I-Zoom Doesn't Describe Indiana's EZ-Pass Woes

The news from the Indiana Toll Road -- now that the new Indiana EZ-Pass system dubbed I-Zoom has been in effect -- is that people or the toll road or both -- don't know what they are doing.

The Post-Tribune opines:

TR Concession, the company that took over running the Indiana Toll Road last year, would like us to think drivers in the miles of cars that have been sitting outside the toll booths just can't figure out which lanes to pull into or how to use their I-Passes or other electronic payment boxes. Many are the same drivers who are cruising through the Skyway tolls with their I-Passes, only to meet a parking lot on the Indiana side.

One recent Sunday, the company had only one lane devoted to electronic passes, backing up traffic for miles. The company blames most of the backups on cash-paying drivers who are wrongly pulling into the Toll Road's left two lanes, which are designated for electronic payments only.

The problem is, the Toll Road's new electronic lane design expects drivers trained by the Skyway setup to suddenly veer left for I-Pass payments instead of right, as they do on the Skyway. The signs announcing the lanes are poor and confusing.

Too bad that isn't the only bad news for EZ-Pass users. It seems that divorce attorneys are using EZ-Pass records to track spouses in domestic relations cases.

Copyright 2007, ChristopherHedges.com, All Rights Reserved.

Tech Tags: Illiana Illiana+Expressway Illiana+Legislation Illiana+Toll+Road Interstate Transportation Public+Private+Toll+Roads

EZ-Pass Coming Soon To Indiana Toll Road

The EZ-Pass system will be active at the Indiana Toll Road by May, according to the Northwest Indiana Times. Drivers with an I-Zoom system transponder will get a 40% discount over the cash fare. While the Illinois Toll Road authority's I-Pass will work on the Indiana Toll Road, drivers using those transponders won't get the I-Zoom discount, reports The Times.

The Indiana Toll Road E-ZPass will go by the name I-Zoom, just as Illinois has I-Pass.

Cars and motorcycles with I-Zoom transponders will get a 40 percent discount on the new, higher tolls, which should be in effect by year-end.

The I-Zoom transponders also will operate on the Illinois Tollway, Chicago Skyway, and other E-ZPass toll roads in 10 other states.

Illinois residents will be able to use their I-Pass transponders on the Indiana Toll Road. But to get the 40 percent discount they will have to get I-Zoom transponders.

I-Zoom transponders will go on sale in May. Transponders will be available for a one-time charge of $10 to $12, Pierce said.

I-Zoom tolling will be installed on the entire 157-mile toll road by the end of the year, Pierce said. It will cost $40 million to install the E-ZPass system.

The E-ZPass Interagency Group, of Atlantic City, N.J., voted this week to accept ITR Concession Co. as a full member.

The Northwest Indiana Times article didn't mention if there were plans to construct open road tolling lanes like that offered on the Illinois Toll Road.

Tags: Indiana+Toll+Road I-Zoom I-Pass EZ-Pass electronic+toll+collection