“We now find that certain drivers are given preferential treatment - the only reason for which is that their E-ZPass was issued by a New York agency.” “One of the primary reasons E-ZPass was created was to offer drivers discounted rates,” Rooney said. Another piece of legislation urges the MTA to begin providing its discounts to motorists with New Jersey E-ZPass accounts, and a third measure seeks to establish a reciprocal agreement that would permit the Turnpike Authority and the MTA to provide each agency’s discounts to motorists from either state. One of the bills Rooney is sponsoring would require the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to post an update on the agency’s website that officially warns customers their E-ZPass accounts may not qualify for discounts in other states. The E- system is now used by 38 different tolling agencies in 16 states, with 18 million accounts and $8 billion in toll revenues nationwide, according to stats compiled by the E-ZPass Interagency Group. The E-ZPass electronic toll-collection system was launched in the 1990s by toll agencies based in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to provide motorists with a way to automatically pay tolls by using a transponder attached to their vehicle’s windshield. “These bills are an effort to level the playing field for our commuters and ensure the integrity of the E-ZPass system,” Rooney said. He’s also encouraging officials from New Jersey and New York to set up a reciprocal agreement that would allow the same discounts to be offered to E-ZPass motorists from both states. Rooney’s legislation would require the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to warn motorists that having an E-ZPass account doesn’t necessarily mean you will receive E-ZPass toll discounts while traveling in other states. While releasing the E-ZPass data, AAA called on federal officials to review what’s its labeling “unfair practices,” and the study has also drawn the attention of New Jersey Assemblyman Kevin Rooney (R-Bergen), who is proposing a package of bills to better protect Garden State motorists. And while the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was praised by AAA for offering discounts to all E-ZPass motorists at its facilities, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority was knocked for providing an E-ZPass discount during off-peak hours on the turnpike only to motorists who have their accounts registered in New Jersey. The discrepancy means that out-of-state E-ZPass motorists, unless they have an E-ZPass account that’s based in New York, are being charged rates at MTA facilities that are as much as $5.48 more than New York motorists with home-state accounts, the AAA study found. At the same time, they hit motorists with E-ZPass accounts from New Jersey and other states with the same toll rates as drivers paying cash. A recent study released by AAA Northeast highlighted the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s practice of providing an E-ZPass discount only to motorists who have an account that’s registered in New York.
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