E-ZPass FAQ
Have a question about E-ZPass? Check out this FAQ.
Questions about other programs may be answered in one of our other FAQs:
About E-ZPass
E-ZPass is an automated toll collection system that allows individuals and businesses to pay tolls in Maryland and other states where E-ZPass is accepted.
E-ZPass has two components:
- An electronic transponder mounted on your vehicle’s windshield or license plate
- An overhead antenna at the toll facility
Each time you travel through a participating toll facility, the overhead antenna reads the transponder attached to your vehicle and deducts the toll from your prepaid E-ZPass account.
Maryland drivers with an E-ZPass pay less each time they use a toll facility. To calculate tolls for your trip, visit the Toll Rate Calculator.
In addition, you may be eligible for one or more of our E-ZPass Discount Plans, which could save you even more.
In Maryland, windshield-mounted E-ZPass transponders are free. License plate mounts are available for a modest fee.
There are no monthly or annual fees for Maryland residents. Out-of-state residents who have fewer than three trips at Maryland toll facilities per month may be assessed a monthly maintenance fee.
Each transponder is connected to an E-ZPass account. When you sign up, you will be required to deposit $25 into your E-ZPass account. The entire amount is available to pay tolls as you use our facilities and will only be deducted from your account based on toll usage.
Sign up on this website and an E-ZPass transponder will be mailed to you in 5-7 business days with no cost for shipping.
Or, you can buy a prepackaged E-ZPass On the Go transponder at participating retailers. On the Go transponders come pre-loaded with $25. The pre-loaded $25 will be applied to toll usage. Register your transponder on this website within 7 days of first use. Once registered, E-ZPass On the Go works just like a traditional E-ZPass.
Many toll facilities throughout the northeast, portions of Florida and midwestern states participate in E-ZPass. Click here to view a map of the E-ZPass regional network. To see a list of participating toll facilities in Maryland, visit the Toll Rate Calculator.
Yes, however, accounts without a Maryland address will be charged a $1.50 monthly account maintenance fee. The maintenance fee will be waived if the Account uses Maryland toll facilities at least three times in the previous statement period. The fee, if charged, will be deducted from your Account. Account maintenance fees are nonrefundable.
No. The MDTA and DriveEzMD are NOT affiliated with any third-party bill payment services (i.e. doxo, Prism, Mint, Noventis, etc.). Maryland’s tolling system, DriveEzMD, does NOT charge any fees to accept and process your Video Toll payment.
If you are paying a processing service charge, you are on a third-party site. Maryland does not charge you a fee to pay your Video Toll online at DriveEzMD.com.
If you have used a third party to pay your Maryland toll, you should contact that third party to ensure your toll payment has been transmitted to Maryland by the due date to avoid civil penalties for late payment. The MDTA cannot control when we receive your payment from these third-party services.
You can log in to your account or call 1-888-321-6824 to access our automated phone system and check your account balance.
If you do not travel a toll facility during the previous month, no statement is generated. If you wish to access historic toll trips, log in to your account and navigate to ‘transactions’. This transaction history can be exported to CSV or PDF by clicking on the three dots next to the search function.
You can make convenient, automatic payments to your account by credit card, or you can replenish your account by check, money order or cash.
Automatic credit card payments process when the balance in your account dips below a certain threshold. This means you’ll never have to worry about having insufficient funds in your account.
- If you are a private account holder who pays by credit card, your account will be replenished whenever your balance falls below your account’s re-billing threshold.
- Business accounts are replenished when the account balance reaches approximately 25 percent of your advance payment amount.
As a convenience for our credit card customers, we automatically adjust your replenishment amounts to reflect your average monthly usage. This helps to ensure that your replenishments are sufficient to cover your toll usage for an entire month and minimizes the need to charge your account multiple times in one month.
To pay by check or money order, visit one of our Customer Service Center locations during hours of operation or use one of the convenient, 24/7 drop boxes available at the front of each center at MDTA toll facilities. Payments received after normal business hours will be processed on the next business day. All check or money order payments must include account number, license plate number, name and contact number.
Customers may also send payment to:
Maryland Service Center
P.O. Box 5060
Middle River, MD 21220-5060
To pay with cash, please visit one of our customer service centers.
Please note that replenishment funds are not automatic. It takes 24 hours for the replenishment funds to be available for in-state toll usage or 48 hours for out-of-state toll usage.
Variable replenishment: Your account replenishment amount is adjusted up or down by DriveEzMD every 90 days to equal your average monthly toll usage. With variable replenishment, your account will be replenished approximately once per month when your balance is less than your low balance threshold.
Fixed replenishment: Your account will replenish according to the fixed replenishment amount each time your account balance is less than your low balance threshold. Using fixed replenishment may result in multiple replenishments to bring your balance above the required low balance threshold.
When signed in to your account, after selecting fixed replenishment, you can specify the exact replenishment amount by choosing an amount from the drop down or by selecting the “Custom Replenishment Amount” toggle and typing in your desired dollar amount.
From time to time, you may need to update the credit card or bank account information that’s associated with your E-ZPass account:
- Updated credit card expiration date
- New credit card
- Lost credit card
- New address associated with your credit card or bank account
- Updated bank account
Log in to your account to update your payment information. You may also visit one of our Customer Service Centers or call the E-ZPass Maryland Customer Information Center at 1-888-321-6824.
Do not use your E-ZPass until your account has been replenished. Remove the E-ZPass transponder from your vehicle or place it in the “read prevention” bag.
Auto Replenishment-Private Accounts: If you are a private account holder and are a credit card or ACH customer, your account will be replenished when your balance falls below your low balance account threshold. You many need to update your auto replenishment method, credit card (number or expiration date) or ACH.
Auto Replenishment-Business Accounts: If you are a business account holder and are a credit card or ACH customer, your account will be replenished whenever your account balance is approximately 25 percent of your advanced payment amount (low balance threshold).
As an additional convenience for our valid credit card customers, we will automatically adjust your replenishment amounts to reflect your average monthly usage. This helps to ensure that your account balance has sufficient funds to cover your toll usage.
In order to avoid running out of money in your account, call the Customer Information Center at 1-888-321-6824 to inquire about switching to automatic credit card replenishment.
Your E-ZPass statement is your receipt. Refer to your statement for the amount, date, time and location of each toll transaction. You can also access this information by logging in to your account or by calling 1-888-321-6824 and accessing our automated phone system.
You may access your account and reset your PIN on the login page. If you do not have access to your account, please call 1-888-321-6824 and have your personal information ready to provide to a Customer Service Representative.
An ITOL, or image toll, happens when a vehicle registered to an E-ZPass account passes through a toll facility without a detectable E-ZPass transponder. Instead of the transponder being read, an image is captured, initiating a license plate search through the motor vehicle administration.
You may receive an ITOL if:
- Your transponder is not present in vehicle, OR
- Your transponder is not properly mounted and cannot be read, OR
- Your transponder has a low battery that is in need of replacement.
When the license plate search finds a match to a license plate that is registered to an active E-ZPass account, instead of issuing and mailing a Notice of Toll Due to the vehicle owner as a Video Toll, the ITOL is posted to the account. The ITOL rate is the equivalent of the Pay-By-Plate toll rate, which is the same as the former cash rate.
An ITOL is higher than the E-ZPass Maryland toll rate due to the processing cost of the motor vehicle search and image verification, but not as high as the Video Toll rate because there is no mailing process. It is important to note that ITOL trips do not count towards commuter discount plans.
To capture the lowest toll rate for each and every trip and avoid receiving ITOLs, you should correctly list all vehicles that may be used to travel a Maryland toll facility on your account, maintain a positive account balance before traveling, and mount your E-ZPass transponder properly.
For assistance with mounting both interior and license plate transponders, check out our mounting instructions.
E-ZPass Discount Plans offer lower toll rate options for commuters and other frequent toll facility users who have an E-ZPass Maryland.
For a description of each plan, visit our Discount Plans page.
If you travel on toll facilities infrequently, then E-ZPass Discount Plans may not be the best choice for you.
To add or remove a Discount Plan from a transponder on your E-ZPass Maryland Account, log in to DriveEzMD.com by visiting csc.DriveEzMD.com/login, click on the menu in the upper left hand corner and select “TRANSPONDER”.
Click on each Transponder to expand and view your current enrollments and the range of E-ZPass Discount Plans options.
All E-ZPass Discount Plans are time sensitive.
Two-axle vehicle Discount Plans are offered at a flat cost for a specific number of trips per cycle. The trips must be used within the days of the cycle period. Unused trips are charged to your account at the end of the plan period and are not refundable.
If your monthly statement shows Unused Commuter Trips (UUCT) charges, then a Discount Plan may not be right for you.
For a description of each plan, visit our Discount Plans page.
Log in to DriveEzMD.com by visiting csc.DriveEzMD.com/login , click on the menu in the upper left hand corner and select “TRANSPONDER”. Click on each Transponder to expand and view your current enrollments and the range of E-ZPass Discount Plans options. By selecting “View History”, you may check on your remaining days and trips for the Discount Plans you’ve opted in.
Consider removing Discount Plans if you are regularly not using the required commuter trips within the plan cycle and are receiving Unused Commuter Trips (UUCT) charges on statements.
If your monthly statement shows Unused Commuter Trips (UUCT) charges, then you are not commuting or traveling frequently enough to use the required trips within the Discount Plan cycle period. All E-ZPass Discount Plans are time sensitive.
Less frequent travels on toll roads may occur for a variety of reasons, like more frequent teleworking, or home address and job changes.
Any unused trips within the Discount Plan cycle will be deducted from your Account 10 days after the plan cycle ends and will be reflected on your statement. Unused trips in a Discount Plan are not refundable.
Toll rates vary by facility. Visit the Toll Rate Calculator to compare the different toll rates on each facility and possible savings with different E-ZPass plan options.
If your transponder is not read, but the license plate of the vehicle is registered on the Account or the transaction is otherwise matched by E-ZPass Maryland to your Account, you are not eligible for the discounted plan rate. Further, if the transponder is not read and the license plate is not on the Account, or if the transaction is not otherwise matched by E-ZPass Maryland to your Account, a Video Toll will result, which is billed at a higher rate, and an notice of toll due (NOTD) will be issued to the registered vehicle owner or responsible party.
The most common reasons that transponders do not read include:
• Your transponder is not present in vehicle, OR
• Your transponder is not properly mounted and cannot be read, OR
• Your transponder has a low battery that is in need of replacement.
Yes, a single transponder with a Discount Plan may be used in more than one vehicle. However, E-ZPass Discount Plans for two-axle vehicles are linked to a specific transponder assigned to your Account.
It may be helpful to mark the transponder so that you will be able to identify it as your commuter transponder.
Additionally, the transponder with the Discount Plan must be properly mounted in each vehicle. If the transponder is not read, you are not eligible for the discounted plan rate. Customers may also have more than one transponder on their account with separate optimized discount plans on each transponder.
For mounting instructions, go to our How To Mount an E-ZPass Transponder page.
Other Discount Plans for the Hatem Bridge, multi-axle vehicles, post-usage plans, and a Supplement Rebate Plan are available. More info is available on our Discount Plans page.
Not sure which discount plan is right for you? You can contact us online, by phone or in person:
• By phone: 1-888-321-6824
• Via our contact form
• In person at one of our Customer Service Centers
Vehicles and Transponders
If your transponder is not working but your account is in good standing, first check to see that your transponder is properly affixed to your vehicle. If the device is properly mounted and still not working, you may be eligible for a new E-ZPass transponder.
Please visit the Transponder Replacement Program page for more information about the lifespan of an E-ZPass transponder.
For further assistance, please contact us.
You may log in to your account and report the transponder lost or stolen.
During regular business hours, you may contact customer service to report the transponder lost or stolen. If outside of regular business hours, please make sure to report the lost or stolen transponder to your local police department and follow up with E-ZPass Maryland customer service during regular business hours.
Please note customers will be responsible for tolls incurred prior to reporting the transponder lost or stolen.
For immediate device replacement, visit an in-person service center at MDTA toll facilities and select MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration offices. Locations and hours can be found at https://driveezmd.com/contact-us/.
Please be advised that travelling toll facilities without an E-ZPass transponder will result in ITOLs, which are billed at a higher rate.
DO NOT STOP OR ATTEMPT TO BACK UP. If your transponder is not detected, the tolling system takes an image of the license plate. As long as your license plate is listed on a valid
E-ZPass account, this transaction will post to your account as an Image Toll (ITOL) at the
Pay-By-Plate toll rate. If the license plate is not updated on your account, the system cannot match the transaction, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be responsible for paying the higher Video Toll rate for this trip.
Be sure to always properly mount your E-ZPass transponder to receive the lowest toll rate for your trip. If your transponder is not detected, please note you will be responsible for paying either the higher Pay-By-Plate or Video Toll rate for this transaction as described above.
Don’t use your transponder if:
- You have reported your transponder as lost or stolen but later find it, call our Customer Information Center for further instructions. It may be possible to return your transponder to “active status”.
- You know that you do not have sufficient funds in your
E-ZPass account. - You are using a vehicle that requires a special load permit.
You may request up to 10 transponders as long as you have 10 vehicles listed in your Private Account.
There is no limit to the number of transponders or vehicles you can request for a Business Account.
An E-ZPass transponder will be mailed to you in 5-7 business days with no cost for shipping.
If you need a transponder sooner, consider picking up an E-ZPass On the Go from one of our participating retailers.
If you’re pulling a camper or trailer, you may use your vehicle on Maryland toll roads. However, you will be charged the Video Toll rate for the actual number of axles.
Please add the license plate of your camper or trailer to your account.
To add or remove a camper or trailer on your E-ZPass account, login to your account by visiting csc.DriveEzMD.com/login. Click on the menu in the upper left hand corner and select “VEHICLES”. Select “ADD VEHICLE”, complete the license plate information, select “MAKE” and choose “TRAILER” from the drop down. Complete the remainder of the required information, save your changes, and you will have successfully added a camper or trailer to your account.
Yes, motorcyclists are eligible to participate in the E-ZPass program. You will need to order a transponder and add it to your account. Special mounting devices are available through third-party vendors that can be found on the Internet.
To request additional mounting strips, please sign in to your account and click on Contact Us, located in the menu that is accessible in the top left of the screen. Within the Contact Us form, select Mounting Strips/Non-read Bags in the drop-down menu. If you are already signed in to your account, click here.
Additional mounting strips or hardware may also be obtained by visiting one of our Customer Service Centers or by calling 1-888-321-6824.
Interior Mount
(Standard) Transponder ($0): 
An Interior Mount E-ZPass transponder is the free standard model and is appropriate for most vehicles. To receive the lowest tolls for your account, drivers should mount their E-ZPass transponder on the interior of their vehicle’s windshield utilizing the mounting strips provided. Visit our how to mount your transponder page for mounting instructions.
License Plate Mount Exterior Mount Transponder ($13.50): 
The exterior mounted E-ZPass transponder is for those vehicles not compatible with the windshield mounted E-ZPass. The transponder must be mounted to the top of the front license plate using the existing license plate mounting screws. Visit our how to mount your transponder page for mounting instructions.
Interior Mount Flex Transponder ($16.50):
E-ZPass Flex is an interior, windshield mounted E-ZPass with a switchable feature designed for drivers traveling on Express Toll Lanes to take advantage of an HOV discount. (HOV status/discounts vary by roadway.)
When you have the required number of people in your vehicle to qualify for an HOV discount, you can simply slide the switch to the right before entering high-occupancy (HOV) toll lanes, and the Flex transponder will display “HOV ON.” When driving with fewer than the required number of people in the vehicle, just slide the switch all the way to the left, covering the words “HOV ON.” E-ZPass Flex also works like a standard E-ZPass wherever E-ZPass is accepted regardless of the position of the switch.
Access instructions on how to mount your transponder.
You must install your windshield or license plate mounted transponder exactly as shown in the instructions.
Placing the transponder on the sun visor, rear-view mirror, in your glovebox, on your dashboard, seat, or in your hand may work occasionally, but doing so could result in toll-evasion violations, administrative fees, or higher tolls.
Customers should check with their vehicle manufacturer for instructions on mounting transponders on specialty windshields. Please be mindful not to install your transponder in the tinted portion of your windshield.
Yes. To use your E-ZPass on a rental or temporary vehicle, log in to your account and navigate to the ‘Vehicles’ page via the three lines in the top left corner of your screen.
Select ‘Add Vehicle’ and make sure to select the ‘Temporary License Plate’ slider. A temporary license plate refers to any plate you do not intend to associate with the account long term.
You should select a start and end date for the rental or temporary vehicle. Tolls incurred outside of your selected start and end date will not post to your account.
The E-ZPass Transponder Replacement Program is a swap program designed to replace E-ZPass Transponders that have reached the end of their lifespan.
If you think you might be eligible, or if you would like to learn more, visit our E-ZPass Transponder Replacement Program Page.