Dark Bilious Vapors

I-PASS can now be used in 11 other states to the east (Jon Davis -Daily Herald):

"Road trips between the suburbs and the East Coast should now be easier for the area’s nearly two million I-PASS-equipped drivers.

With a midnight click of a mouse, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority computers began sharing I-PASS account information with their E-ZPass counterparts, allowing drivers to use their transponders on the other’s toll road systems starting today.

Car and motorcycle owners can immediately use their existing I-PASS transponders. But drivers of trucks, buses, recreational vehicles or cars with towing rigs will have to trade their transponders for new ones compatible with the E-ZPass system.

The toll authority joined the E-ZPass consortium — which comprises Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia — in April 2004.

But it’s taken 17 months to integrate the two systems’ computer hardware, software and electronics so each system can read the other’s radio signals and charge accounts on 21 separate toll road, bridge or tunnel agencies.

Toll officials did have some words of warning: I-PASS users should make sure their accounts are full before driving east, as E-ZPass tolls generally are more expensive. And I-PASS users who want to know if they qualify for E-ZPass discounts must contact each toll agency separately..."

Karen on 09.27.05 @ 05:51 AM CST