Why many motorists pay cash-rate tolls despite E-ZPass

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Drive over the RFK, Throgs Neck, and Whitestone Bridges with an E-ZPass issued in New York and you will pay $5.76. But use an out-of-state tag and it'll cost you cash rate, $8.50. Robert Sinclair Jr. with AAA Northeast said drivers are being unfairly targeted and many don't even know.

"They may think that they're getting a discount but they could be unaware of the fact they're being charged the cash rate," Sinclair said. "And in some cases that could be four times higher."

The Queens-Midtown Tunnel is no exception either but it is actually worse at the Verrazano Bridge where out-of-town E-ZPass holders get hit with the $17 toll at the cashless bridge.

AAA said that since 2012 the MTA has charged 92 million out-of-state drivers the cash rate. AAA is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to make changes.

"We want everyone using an E-ZPass to get that discounted rate no matter where your E-ZPass may have been issued," Sinclair said.

E-ZPass is available in 16 states but only seven offer the discounted rate regardless of where you're from.

The MTA said that toll revenue is used to support MTA mass transit and almost 92 percent of E-ZPass transactions at MTA bridges and tunnels last year were from New York tags. The MTA encourages drivers from out-of-state to get a New York pass to receive the discount.

AAA said expecting motorists to have multiple passes is unrealistic.