E-ZPass might not be as E-Z on your wallet after July.
The Maryland Transportation Authority proposed yesterday to begin charging owners of the electronic toll-collection devices a fee of $1.50 a month - whether they use them or not.
The authority also outlined plans to charge E-ZPass users for new or replacement transponders and to raise tolls by 33 percent to 80 percent for heavy trucks and vehicles pulling trailers.
The changes, which are expected to be approved this month, are part of a package of measures the authority is proposing this year in order to raise an added $60 million to finance its operations. Others include increases in toll violation fines, a tightening of eligibility for commuter discounts and a doubling of the cost of a popular break for regular users of the U.S. 40 bridge over the Susquehanna River.
The bright spot in the authority's announcement: Unlike several states in the region, Maryland will not raise tolls on passenger vehicles.
"We don't believe there's a need to do that at this point," said state Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari. He noted that Maryland tolls have not increased since 2003, when they doubled on the Baltimore harbor crossings and increased 25 percent on Interstate 95 and the U.S. 40 bridge.
Porcari said the proposals are intended to offset declining toll revenues and increases in the cost of maintaining the state's toll facilities - which include the Bay Bridge, the three Baltimore harbor crossings and the part of I-95 northeast of Baltimore known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.
Like other states, Maryland has felt the impact of a decline in driving as a result of last year's high fuel prices and a worsening recession. From July through November, the authority posted a 6.1 percent decline in revenue - a $7.6 million loss - compared with the preceding year.
Porcari said the authority has contained costs and limited its capital spending to "system preservation" - with the exception of two mega-projects, the InterCounty Connector in the Washington suburbs and the addition of express toll lanes on I-95 northeast of Baltimore.
Authority spokeswoman Cheryl Sparks said Maryland initially subsidized E-ZPasses as a means of encouraging people to sign up. The state started allowing electronic toll collections in 1999 and joined the multistate E-ZPass network in 2001. The state now has 531,000 E-ZPass accounts, with 842,000 transponders.
