Question about Eazypass!!!

LegacyUser

Does anyone know,how or if,the people at the toll bridge monitor cars using the eazypass lane?
I use the toll twice a day at €1.50 cash. Nice folks in work give me a new company vehicle which now costs €3 each way.
If I register for an eazypass account and put my own car on that account whats stopping me using the tag in a vehicle that's charged more then a car.
Is it possible for them to notice a vehicle using an eazypass tag which isn't on that tags account?
Do they scan the reg plate with some sort of camera?
Is anyone else trying this to save a few quid themselves?

Thanks in advance for any replies

impr0v

Personally I can't answer your questions but from a common sense point of view I'm sure that when the persecuted gentlemen at NTR sat down prior to its implementation and had the meeting about 'how could eazypass be abused by our friendly patrons' this question was on the agenda. With this in mind I'm sure there's some sort of check built in to the system, though I could of course be wrong.

Seth Brundle

You are getting a free van from work which I believe would be free from bik and you want to save €3 a day. No offence but you are a tight bastard!
Would work not pay it? Or why not take a different route and save the toll entirely?

ubu

when you sign up for eazy pass, you register the car(s) on the account(reg/make/model/colour) afair theres no option for van/truck, could be wrong, anyways they'd have a record of what regs on the account but theres no way they'd check every vechicle going through, maybe they do spot checks every so often.You could always ring em and ask for, ahem, 'purely informational purposes' or sumtin i dunno!

robbie1876

<edit> It took me so long to type this that some of the questions have already been answered, lol... ah well sure we'll leave it intact anyway.

Well firstly, shouldn't your company be paying the toll charges? If you're using the company vehicle for work. They could argue that if you're going over the bridge on the way to and from work, that's your expense, which is fair enough.

Anyway, here's what happened to me. I drive a smallish van. Before I signed up for EazyPass I was using the cash express lanes and paying €1.50 a pop. I don't know if those lanes simply charge €1.50 for every vehicle, or they have a method of detecting a van or a car. I fear this is the case, they definitely have it on the M1 tolls.

First thing to try is to use the Cash only lanes and see what you get charged.

When I signed up to EazyPass they put me on the 'van' rate, €3 a pop. I complained to them, and told them that I would cancel the EazyPass unless they put me on the car rate, as I could continue to pay €1.50 cash. They said they would go look at the camera footage (this answers one of your questions!) and they came back and agreed to put me on the car rate and refunded the extra money they had charged for all the EazyPass trips in the meantime.

When you sign up you have to select type of vehicle. If you pick van, you automatically get charged €3, unless you kick up like I did. There really isn't any way around it, if you sign up as your car, they'll pick it up soon enough on the cameras and probably back charge you all the times you underpaid.

I've been using it happily ever since at the car rate on my van. Hope some of this helps.

Robbie

Our man in Havana

cableguy wrote:

Robbie just out of interest what "smallish van" do you drive?
I used to have a Ford Escort van. Now I have a Ford Transit Connect.
I don't think they know at the toll what to charge for this van. Some charge you €1.50 some €3.I argued the point that the Transit name may be on the van but it ain't a transit.On the way home yesterday the car in front of me was a Fiat(small van)don't know the name.I saw the price they were charged which was €1.50.Then I pull up,same size van,€3 pops up on the display but I handed over €1.50 and she took it.Price on display goes to €1.50 and barrier lifts no arguements.

They have a thing on the M6 Toll that measures the height and number of axles. From this info they charge you.

Any thing with 2 axles and less than 1.3 meters high is a car!

robbie1876

cableguy wrote:

Robbie just out of interest what "smallish van" do you drive?
I used to have a Ford Escort van. Now I have a Ford Transit Connect.
:

It's a Peugot Partner, about the same size as a Transit Connect (maybe a tad smaller, actaully)

Seth Brundle

Just for reference, the easypass site (www.easypass.ie) defines:- "Van" means a vehicle which is substantially constructed or adapted for use for the conveyance of goods or burdens of any description, whether in the course of trade or otherwise
Surely then their staff would just know to charge the flat rate on all types of vans!?!

robbie1876

kbannon wrote:

Just for reference, the easypass site (www.easypass.ie) defines:- "Van" means a vehicle which is substantially constructed or adapted for use for the conveyance of goods or burdens of any description, whether in the course of trade or otherwise
Surely then their staff would just know to charge the flat rate on all types of vans!?!

This has been a bone of contention in the past. Ford Fiesta car pulls up, €1.50. Ford Fiesta van pulls up (exact same shape and size, but with no back windows), €3 charge. Without doubt, a Mitsubishi L200 is a commercial vehicle, constructed for the conveyance of goods, yet I was only ever charged €1.50 when I went over the toll bridge in it.

the evil belly

i took a citreon berlingo through the toll bridge a number of times and was only ever charged 1.50. thankfully we don't have tolls here in cork.....yet

BrianD

I don't get it? Surely if you are using your van for work they the company will pay your tolls once you stick them on your expense sheets. If you are bringing the van home and going to and from work then you are eligible for BIK as getting to and from work is personal usage. AFAIK the vehicle has to be garaged at your business premises to avoid the BIK - you could argue that you are constantly on "late jobs" and can't make it back to work before the gates are closed!

BTW why do they still have barriers on the Eazypass lanes? It really cuts down the time advantage of the system.

I read that there is a new law coming in that will allow for fines for not paying your toll and giving the toll operators a bit of clout. I would imagine that they will be less likely to negotiate in the consumers favour (i.e car v van) when this comes in! Though we'll probably see the barriers on the easypass lanes go.

unkel

Bond-007 wrote:

Any thing with 2 axles and less than 1.3 meters high is a car!

That a typo? Almost all cars are higher than 1.3 meters

Redshift

BrianD wrote:

BTW why do they still have barriers on the Eazypass lanes? It really cuts down the time advantage of the system.

I read that there is a new law coming in that will allow for fines for not paying your toll and giving the toll operators a bit of clout. I would imagine that they will be less likely to negotiate in the consumers favour (i.e car v van) when this comes in! Though we'll probably see the barriers on the easypass lanes go.

They do this in New York the tag lanes have no barrier so you could techinally just drive through it, the problem is the big ass fine you get for it.
Good idea though would really speed it up alot and the cameras are already in place to catch toll dodgers.

MrPudding

It is the same in France, you hardly have to slow down for their version of Eazypass. They have great compliance as the fine is fcuking huge. I think the worry here in Ireland was that if they did not have a barrier the only toll revenue would be that collected from the real eazypass users. I think they should remove the barriers and levy a fine of 200 x toll rate for people who go through with out eazypass. Also, I know there is space restrictions here due to the position of the toll plaza but separating the eazypass traffic from normal traffic would be very useful. If the eazypass lane was separated from the main carriageway by a barrier, like in France, it could start further back. This would then allow the eazypass traffic a much faster run through the plaza, this could be done in conjunction with another eazypass only lane being opened and a new campaign to promote the service and get more people to sign up.

One more thing, does anyone else think it is stupid for NTR to penalize people that use a system that speeds up traffic through the plaza and will eventually reduce their staff costs? Most other companies give a reduction when you use a service that reduces the need for human interaction and speeds up flow, Dublin Bus pre-paid tickets for example. I understand that there is an investment in equipment but this should clawed back over time by the savings in wages.


MrP

Our man in Havana

unkel wrote:

That a typo? Almost all cars are higher than 1.3 meters

See http://www.m6toll.co.uk/pricing/chart.pdf

Its true!

BrianD

Sounds like your company is having their cake and eating it! If the count your trip to/from work they should pay the tolls. As I understand it, the Revenue will count your trip to and from work as private usage and the fact that you have access to the vehicle as BIK. Revenue and not your employer decide what is BIK. However, if you pay for your private milage then there wouldn't be an issue.

glimmerman

Hmm, I've a bike, and the easypass lane looks like a quick way to dodge around traffic in the morning. But where can I put the tag? Windshield is clearly out since some scumbag will nick it.

incidently, did you know that bikes go free through the eastlink easypass?

Seth Brundle

bikes are free through the eastlink anyway

Borzoi

glimmerman wrote:

Hmm, I've a bike, and the easypass lane looks like a quick way to dodge around traffic in the morning. But where can I put the tag? Windshield is clearly out since some scumbag will nick it.

The unit actually comes in a holder that you stick on the windshield - so just remove the unit at your destination.

On the suject of BIK and a scabby company - I do know of one crowd that took out the passenger seat in the vans to reduce the chances of the engineers driving them on private miles