The white plastic E-ZPass transponders that drivers have mounted on their windshields for decades may be replaced by something barely noticeable — a sticker.
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority may follow the lead of other state toll roads and start switching to stickers equipped with digital chips.
“We plan to put the stickers on Turnpike Authority fleet vehicles for an informal trial run. That will happen soon,” said Tom Feeney, a spokesman for the authority. “If there are no issues, we plan to make it available to NJ E-ZPass customers.”
Feeney said that while there is no timetable, the sticker labels could be available by the end of the year.
The Turnpike Authority also manages the Garden State Parkway.
Sticker labels also don’t require batteries. This would save authorities millions of dollars in replacing old transponders when their batteries die.
In 2022, the agency spent $8.4 million to replace 920,000 dead-battery transponders for the state E-ZPass Alliance. The average life of a transponder battery is 8 to 10 years.
The New Jersey E-ZPass Alliance provides services to the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, Atlantic City Expressway, Delaware River Port Authority, Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, Cape May County Bridge Commission, Burlington County Bridge Commission, and Delaware River and Bay Authority bridges.
Massachusetts will begin implementing the change no later than March 1.
The new sticker transponders have an RFID chip built into them that can be read by overhead toll booths, according to Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials who spoke to WBUR. Stickers cost 55 cents.
When it’s time to replace their transponders, Massachusetts drivers will receive toll tags for free.
The stickers also resolve driver confusion about where to place the transponder on the windshield.
The current generation of smaller transponders allows drivers to mount them near the rearview mirror so they are out of view.
The sticker also eliminates the Velcro-like mounting strip that drivers must adhere to the windshield before installing the transponder.
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