispute the charges. For passenger cars, it’s a $10 flat fee, which can be a lot more than the cost of a toll for short trips. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission charges E-Z Pass customers a V-toll when their E-Z Pass transponder is not read when their vehicle exits or travels through a toll plaza. “You can see I go into work every day, 6 a.m. It had multiple $10 charges, which normally cost him only $1.60 to go to Irwin or $2.70 to go to New Stanton. There is no additional charge for this discount.He showed us his E-Z Pass statement from January through July 2021. You must sign up for the Expressway either when you enroll, or by calling the customer service center at 1-88. Keep using it, and the discount will continue. To qualify, use your E-ZPass tag at least 30 times during a 35 day period and the discount will be applied for the next 35 days. * When two outer ramp tolls are used in the same direction during one trip (within one hour) only one toll is charged to the user's E-ZPass account. Pomona (AC Int'l Airport), Mays Landing, Hammonton, Winslow Did you miss a toll? For what to do about it, click here.
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