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BEREA - Ohio’s E-ZPass customers can now enjoy seamless travel with their E-ZPass transponder on Florida’s Turnpike System and all toll facilities owned or operated by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), bringing interoperability across 18 states.
“This is big news for our Ohio E-ZPass customers,” said Ferzan M. Ahmed, executive director of the Ohio Turnpike. “Our customers, some of whom are snowbirds, have been asking for Florida to join the E-ZPass network. It’s great that our transportation partners in Florida were able to make this happen.”
The new link makes the E-ZPass accepted on more than 900 miles of Florida roadways.
Florida toll roads announce partnership with E-ZPass, used in 16 states
In addition to a new transponder compatible along the East Coast and Midwest, Florida tolls will accept E-ZPass customers from other states.
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A view of the I-275 northbound Sunpass lane at the Skyway Bridge. [ VRAGOVIC, WILL | Tampa Bay Times ]
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TALLAHASSEE â Floridaâs tolling authority is offering a new transponder compatible with the E-ZPass toll system used in 16 states on the East Coast and Midwest, including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The new transponder, called SunPass PRO, will allow Florida drivers to use one device to process tolls all the way to Maine and as far west as Illinois (Minnesota is coming soon). Current SunPass transponders are only accepted in Georgia and North Carolina.
Familiar signs. (Wikimedia Commons)
A major milestone in national toll interoperability has been achieved with interoperability between two of the largest customer bases in the country. Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) is now accepting E-ZPass, bringing interoperability to millions of toll highway customers on the East Coast of the United States and as far west as Illinois. In conjunction with this exciting partnership, FTE is also launching the SunPass PRO™, a new portable transponder that can be used everywhere E-ZPass is accepted.
“Florida continues to leverage technology and deploy innovative solutions that improve safety and reduce congestion across the state’s transportation system,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. “Florida’s partnership with E-ZPass is the next critical step toward national interoperability creating seamless transportation options for Florida residents and visitors alike.”
Kevin Condon’s idea for a new way to pay for gas developed over the course of many slow Friday commutes from Boston to his former home in Truro.
It started, as so often happens, as a way to solve an entirely different problem. A businessman with experience in transportation and public policy, Condon wondered how to get people to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. Could a variable gas tax be instituted that was tied to the efficiency of a vehicle? Could there be a way to identify a vehicle at a gas pump?
“There is no more price sensitive place in the world than a gas pump,” he said.