Life in the Fast Lane

The Mass Turnpike Authority just announced this week that they're doing away with the $25.95 fee for Fast Lane transponders.

I've been holding out for years on getting the transponder for a variety of reasons.

To be honest, I'm not on the Pike often enough to consider paying tolls in cash a hassle. The few times I've driven down to NYC, Andrew's been kind enough to bring along his transponder to handle both the Pike and the NY bridge tolls. And I'm always kind of bothered by having some sort of agency being able to track your movements, even though I have nothing to be guilty about. It's the Big Brother-is-always-watching-you type of feeling that I will readily admit is a bit silly. Finally, I also think it would be very easy for the MTA to slip extra charges on your bill, because really, who is going to remember how many times they paid a toll?

But the biggest hurdle has always been the fee. If the MTA really wanted people to use Fast Lane, I felt they needed to give away the transponders for free.

The catch with the MTA's new policy is that users will have to pay $.50 monthly fee instead. But I'm actually fine with that. I also like that fact that replacement transponders will be free as well (considering how I'm apt to lose things).

You can read more about the change on Boston.com, but I think I may be convinced to sign-on due to those times where I have been stuck in a ridiculously long cash lane while people are whizzing by on Fast Lane. It just depends on whether I need to go to an office to pick up a transponder, in which case, it'll honestly probably take me another six months to get that done, or whether I can have the sucker mailed to me.