Sorry folks, this is a long one--but it's mostly for the spiders who search for this article.

If you ride a motorcycle, DO NOT get a SunPass Mini! The Mini is not compatible with motorcycles because of the Plexiglas windscreen. The Mini uses the glass of a car's windshield to amplify the RFID signal it exchanges with the transmitters at the plazas.

I found this out after purchasing one and affixing it to Lorelei. Here is a copy of the correspondence I had with a representative of Florida's Department of Transportation; I had originally written the state about the debacle that is 95 Express--but I'll save that for another entry. This one is more important.

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From: Lena, Maribel [mailto:Maribel.Lena@dot.state.fl.us]
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:52 AM
Cc: Udvardy, James; Hollingsworth, Lora; Dodge, Jeffrey; Keaton, Patricia; OHagan, David; Merrell, Warren; Turnpike PIO
Subject: FW: 95 Express Toll Collection is dangerously flawed

Good Morning Mr. Pius:

Thank you for your recent comments regarding 95 Express toll exempt travel. I apologize for any misunderstanding about the SunPass Mini. In your instance, your 95 Express registered hybrid vehicle does qualify for toll exemption regardless of the number of passengers in the vehicle. I would like to share with you that we are currently exploring means to automatically handle the toll exemption within SunPass, as you suggest in your e-mail. This solution does not work for the carpoolers since we have no way of knowing how many people are in the car, and not all days would the carpooler be toll-exempt. The disabler or hard case transponder would provide the customer a choice.

SunPass is coordinating with our partners, and SFCS will have the latest information regarding the correct solution for toll exempt travel on 95 Express. SFCS is tracking customer issues and will provide the correct solution for each specific situation. It is our highest priority to satisfy your needs and we value your feedback.

If the solution is to utilize the hard case transponder, please be assured that there will be no additional cost to you the customer for obtaining the hard case transponder. If the solution is a disabler plate, SFCS will provide you this device (when available) with instructions at no additional cost to you. A similar type device was recently introduced in Washington State for their HOT lane project, but does not meet our needs. Again, we are currently exploring solutions for registered 95 Express hybrid users only, whereby SunPass would automatically filter customers who qualify for toll exempt travel regardless of the number of occupants in the vehicle.

In regards to your motorcycle, please be aware that the SunPass Mini does not work on Motorcycles. Motorcycles do qualify for toll exemption on 95 Express. It is the customers responsibility to make sure that the hard case transponder is properly shielded. Please remove the SunPass Mini from your motorcycle and return it to the retailer for a full refund.

We thank you again for your continued interest in the 95 Express project, and your patience and understanding as the project team is working towards a mutually beneficial solution for registered toll exempt travel on 95 Express.

Maribel Lena

Public Information Officer

Florida Department of Transportation -Dixtrict Six

1000 NW 111 Avenue, Room 6134

Miami, Florida 33172

305-470-5277 office

305-470-5820 fax

From: Gregory Pius [mailto:gregory@gregorypius.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 1:00 PM
To: fdot@dot.state.fl.us; 'Jeffrey Dodge'; 'Lora Hollingsworth'; Udvardy, James; 'Patricia Keaton'; 'David O'Hagan'; 'Warren Merrell'; turnpike.pio@dot.state.fl.us
Cc: 'Lawrence Pius'; 'Laura Pius'
Subject: 95 Express Toll Collection is dangerously flawed

Dear Sirs/Madams,

In my opinion, the proposed toll-collection system for 95 Express is ridiculous, ill-conceived, highly inconvenient at best, and highly irresponsible and dangerous at worst.

I myself own two vehicles exempt from paying tolls on 95 Express: a 2007 Toyota Prius, and a 1999 BMW K1200LT motorcycle. Both are equipped with the new SunPass Mini--and as you are no doubt aware, being a sticker, it cannot be removed from the windshield and placed in an RF bag. The 95 Express website, www.95express.com, makes reference to a "SunPass Mini Disabler Shield" (http://95express.com/#HwhoCan); I assure you that I received no such shield in the materials that came with my SunPass Mini stickers--and after talking to a SunPass agent after calling 1-888-TOLL-FLA (and after she talked with her supervisor), I was informed that no SunPass Mini shielding device actually exists (and if it does, it's news to the folks at SunPass). Ultimately, my research led me to call the 1-800-234-RIDE number and speak to two people before I was finally able to confirm that no, a SunPass Mini shield does not exist and that I had to scrape my Mini off my windscreen and replace it with an standard electronic transponder.

In the first place, having driven on other freeway systems employing this concept of this type in Los Angeles, I can quantitatively say that the Expressway-Within-an-Expressway concept is a dangerous, ill-conceived failure. Compounded by this is the fact that a good job has not been done at all getting the word out to the driving public about 95 Express. A mailed flier should have gone out to every licensed driver in Metro-Dade and Broward county in English, Spanish, and Creole alerting them to this new driving paradigm at the Golden Glades and directing them to your 95express.com website and 800-234-RIDE numbers.

Since its introduction, there are already many accidents every day because people panic as soon as they hit the entrance to 95 Express, and completely ignore the advice of your own office to simply ride it out to the Glades--probably because they don't know that they can, thanks to the sub-par public information campaign (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbexpress0715sbjul15,0,237246.story). Once actual tolling starts occurring on 95 Express, adding to the already-dangerous melee of the uninformed will be drivers of toll-exempt vehicles saying "Oh, snap--I forgot to take the SunPass transponder down," attempting to pull it off their windshields and bag it while at freeway speeds. Drivers who forget altogether to take down their transponders will be calling the SunPass office on a regular basis for 95 Express refunds, potentially overburdening the SunPass customer-service system, and drivers who forget to un-bag their transponders and re-affix them to their windshields risk becoming toll violators--or worse, in a scramble to get their transponder back up on their windshield, cause an accident at Turnpike speeds. This is hardly the way the SunPass toll-collection system was designed to work and certainly not the way it was proposed to work.

Finally, did the introduction of 95 Express have to coordinate almost precisely with the introduction of the SunPass Mini (without informing anyone that the folks with the Mini will still be charged for 95 Express even if they're in an exempt vehicle)? The agencies responsible for this debacle couldn't possibly have timed the introduction of the Mini and 95 Express any worse--and then not communicated with each other (or us) about it.

Imagine, the ridiculous notion of a model, fully-automated, state-of-the-art toll-collection system having to rely upon its own users to do anything to their toll-collection equipment other than affix it to their windshields. A far more elegant toll-collection solution would be to simply record the transponder numbers of qualifying vehicles and not charge them tolls on 95 Express rather than inconveniencing the driving public--this should be easily implementable under the SunPass toll-collection system. Your toll-collection scheme, as designed, would penalize drivers for driving exempt vehicles, effectively negating a large part of the convenience of driving on 95 Express for those of us who drive exempt vehicles.

I can only hope that as 95 Express is phased in, its toll-collection will improve. Please reconsider adding a database of 95 Express-exempt transponders to the SunPass database and spare us at least that much dangerous inconvenience. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed because a hybrid owner forgot to pull their SunPass off their windshield and causes an accident doing so--it is tragic beyond words to think that a life could be irrevocably altered, or perhaps even be snuffed out, over a $2.50 toll.

Sincerely,

Gregory Pius
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
561-512-5333
gregory@gregorypius.com

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