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I-PASS is the electronic toll collection system used by the Illinois State Toll
Highway Authority (ISTHA) on its toll highways. It uses the same transponder as
the E-ZPass system used in the Northeastern US, and the Indiana Toll Road's i-Zoom
program.
I-PASS transponders can be used at all toll plazas, including those located on
entrance and exit ramps. However, an important advantage to using I-PASS is that
the main toll plazas have been rebuilt to use open road tolling so that I-PASS
users can drive straight through the toll plaza passing under transponder
antennas at normal speeds, while cash customers must pull off to the side of the
road and stop at conventional toll booths.
As of the January 1, 2005 toll rate increase, there is a significant discount
for I-PASS usage. In June 2005, I-Pass became compatible with toll collection on
the Chicago Skyway.
If a vehicle registered with I-PASS passes through a toll collection without the
transponder, the toll amount will be automatically deducted from the respective
I-PASS account via a "video toll" (a camera picture of the license plate as the
car passes through the toll gate or open road tolling apparatus is taken),
though if the feature is abused, the regular fines for toll evasion are applied,
and the I-PASS may be revoked.
Users of the system can manage their account through the I-Pass website.
Normally the system will keep a credit balance on-account for users, tied to a
credit card and replenished as the balance drops below a preset threshold.
However, a user can choose to manually replenish their account via the website.
There are also I-Pass desks at many service plazas on Illinois tollways which
can assist users of the system.
Tollways and bridges that accept I-Pass Some tollways that accept I-Pass include Illinois
Tollways Chicago Skyway Indiana Toll Road Ohio Turnpike Pennsylvania Turnpike and branches
New Jersey Turnpike New York State Thruway Massachusetts Turnpike Maine Turnpike
All other tollways that accept EZPass in the Northeastern US
Controversy surrounds the reciprocal use of I-PASS by Illinois motorists and I-Zoom
by Indiana motorists on the other state's toll road. Each state charges the
other a transaction fee when the out-of-state transponder is used to pay a toll.
About 70% of all electronic transactions on the Indiana Toll Road are done with
I-PASS transponders, according to Tollway Authority figures. Until January 1,
2010, the fee was absorbed, with I-PASS users paying twice as many Indiana tolls
as I-Zoom users paying Illinois tolls. To address this imbalance, ISTHA began
charging I-PASS users a 3 cent surcharge on each of their Indiana tolls,
effective January 1, 2010.
As of September 26, 2005, I-PASS transponders are accepted for the payment of
tolls on the E-ZPass system. I-PASS transponders cannot be used to pay for other
services such as airport parking where E-ZPass transponders are currently
accepted. In the case of older units, only car and motorcycle I-PASS
transponders are compatible with the E-ZPass system, and other users with older
units (e.g. semi truck operators) must swap their current I-PASS transponder for
a transponder compatible with both I-PASS and E-ZPass. (The reverse — use of
Northeastern state E-ZPass transponders in I-PASS facilities in Illinois — was
actually working as early as May 2005.)