E-ZPass Use Costs More Out-Of-State For NY Drivers

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — If you have driven through New York using a E-ZPass tag issued by another state or agency, you were charged the cash rate at MTA-run New York bridges and tunnels. That is the finding of a study by AAA Northeast, called “E-ZPass’ Dirty Little Secret.”

The study found that between 2012 and 2016 more than 92 million non-New York E-ZPass users were not charged the usual discount, but the cash rate, ABC 7 said.

The difference could add up, with the cash rate at the Throgs Neck Bridge being $8.50 and the pass discount at $5.76.

AAA Northeast asked the U.S. Department of Transportation in June for a review of the discrepancy and urged people to let their elected officials know about it, amny.com said.

New Jersey got rid of off-peak discounts for out-of-state E-ZPass customers in 2011, and New York stopped giving a 5 percent discount to out-of-state E-ZPass drivers at the beginning of 2017.

And to compound matters, the Verrazano Bridge is now cashless — $17 with an out-of-state pass or without one, as opposed to $11.52 with a New York-issued E-ZPass, FIOS1 News said.

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