South Florida riders: How to safely ensure free toll use

[karen]

Heads up south Florida riders: How to safely ensure free toll use on the 95 Express lanes
Heads up south Florida riders: How to safely ensure free toll use on the 95 Express lanes


Posted September 8, 2009
AMA member Marc Allen points out that motorcyclists in the Miami area are confused about what to do with their SunPass transponders when riding on the 95 Express lanes. The 95 Express lanes are free to motorcyclists, while other adjacent toll roads are not. The question is, how does a rider safely remove their transponder to avoid being charged on the 95 Express and resecure it before traveling on other toll roads? We asked Rick Nelson of the Florida Transportation Department for the definitive answer. Not only is Nelson director of toll operations for Florida's turnpike, but he also rides a 2007 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy.
Nelson: Motorcycles are allowed to ride toll exempted (i.e., free) on 95 Express lanes. To avoid being charged on the 95 Express, a motorcyclist should bag his or her SunPass transponder in the RF shield (shiny silver) bag that was shipped with it. (SunPass will provide new RF shield bags to anyone who has lost theirs.) Bagging (placing and sealing) the transponder in the shield bag will prevent it from being read and tolls being charged to your SunPass account.
If your trip includes both travel on the 95 Express lanes and Florida’s Turnpike or one of the other adjacent toll roads in south Florida, the answer is the same: bag your SunPass transponder. The SunPass system will take a photograph of your license plate and image-toll (I-toll) you for your use of the other adjacent toll roads. I-toll is the fail-safe built into the SunPass system to prevent it from creating a violation for a registered SunPass customer who failed to place their SunPass on the windshield correctly.
I-tolls work great as long as the customer remembers to keep their license plate number, address and credit card number up to date on their SunPass account. The I-toll system will charge a prepaid account for the toll transaction when a license plate is associated with that account.
I recommend you print this article and tape it to the outside of the RF shield bag that your SunPass transponder is stored in, just in case you get pulled over by the police. Please remember to be polite to the officer as they are just doing their job. My guess is they will tell you to have a nice day.
Remember to use your SunPass transponder when your trip doesn’t include travel on the 95 Express lanes.
By the way, the new SunPass Mini (sticker) transponder will only operate when affixed to glass windshields. They are not designed for use on motorcycles.

To read Nelson's letter, click here.

K