skyland235

Hi
So as not to be hit by charges for not paying - I have been investigating how best I can get a pass to cover us for 7 days travel in New York.
The website I keep getting directed to https://www.e-zpassny.com shows as being blocked each time I try and access it and so am none the wiser

If anyone has any suggestions with regards toll charges etc that would be great. we are hiring a car from JFk for 7 Days
Thanks

Jerseygirl

The link works for me.

As you are only talking about 7 days...why not pay the toll as you drive through?

Rete

Depends on the roads you use. Not all roads are toll roads. The NYS Thruway is a toll road as are the bridges to and from Manhattan into Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey.

EZ pass is a system where I went in person at one of their local offices and by giving them my credit card from which they open my account with $25, I was handed an EZ Pass Plastic Shield for the windshield of my car. When you go through a toll booth or a EZ Pass Fast Lane, they scan the shield, automatically withdraw the toll fee from my EZ Pass Account. You never have to stop to pay a toll booth operator. When your $25 is close to being depleted they take another $25 from your credit card automatically and add it to your EZ Pass account.

If you are only visiting the NYC area, why would you need this? Just stop at the toll booth and pay the fee out of your pocket.

Pulaski

We lived in NY for eight months and apart from occasional trips across the Tappan Zee Bridge, we never paid a toll.

I hope that you are not spending any of your holiday time in New York anywhere between JFK and White Plains? ..... In other words you are either exploring the eastern end of Long Island, or driving far up-state?

skyland235

Ok- It seems that for 7 day hire it would be better to pay as we go... Thanks for the replies

Nutmegger

Usually you can sign up for Tolls by Mail, using your credit card for the charges, and inserting the dates when you will be in and around the city -- of course, the snag is that you don't know the license plate of your rental car. Perhaps the rental folks can help you, they must have to deal with this all the time? Many places around NYC don't have toll booths now, your license plate number is just snapped as you drive through, and then you get billed in the mail -- but, as you say, with a premium if you haven't signed up in advance. We don't drive in often enough to warrant E-Z Pass, so just sign up for this when we know we are going to use a toll road.

This is the link, in case it is of any use:

MTA Cashless Tolling.

Rete

Those are the areas that you remember but there are many areas along the Hudson River that the OP might like to drive through and stop for lunch or dinner, i.e. Garrison, etc.

The tolls have multiplied since you lived here for a brief 8 months many years ago. The Tappan Zee is being rebuilt and the current toll is $8. Believe it is the same for the George Washington, the Whitestone and the Throgsneck. There is also a toll at the teeny tiny bridge leaving Manhattan's east side for Long Island. But all in all, he is far better off paying the tolls in cash then attempting to get an EZ Pass.

I still have mine and use it whenever I'm in NY which is at least twice a year. It is also good in New Jersey on the Turnpike and the Garden State as well as in Delaware and Maryland.

There is a toll at the Henry Hudson Bridge leaving Manhattan into Riverdale area of the Bronx and there are tolls on the NY Thruway. The first one is in Yonkers at Tuckahoe Road near Costco and Stew Leonard's.

Nutmegger

I went through the Hudson a few weeks ago -- it is just the cameras there now, you can't pay there.

robin1234

You will be able to get the ezpass thing for the windshield, allowing you to drive through without paying each time, from the car rental agency. I imagine that under that scenario, you will pay the toll charges to the car rental agency? Not sure - we have a permanent account, with charges charged to a bank account.

Geckz

The EZ pass 'should' be an option on all hire cars from JFK. It's a transmitter that allows you to pass through the toll gates without stopping.

You can add it as a charged option when you rent the car. I would do this as it will make your life so much easier. The upfront charge is the charge for using it and then they will send through a bill later with the actual journey costs.

Be aware that some bridges are more than others so you may want to plan accordingly.

try https://www.ezpassnj.com/en/home/index.shtml

Rete

I know they were working on it but I rarely drove the west side into the city but stayed on the MD on the east side until the Willis Avenue bridge.

Do they still collect a toll by either logging your EZ Pass and if you don't have one will they send you a bill for the toll?

Yup that is exactly what they will be doing.

In an effort to reduce congestion, tollbooths will be eliminated at all Metropolitan Transportation Authority bridges and tunnels next year, and replaced with automatic tolling, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday.

Instead of charging drivers who are stopped at toll plazas, the authority will use sensors and cameras to automatically charge cars that have been equipped with E-ZPass; those without it will have their license plates recorded by camera, and a bill will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle.

TheKingOfHearts

Most rental car companies use "PlatePass" which encompasses most of the states drive through lanes.

They'll advise you at the desk, but Hertz for example charge $6 a day + the toll charges for PlatePass up to a total of $25 per rental (+the toll charges)

This is the easiest way to avoid being fined, albeit not always the cheapest given the $6 a day fee. If you use PlatePass even once, it'll remain active for the remainder of your rental period.

skyland235

I have just got th following reply from our rental company

Thank you for choosing Enterprise Rent-A-Car for your car rental needs.

I see that your JFK Airport location offers toll pass devices at a cost of $3.95 per day. This device allows you to use the express toll lanes, and be charged at a later date for the tolls after we hear back from the issuing toll agency. You may also pay for the tolls with cash as you go through them. Please let me know if you would like me to add the toll pass device to your reservation.

Nutmegger

As noted above, some of the tolls around NYC no longer offer the cash option, so I'd recommend you taking advantage of this device.

Steerpike

If the traffic is anything like it is in the Bay Area (and I assume it's worse if anything) then paying the toll 'at the toll booth' is an incredibly lengthy process compared to driving through the automated lanes. I'm constantly dumb-founded by why so many people sit in those 'cash' lanes when they could fly through the automated lanes. It's not that you have to stop and pay the cash; it's that the lines for these booths are incredibly long. They only staff a few booths with toll collectors these days, so the poor suckers who actually pay cash are incredibly penalized.

Here in the Bay Area you don't even need to carry the pass anymore; you just register your license plate and they do photo-recognition of the plate.