EZ Pass for Motorcycles

[Nice n Easy Rider]

Does anyone know if you can use an EZ Pass transponder for autos on a motorcycle as well? If you list a MC along with a car(s) they want to send you an additional transponder (along with a bill for an additional security deposit). Can you just attach the car transponder when necessary to the bike? I know that it probably wouldn't be waterproof but perhaps it could be enclosed in a zip-lock bag.

[moshe_levy]

I have one. Right in my tank bag. Never an issue. Standard car-issue white EZ-Pass, works perfectly.

 

-MKL

[RT66Rider]

In Oklahoma, the transponders are linked to the tag number, so sharing with other vehicles is not allowed.

This is because rates differ between vehicle types, number of axles, whether you are pulling a trailer, ect.

[John Ranalletta]

Bot my I-Pass in IL and can register multiple vehicles for the unit.

[nbooth]

Believe it or not, some toll roads and bridges actually charge less than they do for automobiles for motorcycles. If you travel to a significant degree it's not a bad option to have...particularly in the northeast.

[GRB60]

I use the one from my car. No trouble so far.

I made sure I entered the bike online, too. If the EZPass does not read you should not receive a violation if the tag's registered. In theory, you don't even need the pass if it's registered. In PA, at least.

[David13]

I use mine all the time, or from time to time. I just carry the thing back and forth. I just lay it in the window in the car, and usually the back pack on the bike.

dc

[Skywagon]

Not in Texas. Requires device per tag (excluding trailers)

[ully211]

I have one for bike and another for car as the cost for a bike is significantly less at some tolls.

[MontanaMark]

I lived on Long Island last year and had 3 transponders; 1 for my RT and 1 each for my 2 cars. In New York, the transponders are keyed to the license plate of the vehicle. In all cases, it's cheaper to use EZ-pass than to pay cash. Nbooth is correct - the toll for a MC is less than that for a car. Assuming you use the transponder from your car on your bike, you'll be losing the advantage of the lesser toll for the bike.

 

Ironically, I never got to use the one on my bike - just the ones on the cars.

 

I don't recall having to pay any deposit for the transponders. Then again, I was paying by credit card, so they could just bill the CC if I didn't return them (which I did when I left NY).

 

Regards,

Mark

 

 

[algover]

Here in the Bay Area, we have one Fastrack transponder that we use with whichever of two cars or the motorcycle. All three are registered.

[na1g]

Here in MA, one transponder works in two cars and one m-c. Tolls are the same for cars and bikes everywhere I've been.

 

On a somewhat related note, MassDOT just announced that we will be changing the name of our "FastLane" pass system to the more universal "EZPass". Cost? $1.3 million for new signage, etc. Why? Apparently too many out-of-state drivers couldn't figure out that FastLane was the same as EZPass, even though the signs clearly stated so. Duh! Why did MA use the FastLane name to begin with? Hey, this is Massachusetts, OK?

 

pete

[Mike]

Illinois' I-Pass is compatible with the EZ-Pass system (maybe even using the same transponders). Here, you can theoretically get by with just buying one transponder and having your other vehicles registered to the same account. If you don't have the transponder in the car and pass through an automatic lane, the enforcement software matches your photographed plate with your registered vehicle plates and your account is debited at the normal toll.

 

Nonetheless, since I occasionally find myself in other states where EZ-Pass is used, I keep a transponder in all our vehicles. I have one velcroed inside the tank bag on my BMW and it seems to work perfectly.

[David13]

Here the FasTrak works state wide. So I can use mine on the Bay Area bridges. But it's not called FasTrak here like in the bay area. It's called The Toll Roads.

Does the EZ Pass work in more than one state? Oh, yeah. 14 states.

But the adjoining states here do not have toll roads.

dc

 

[George S.]

New Jersey E-Z Pass states you cannot switch transponder tags from one class vehicle to another. There is a 4 tag limit to an account and we have 4 cars in the family, so I can't get a tag for my motorcycles. I have always just put my car tag in a tankbag top compartment and never had a problem.

[Polo]

Not in Texas. Requires device per tag (excluding trailers)

 

When I started using toll roads with any regularity in 2009, I registered my two cars and the Motorcycle. They sent me 1 tag, which I never affixed to any one. I went thru indistinctly and got billed at a discounted rate as a deduction from an ongoing balance I kept.

 

Then in 2011 I got a bill for usage, with a $1 service charge and regular fees. I was given the run around, and told it was a different entity and that TxTag had not been able to read my license plate. So, how could you use it to find me then? This got waived. I got three tags in the mail.

 

I got it again for my bike, same run around. No waiving, but now we are up to $50 on fines, and a threat to go to court. I have 2 years worth of billing via reading my license plates. I think that would make a strong precedent; and no formal communication telling me that the method would be discontinued.

 

We'll see when the court date arrives.

[RichEdwards]

Even though I'm a Florida resident now, I maintain my EZpasses in NY. There was no charge for the car pass or the motorcycle pass and the motorcycle pass gives me the discount (sometimes half-price) on the very expensive bridges and toll roads I must travel in the NE when I visit family there. By the way, the motorcycle EZpass has a big MC engraved on it.

[moshe_levy]

Another dopey NJ law - we have "Green" EZ-Pass. You can apply for a green-colored transponder IF your car is rated 45MPG or better, and get 10% off peak rates.

 

Only one green tag per owner, though, so my wife's Prius is out of luck.

 

And my RT, which gets only slightly worse mileage than my car, but still over the 45mpg threshold, is not eligable.

 

-MKL

[CruisinCruzan]

In NY EZ Pass for MC is 1/2 off on the NY State Thruway. In addition the MC pass can be obtained even if you have the max number of car passes (4) on an account.

[Sweendog]

The car passes work fine on cycles. I just swap mine between vehicles when I know I'm going to need it. I put the little 3M velcro strips on the inside of the windscreen to the left, and it holds perfectly well. (I did the same on my Silverwing)

 

You should check on your local EZ Pass site to see what their multi-vehicle policy is, ours in NJ requires you to list what plates you have on your account, but you can move the passes around between as you like.

[tvpierce]

I use my EZ pass in my cars and on the bike.

 

It is waterproof, so no worries there.

 

I've found that the bike sometimes has a difficult time being picked up, even though I have it mounted to the windshield of my RT. With the car, I can go through the booth at 40 mph and it works every time. If I did that with the bike, it would *never* register -- I have to slow down to 10-15 mph.

[George S.]

I have the same issue when I have it on the bike. I need to almost come to a stop sometimes to get it to register. If you have a passenger, have them wave it over your head, no kidding.

[tvpierce]

A word of warning regarding going through the gate without your pass and letting them bill you based on your license plate:

 

If it's a set toll that all vehicles pay at that point, then all is fine. But if it's a system like the NY State Thruway, or the Maine Turnpike -- where your toll is determined by where you get on and off, you want to make sure you have your EZ Pass with you. Because the system only snapped a pic of your license plate at that one point -- and they need two points to determine your toll. If the location the photo was taken was the entry point, they don't know where you got off, so they charge you the max toll.

 

This was happening to me: I have a commuter plan where I get off the turnpike one exit after the toll booths. My toll is tiny -- and it's pre-paid, so I can travel that route an unlimited number of times for the set fee I pay. But if the system registers me getting on at the toll both, but doesn't register me exiting, then it assumes I went all the way to the state line, and charges me $1.75 on top of the commuter fare I already pay.