Consumers who consider every minute of travel time precious will relish the latest idea from the rent-a-car industry. Cendant Car Rental Group, corporate owner of the Avis and Budget brands, will make it quicker and easier for drivers to whiz through highway toll booths.
Starting in April, renters at more than 100 locations in the New York and Houston metro areas will have the option of paying tolls electronically for a daily fee of a dollar or two plus the cost of the tolls themselves.
By year's end, the offer will be expanded to Avis and Budget locations in Chicago, Dallas, Florida, and the Northeast corridor, including the mid-Atlantic states.
Hertz Corporation, the largest car rental company, is planning a similar program for later this year. Like Cendant, Hertz says it is reacting to customer demand.
The proliferation of toll roads has slowed traffic time and added valuable minutes to vacation and business travel time for thousands of Americans. More than 5,200 miles of roads in 35 states have tolls and the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Authority predicts that may double within five years.
In the Northeast, where E-Z Pass is the prevailing technology for electronic toll-taking, Avis and Budget will issue an E-Z Pass transponder which transmits a vehicle's identification code to an electronic reader to renters who opt for the program (at $1.50 per day). The Highway Toll Administration, a Cendant partner, will apply the toll charges to the credit cards of renters.
Houston drivers will be monitored through Plate Pass, a technology that uses cameras to capture license plate numbers when vehicles pass through toll centers. Renters will pay $2 each to borrow the device during their rental periods.
Offering such devices to renters is expected to have multiple benefits:
• Drivers will save time by using electronic toll technology;
• Some systems, including E-Z Pass, offer discounts to drivers using the system;
• Getting vacationers to use electronic devices will shorten lines at toll booths;
• Auto emissions will also be reduced if toll-booth lines are lessened;
• Travelers offered electronic toll-paying devices are less likely to become toll-runners (violators who avoid payment by illegally driving through electronic lanes without pre-issued monitors).
According to David Centner, president of the Highway Toll Administration, drivers of rented cars are major toll cheats. He suggested renters believe their travels will end before they are caught.
