EZPass transponder

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
So I live in MA but have a NH EZ Pass. It is mounted on my upper fairing behind the windshield with velcro type patches. Seems to work just fine in NH, MA & Maine. I think NY and PA as well.

 
I have the mini tag and it is attached to my left forearm of my jacket using a sport/running style MP3 pouch. As I go through the gate I have to hold my arm out and it works every time. I did try going through leaving my hand on the handle bars and it doesn't read for some reason. I will take a picture once I get home.
Just an FYI with EZ Pass NY after reading ionbeam’s post, my license plate is register with them and when it doesn’t read I get charged the max amount. My only guess is that the cameras only take a picture of the front of the vehicle. I had several no reads when I first starting using the EZ Pass on the bike thinking I was still good since the plate is registered, wrong!! Big shock when I opened my statement at the end of the month, had to go to battle with them to get a refund of over $200 in charges. Took over two months to straighten out, a complete pain in the ass!!
If you are being charged the maximum toll then the EZ Pass system was not able to determine either when you got on or when you got off of the toll road. If your vehicle is registered to the the NY EZ pass system they should be able to get the toll charges right by using your license plate. Maybe your plate is not easily read by the camera for some reason. I know people who don't carry the tag at all, and just rely on the license plate being read.

The advantage of a MC specific tag in NY is that you get charged the MC toll rate on the Thruway and Hudson RIver crossings. Before they started using the smaller tags for cars, the MC tag was exactly the same as a car tag, except it had a big M attached to it to discourage people from using it in their car. I don't know why the smaller car tags would not work for a motorcycle.

 
Mine lives in an exterior pocket in my tank bag. Being somewhat paranoid, whenever I approach a toll booth, I unzip the pouch and just kinda pull it out and wave it around. Seems to work OK. After riding along the Garden State Parkway in NJ last year, though, whenever I rode through a 'regular' toll booth, I would always get a message telling me to call the EZ Pass people. Never did, and it worked fine in IL during out NAFO trip this year.

When I had the Harley, I attached it to the windshield via SureLok (or whatever it's called) and it worked fine.

 
I have 4 EZPass transponders. Back when NH converted from the token system to EZPass they offered residents 2 free transponders per household, so I snatched them up, and then bought two more for $5 each later on.

If you tell them they are for a motorcycle when you are ordering they set the transponder for that vehicle class, and the fares are a bit lower than the already reduced EZ Pass rate for cars. There is no outward indication like the M in New York, so you have to remember which is which, or mark them on the back like I have.

The last one that I got was a smaller, fatter version of the typical transponder. I used to have it mounted on the windshield, but with procrastinating to get it mounted on the new winter shield I have found that it works just fine from inside my cloth tank bag. That's nice since I move the tank bag between bikes when I ride them, so I should be able to get by on just the one MC specific transponder.

Tip for the NH crowd, they will send you more 3M Dual Lock strips for the asking on the web site. Just log into your account and click the request button.

I have found that getting the pass recognized in New York and New Jersey is iffy at best, but it works pretty much everywhere else. I did get a full fare bill once when they missed the entry scan, but I didn't bother with fighting it since I seldom ride the NYS Thruway

Having the plates all registered to my account means you don't have to worry if they pick up the signal. They'll still charge you the normal, discounted rate if they can see your plate. If they can't see your plate they won't know who you are. Even better...

 
In the top lid pocket of the tankbag also. I make sure it's facing outward as it would on a windshield. Only downside to this idea is if it should feel like not working one day as happened occasionally with my last one, it's sort of a PITA getting it out with a gloved hand. This is when the nice, smiling P.A. officer will ask you to hand it to them so they can wave it/bang it/throw it at the booth mechanism. No matter how nicely I've asked or who I've asked, young rook or grizzled vet, male or female, none of them would take it out of the pocket as I held the bag open. Can't really say I blame them though. Don't think I would either.
no.gif


Before they started using the smaller tags for cars, the MC tag was exactly the same as a car tag, except it had a big M attached to it to discourage people from using it in their car. I don't know why the smaller car tags would not work for a motorcycle.
I think they do. I've had the smaller one with an M on it for over a year now. Put it in the tankbag like the old, larger one and haven't had any issues with it. Much betterer.

 
I just got back from Virginia and the EZ-Pass did not turn the toll booth light when I got on at Breezewood, but worked at the US 119/66 exit. Kind of inconvenient because it was a rental car with Florida plates. Now I have to check if it properly tolled the car. The problem is if you are using the EZ-pass only lanes, there is no one to talk to. At the exit, there was cash only, and EZ-pass only, so I took the pass lane.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ditto on windscreen, front and center. NY slim, big ole' "M" on the camera side for the cycle rates on Thruway & bridges in NY state.

EZPonFJR.jpg


 
I carry mine in the dry pocket of my riding pants with my wallet-I tried jacket pockets,glovebox and tankbag and it would not reliably trip the tolls here in Balto. I get a reduced commuter rate and it sucks to see my account dinged for full price when they use my tag. Jeff

 
When my Oregon tag is read by the cameras in Florida or wherever, how do they charge me? Have had no sign of any fees from my recent ride and have no intention of paying them if a bill does arrive. What penalty can they assess? Or do they even care about out iof state visitors?

 
When I went to the Keys 2 yrs ago I noticed Florida doesn't recognize the EZ pass-never recieved any bills or notices and I went thru at least 8 electronic reader areas. Jeff

 
When I went to the Keys 2 yrs ago I noticed Florida doesn't recognize the EZ pass-never recieved any bills or notices and I went thru at least 8 electronic reader areas. Jeff
Same here except I had no EZPass transponder. Never got a bill, notice, etc.

 
Years ago, I was working for a company that required me to go to the Toronto area (Markham) to do some tech training. I routinely took a toll road that was 'plate reader only', no toll tag. Since I was a US plate, I initially didn't get billed. However, once they established an agreement with NYS, I started getting bills. They were a couple of months behind, and after I got two of them I stopped using that route. It was DAMN expensive!

I would imagine Florida doesn't want to piss off tourism, so if you take their toll road with out of state plates, they let you slide. Just a guess though.

 
Although New Hampshire is tiny, we do have 3 sections of toll road in the state, all three are on the major N-S roads that tourists use to get up to the lakes and mountains. They also have very large, state operated liquor stores roadside on those same tourist routes. Coincidence? I think not.
nono.gif


On the 2 bigger, interstate highways (I-93 in Hooksett and I-95 in Hampton) they have installed the new fly-through EZ Pass Lanes. Those are the ones that you do not even have to slow down for, the RFID readers overhead, and an array of optical cameras record your passing at 65+mph . They do not miss much. The readers seem to work reliably even with my speed pass in my tank bag, or if I leave the pass at home (sometimes intentionally) they are consistently able to get my plate number, even on the bikes and the regular (discounted) toll is charged to my account.

But... if you drive through any EZ pass lane without an EZPass or it malfunctions, and you have not registered that plate number with an EZPass account they will definitely send the plate owner a nice big violation notice (ticket) in the mail. DAMHIKT

 
Last edited by a moderator:
...But... if you drive through any EZ pass lane without an EZPass or it malfunctions, and you have not registered that plate number with an EZPass account they will definitely send the plate owner a nice big violation notice (ticket) in the mail. DAMHIKT
DAMHIK 2. Changed my license plate # and forgot to tell the EZ Pass toll trolls. YOU WILL BE PUNISHED. Which reminds me, I need to take off one old plate and add a new one to the account ASAP.

I would imagine Florida doesn't want to piss off tourism, so if you take their toll road with out of state plates, they let you slide. Just a guess though.
Fla uses SunPass. I dunno why they need to be different. In theory they will bill you plate, even out of state if they can find you. The bill will include an 'administrative fee' for the process. It sounds like other states that are not SunPass don't honor the inter-state plate info request.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
EZ-Pass is by far the biggest tolling transponder, mostly because the multi-state northeast uses it. May even stretch to DC now. Nice model for inter-state cooperation, but jeez, when you can cross three state lines in 2 hours of riding, they need to cooperate.

Georgia uses its own Peach Pass, and until two or three years ago had only one tollbooth in the entire state. Funded a sizable bunch of jobs, however.

Florida uses its own SunPass, which does function across the half-dozen tolling agencies in the state. They've got the population to support it, too.

Last I checked, Texas has their TxTag system, which recently went statewide. My son has gotten threatening letters from their Houston folks, but has never had anything more substantial.

Who cares about California? They're slipping into the ocean any day now.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here in the S.F. Bay Area we have Fast-Pass which I suspect is similar technology as EZ-Pass. Rather than attaching the transponder to the bike, I put it in my jacket pocket. I have a high viz vest which has a Velcro patch on the upper front where I can attach the transponder. Using these methods eliminate chance of theft and does not clutter the bike with crap.

 
Here in the S.F. Bay Area we have Fast-Pass which I suspect is similar technology as EZ-Pass. Rather than attaching the transponder to the bike, I put it in my jacket pocket. I have a high viz vest which has a Velcro patch on the upper front where I can attach the transponder. Using these methods eliminate chance of theft and does not clutter the bike with crap.
Art the FastPass is the EZ-Pass with a different decal. I used to use FastPass to avoid digging for tolls at the bridges, just be sure to shield it from the sensors in the HOV lanes on 580. You can do those for free, but if the sensors read the FastPass, you might get tolled.

 
Top