Motor commuters here in New York have been having a field day. They are now spending less time queuing at the city's various toll booths and more time zipping through. This less hazardous style of commuting is due in part to a small white device called the EZ Pass (pronounced Easy Pass).
Since its introduction by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for Bridges and Tunnels in October 1995 and completed in December 1996, its use has widely spread. Now the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, which connect Manhattan to New Jersey have been added to the four bridges connecting the boroughs of Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Long Island. Traffic congestion on the New York State Thruway, over the Hudson River and inter-boroughs has improved dramatically.
The plastic transponders, which are about the size of an audio cassette, are stuck to the wind-screen of a car, bus or truck. The customer enrolls in the E-Z Pass programme over the telephone or by requesting an application form at a toll plaza. The only requirement is that the customer pays a minimum of $25 (£16.60).
The customer opens an E-Z Pass account and authorises the MTA to deduct the toll fee amount monthly or on a weekly basis from any one of four credit card accounts American Express, Visa, MasterCard or Discover. The customer needs only to sign up once and the balance never goes below $10 at which time the customer's account is automatically reloaded to $25. About 85 per cent of E-Z Pass users are credit card customers, 3.5 per cent pay by cash and the rest mail cheques to a post office box in Staten Island.
A computer is installed at each toll-booth which contains the customer's account information. The computer connects to the transponder by radio waves. When a motorist drives through the plaza, the radio wave antenna in the computer at the lane bounces off the technology in the transponder. This then sends back a signal to deduct the appropriate toll from the customer's account (on average it is $3 for an E-Z Pass customer or $3.50 for cash).
The MTA tested several technologies from 1989 but found radio frequency to be the most effective, said Mr Frank Pascual, director of public affairs at the MTA Bridges and Tunnels. It has already spent $63 million upgrading 10 toll plazas from the older token system.
Now 10 transportation agencies have got involved across five state lines New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. More than 1.5 million transponders have been issued with about 1 million of those in use in densely-populated New York.
Since the MTA added the tunnels last month, it is processing about 1,500 E-Z Pass accounts a day. Now about 55 per cent of all toll transactions are made with E-Z Pass. "It is speeding up traffic and it works," said Mr Pascual. People who were spending 20 to 30 minutes waiting in lanes, now go through in five minutes, he said.
Although traffic remains heavy with about 725,000 vehicles a day passing through, the MTA says E-Z Pass motorists are annually saving about 40 hours each, 8 million gallons of gasoline and there is less environmental pollution. In fact, the man who spearheaded E-Z Pass's introduction, Mr Michael Ascher, president of the MTA Bridges and Tunnels, is being honoured by the American Lung Association for allowing people to breathe more easily.
"I love my E-Z Pass," said Ms Tami Luhby, an enthusiastic commuter from the Bronx. "It's phenomenal. Now lines are shorter and you can breeze through. And when you're rushing to the airport, it makes all the difference in the world," she said. Her only criticism, however, was that with the E-Z Pass there is no instant receipt.
Instead, the MTA sends out a statement by mail each month itemising each toll payment.
A traditionalist at heart, a commuter from Long Island, Mr Mark Reisig, has refused to join the E-Z Pass club. "I feel like I'm being bullied into using it," he said, as the motorists who pay by cash or tokens are sidelined into fewer lanes and therefore have to endure longer waits. But he expects he'll have to convert soon for convenience sake.
E-Z Pass is not the only transportation initiative being undertaken in the metropolis. Last week, the New York City Transit announced plans to automate the subway system with computerised signals. Under the proposed Communications-Based Train Control system, a computer would know the exact location and speed of every train and could adjust the train's speed to keep them all moving at the same distance apart.
The result for commuters would be faster, safer and more frequent trains. The result for the Transport Workers Union would be fewer operators and drivers on the trains. But according to Termaine Garden of New York City Transit, "it removes the human element and therefore human error".
The current mechanical system has been in place since the undergrounds were built in 1904. The first phase of this project will involve the isolated L line which runs from Manhattan to Brooklyn in a closed loop. Its pilot upgrade should be finished in 2001. Then, after testing, the long-term project is to automate all 22 subway lines throughout four boroughs at an eventual cost of $2-$20 billion.
