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A mini firestorm has arisen here in NH thanks to significant snafus and glitches in the relatively new EZ Pass toll collection system. When driving north on Route 93 this past Friday, I noticed that there was a very long line at the EZ Pass office at the Hooksett toll booths. People were in line down the long entry walkway and into the parking lot. "Somethin’s up," I thought. Sure enough, the NH Sunday News had a story this weekend that explained what I saw:
If you’ve recently gotten a "Notice of Toll Violation" from the E-ZPass folks, "Don’t panic," says state Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton..Many drivers may simply have forgotten to update their credit card and license plate information with the automated toll system, Boynton said. And that may trigger a violation when you go through a tollbooth.
Now, keep in mind that EZ Pass is based down in NJ, which operates automated toll collection systems in numerous states. This means a lot of bureacracy between your paid (or not, it seems) toll, the cameras at the booth, interpretation, your license plate, and you. No problem. Don’t panic. Well, not really. Again, from the NH Sunday News:
[S]uch notices are not to be confused with the "last chance letters" approximately 23,500 New Hampshire drivers recently received from the DOT, warning them to pay up on past-due E-ZPass violations, Boynton said. Those letters, meant to clear up a backlog of overdue tolls and fines, covered E-ZPass violations dating from May 2006, through March 15 of this year.
Can you imagine? Some of these violations are from as long as a year ago! A "backlog"? 23,500– I’d say that’s a backlog! Oh, and that long line? Well, if you were one of the 23,500 that got "last chance" letters– which, apparently for many, was the FIRST notice that they’d ever received– and you don’t clear it up, well, you’d better, because, as the Sunday News article further reports,
Next month, the names of drivers who haven’t settled these past-due fees will be passed on to the Division of Motor Vehicles, which under state law can suspend your license and registration until the fines are paid.
I spoke to a friend of mine today who was stuck in the bureacratic vortex of extended periods on hold, unresponded emails, and general anxiety as one of the 23,500 whose first inkling of any trouble was his "last chance" letter, threatening the above noted penalty for non-payment. Now remember, we’re talking about an automated toll payment system with a transponder and video-camera surveillance. If you got the damn thing on your windshield, and you go through the toll which indicates "paid", what more do you do? How do you know something happened?
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Back to my friend- after hours and days of fruitless efforts via the prescribed methods of correcting his problem, he gave up and Emailed an apparently scathing note to Gov. Lynch’s office about the matter. He got an email shortly thereafter, apprising him the matter had been resolved. If you’ve dialed the customer service number at 1-877-643-9727, or tried online at www.ezpassnh.com and still seem to be getting nowhere, do what my buddy did, I guess. Email Gov. Lynch by going here. I’ll bet if he gets enough emails, the snafus and other technical problems will get fixed. Perhaps we’ve discovered something else besides visiting flood zones "Governor Do-Nothing" is good for!
