How to Get an E-ZPass in Maryland

The E-ZPass is a transponder that is attached to the inside of your windshield. It allows you to roll through toll booths on the toll roads in the many states without having to stop and pay the toll. The system detects the transponder signal and deducts the amount of the toll from your account. When your account drops to ten dollars the system will transfer fifteen dollars to your account from your credit card or from a specified bank account. At some booths you have to slow down to ten or fifteen miles an hour, at others you can go through at speed. E-ZPass works in the following states.
Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Virginia
West Virginia

The E-ZPass is also used at tunnels and bridges like the Harbor Tunnel in Baltimore and the Delaware River Bridge. In addition they have an E-ZPass Plus plan. If your E-ZPass is tied to your credit card you have the additional benefit of using it in the following parking areas.

Albany International Airport (ALB), NY
John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), NY
LaGuardia International Airport (LGA), NY
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), NJ
Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), NJ
Atlantic City's New York Ave Parking garage, NJ
Syracuse-Hancock International Airport

My wife and I have started going to Atlantic City about three or four times a year. It is a really good deal because the Tropicana Hotel gives us our room for free, but that's a story for another article. We have been driving from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC to Atlantic City paying the tolls as we went. The trip takes us through the Harbor Tunnel in Baltimore, over Interstate 95 through Maryland and Delaware, across the Delaware River Bridge, over the Jersey Turnpike, and onto the Atlantic City Expressway. All of those require tolls, and some more than one. We would watch the cars roll through the E-ZPass lane as we wait for our turn to pay. We had thought that making the trip three or four times a year wasn't worth going through the process of signing up for a pass.

After sitting in a long line a few months ago we decided that it would be worth the effort and we got in on the E-ZPass deal. It was a lot easier that we thought. I purchased and set up my E-ZPass in Maryland. The steps may be different in other states. Click on the state name above to go to the web site for your state and follow the instructions there. This is how it works in Maryland.

1. Go to the web site.

2. Click on On the Go.

3. Click on the Retailer button and get a list of merchants that sell the E-ZPass.

4. Go to the retail store and purchase the pass for $25.00. Of the $25, $15 will be available immediately. You will need to register the transponder to access the remaining $10.

5. Go back to the web site, click on On the Go, and click on register.

6. Put in the information from your purchased transponder, your personal information, and your method of payment.

7. Attach the transponder to the inside of your windshield to the right of your rear view mirror.

We put our E-ZPass in our Nissan Altima. Our car has a darkened area around the rear view mirror to make it easier to see in the sunlight. To avoid the darkened area interfering with the EZ-Pass; I put the EZ-Pass to the right and below the area and it works just fine.

EZ-Pass is the way to go; it makes driving so much easier.