Eazypass question..

lazygit

Hi Folks,

i was looking at getting an eazypass account for my car, i only use the toll bridges about 10-15 times a month and was wondering about the following...
on the eazypass website in the faq it states: "To setup an Eazy Pass account, we will need your credit card or bank details, an initial payment, equivalent to one month toll payments(EUR 40 min)."

now for me i spend at most 20 euro a month on tolls, is the remainder of the balance carried over to the following month? and can you topup in the middle of a month if you do run low?

thanks

Dingatron

The remaining credit is carried over. You state when you want the account to be topped up. I've mine set to top it up automatically when it reaches €10.

lazygit

ahh excellent .. thanks mate...

seamus

Yep. From their FAQ, it's essentially pre-pay, so the money is deducted from your eazypass account, and not from your credit card. Only once you go below the minimum credit needed, they "top-up" your account from your credit card with a minimum €40.

PoolDude

It is the account management fee that puts me off, I'd end up paying as much for that as I do on the toll, I'm a regular but not frequent user of the bridge.

That said its more the principal of paying a monthly fee than the cost. Surely they should be encouraging the take up!

mobpd

Exactly - what on earth do they need to charge an admin fee for ?? They make exorbitant profits out of the monopoly anyway.
how much notice will we get this year of the hikes planned for Jan 1 2006?

lazygit

PoolDude wrote:

It is the account management fee that puts me off, I'd end up paying as much for that as I do on the toll, I'm a regular but not frequent user of the bridge

when i started this thread i did not know about that fee.. but after reading up on in im in the same position as you i use the i aint paying an extra €8 euro a month to use the bridge...

here is the extra fees btw..
Ammount of times you use the bridge/extra admin charge
1-2 €1
3-4 €2
5-6 €3
7-12 €5
13-19 €8
20-29 €12
30-39 €17
40-49 €22
50-99 €37
100+ €43

daymobrew

mobpd wrote:

Exactly - what on earth do they need to charge an admin fee for ?? They make exorbitant profits out of the monopoly anyway.

The web site FAQ says that the admin fee covers administration and insurance. It says that the Easy Pass tag is e40 (with you paying the first e15!). Sounds expensive for a passive device.

It annoys me that one has to stop at the Easy Pass barrier. I remember using a similar system in New York in 1998 where we didn't go below 30mph!
The animation on the homepage is accurate - it shows the car having to stop at the EP barrier (and the other lanes not moving at all).

I hate the bridge as much as the next person (even though I use it once a month at the most) but I have to concede that NTR took a risk in building the bridge. The Government was probably naive in the terms of the agreement so they should shoulder some of the blame. The use estimates for the M50 were waaaay off.

Don't forget that the Government does get a portion of the toll (NTR says e1 out of the e1.80 but it's not as simple as that).
The February 2005 newsletter really goes on the defensive after the increase to e1.80.
Another newsletter (Sept 7, 2005) says that Easy Pass transactions cost as much as regular ones (I find that hard to believe) though it does admit that the EP lanes process twice as many cars as cashier lanes.

lazygit wrote:

i aint paying an extra €8 euro a month to use the bridge...

Spread over the 13-19 tags you presumably have, it's an extra 42c - 61c per tag per month. The EP service has accounting advantages e.g. you get a statement of tag use, good for tracking and drivers aren't delayed looking for cash.

PoolDude

For 1-2 tags it is only E1 per month, which is E12 per annum so not quite as bad as I think you have interpreted it. You will only need 1 tag for your car.

My point was that why should I pay and additional E12 on top of the toll when it should be cheaper for them if I use easypass.

Hagar

daymobrew wrote:

but I have to concede that NTR took a risk in building the bridge.

What risk FFS? A stranglehold on a ring road around a capital city. Where's the risk?
Maybe nobody would show up? Gimme a break.

DubTony

daymobrew wrote:

I hate the bridge as much as the next person (even though I use it once a month at the most) but I have to concede that NTR took a risk in building the bridge. The Government was probably naive in the terms of the agreement so they should shoulder some of the blame. The use estimates for the M50 were waaaay off.

I love this "they took a risk" stuff. The only risk in building that bridge was that the bloody government would never finish the bloody motorway. In fact they felt it was such a massive risk that they built the plinths for the 2nd bridge at the same time.

edit: sorry, posted this before reading Hagar's post.

Both my wife and I have tags since they started eazypass, and our opinion is that it has been worthwhile. And if all the other muppets would get out of my lane it would be even better.