Well, since the NJ EZPass system is $500M in the hole, they decided that they needed to change the way they charge EZPass members. From the news report today on NBC-10, the following changes are going to occur:
1) All per-use discounts for EZPass members (like the AC Expressway and Garden State Parkway) are going away. Meaning, the EZPass toll will be the same as the cash toll. The news didn't mention anything about the commuter discounts (when you agree to pay for x amount of uses per month in bulk). Not sure if there are any for NJ roads, since I never really use them.
2) All members of the Regional EZPass Consortium will be charged $1 per month per tag. This only applies to people that received their tags from the Regional Consortium (not PA Turnpike, or Delaware River Port Authority). If (like me) you got your tag from NJ, it will say on it "Regional EZPass Cosortium" right on it. I'm not sure if the Delaware River and Bay Authority (Del Memorial Bridge) is part of the Consortium or not. It seems that they issue physical tags from the Consortium, but operate their system independently.
www.ezpass.com (NJ's EZPass website) doesn't show the new rates
yet, but I'm shopping for a new EZPass system to get my tag from as soon as I get done with this. PA charges $3/year and DRPA has no annual charge according to the news. I won't go with anyone that actually charges me to have their tag (and I use CC to pay for the tolls, so no tag deposit either). I'm saving THEM money with this system so if I don't get it for free, I don't get it.
