Drivers using E-ZPass tags issued by other agencies are being charged the cash rate at New York bridges and tunnels run by the MTA, instead of receiving the E-ZPass discount, a AAA study found.

New Jersey drivers took the worst beating out of any other state between 2012 and 2016, with 70 million people charged the cash rate at MTA crossings out of 92 million out-of-towners who weren't given the discount, AAA said.

"Public authorities created E-ZPass with the promise of reducing traffic, cutting pollution and discounted user rates," said Robert Sinclair, Jr., manager of media relations for AAA Northeast. "Part of that promise is broken for millions of drivers."

AAA officials notified the MTA and U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Cho of their findings and asked the U.S. to DOT to review the practice, Sinclair said.

Drivers with a transponder issued by an out-of-state agency are charged the $8.50 cash rate at the RFK-Triboro, Throgs Neck and Bronx Whitestone Bridges and the Hugh Carey (Brooklyn Battery) and Queens Midtown tunnels, AAA found. The E-ZPass rate is $5.76.

The price was more expensive at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where the out-of-town E-ZPass rate is $17, verses $11.52 for an MTA E-ZPass. Similar disparities exist at three other smaller NYC bridges, AAA said.



MTA officials said that discounts on MTA operated crossings are available to all holders of an E-ZPass tag issued by New York. A New York-issued E-ZPass is available to drivers regardless of the state in which they live, officials said in an statement.

The same thing happened to out-of-staters in New Jersey in 2011 when the NJ Turnpike Authority ended off peak E-ZPass discounts for out-of-staters.

That meant a driver with a New Jersey E-ZPass paid $2.70 to travel between exits 1 to 6, but a driver with an out-of-state E-ZPass paid $3.55, or 31 percent more.

It forced some Jersey drivers to choose between their New York and New Jersey issued E-ZPass, based on which agency gave them the deepest discount.

AAA praised the Port Authority for continuing to charge all E-ZPass users a discounted rate.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

