EZ TAG is an

electronic toll collection Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a wireless system to automatically collect the usage fee or Road pricing, toll charged to vehicles using toll roads, HOV lanes, toll bridges, and toll tunnels. It is a faster alternative which is replacing Tol ...

system in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, United States, that allows motorists to pay tolls without stopping at toll booths. Motorists with the tags are allowed to use lanes reserved exclusively for them on all

Harris County Toll Road Authority The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA, pronounced "HECK-trah") maintains and operates a toll road system in the Greater Houston area of Texas, United States. Its headquarters are located in Houston's Fairbanks/Northwest Crossing neighb ...

(HCTRA) roads. As of late 2003, the EZ TAG can also be used on all lanes of tolled roadways in Texas that accommodate electronic toll collection.

How it works

To participate, a driver signs up through the EZ TAG website, via telephone, or at one of the store locations. Next, the customer receives a small, white radio frequency

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

which must be affixed to the inside of their windshield behind their rear view mirror. Finally, when passing through a toll plaza, the driver chooses lanes specially equipped with sensors that can read EZ TAG transmitters and deduct the appropriate amount from their accounts. Houston Transtar uses EZ TAG sensors, which are placed at numerous points across Greater Houston, for their Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) traffic monitoring system. By tracking the movement of individual transponder tags (EZ TAG user vehicles) over the city, the system can generate real time traffic information for use by the general public. The personal information about the EZ TAG customer is not compromised in this process because the EZ TAG database and the AVI system are not interconnected.

New transponder

In May 2006, HCTRA introduced a new version of the transponder tag. Instead of battery-powered radio transmitters, the new tags are adhesive stickers with a button-sized microchip in the middle of, and a reflective antenna system throughout the tag. These new tags are sold, rather than rented, so they help save money over the life of the tag by eliminating the monthly $1 rental fee. The battery tag's $15 security deposit can be applied to the purchase of the sticker tag. Removing the sticker after placement has a high probability of either separating the chip from the antenna, de-tuning the antenna from its designated frequency, or both, therefore invalidating the tag for future use. The tag also relies on the windshield for an amplification effect, and its effective range is greatly reduced if it is not mounted on a glass substrate. This range reduction is so much that not having a tag properly mounted will result in it not reading at all in toll lanes. These characteristics are much different compared to the old battery tags, which would read fine if not mounted properly. As such, some toll patrons attempt to hold up their sticker tags when driving through the toll lanes, and appear mystified when they do not work as their old tags did. The new tag uses three different protocols, or communications methods, with the tag readers—ATA, eGo and SeGo. The protocol used in Houston is ATA for automatic equipment identification; however, a driver in Houston can conceivably use the tag in another state where the other protocols are used. In addition, the tags support

ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organiz ...

INCITS 256-2001 and

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

10374. The tag is read by scanners as far as at 915 MHz, and the tag features a 2048-bit read/write passive memory. To duplicate a 915 MHz EZ TAG, a copy of the

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

2048-bit chip must be dumped and loaded into another ROM chip and a matched

inductance Inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a change in the electric current flowing through it. The electric current produces a magnetic field around the conductor. The magnetic field strength depends on the magnitude of the ...

of the

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

EZ TAG surface needs to be constructed. Blank 915 MHz RFID pads can be bought online.

New variations

As of January 2008, three different sets of EZ Tags have been released. The differences are purely cosmetic. Despite the similarity in the names, EZ Tags are not directly compatible with the

E-ZPass E-ZPass Interagency Group (E-ZPass Group trade name and E-ZPass product brand) is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the eastern half of the United States. The group itself is composed of ...

system in the northeast USA. However, the interoperable SunPass PRO can be used anywhere EZ Tag or E-ZPass tags are accepted (except Colorado).

EZ Tag by BancPass

In November 2015, HCTRA announced a new Cash Reloadable EZ Tag. The EZ Tag by BancPass can be reloaded with cash at major retailers, or the user can reload online using a debit or credit card. The EZ Tag by BancPass also differs from the standard EZ Tag by not reloading automatically. The user is notified when the account balance gets low, and the user can choose when and how much to put on the user's account. The EZ Tag by BancPass is available online, at H-E-B grocery stores and at Corner Store by Valero. Accounts can be reloaded online or at any H-E-B, CVS or Corner Store by Valero.

Interoperability

* 2003,

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

(

TxTag TxTag , operated by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), was one of three interoperable electronic toll collection systems in Texas. The system was also interoperable with the K-TAG system used in Kansas and the Pikepass system used i ...

) and NTTA (

TollTag The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) is a not-for-profit government organization that maintains and operates toll roads, bridges, and tunnels in the North Texas area. Functioning as a political subdivision of the State of Texas under Chap ...

) * On May 17, 2017, Kansas Turnpike Authority ( K-TAG) * On May 7, 2019,

Oklahoma Turnpike Authority The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (formerly Oklahoma Transportation Authority) is an agency of Oklahoma that deals with issues regarding the Turnpikes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma turnpike system. Along with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, th ...

(

PikePass Oklahoma has an extensive turnpike system, maintained by the state government through the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. All of Oklahoma's turnpikes are controlled-access highways with at least four lanes, although the Chickasaw Turnpike only has ...

) * On March 2, 2025, SunPass in Florida (with the exception of CFX system in Orlando) * On March 30, 2025, ExpressToll in Colorado * Possible future systems interoperability: ** Fastrak in California (

TCA TCA may refer to: Chemistry and biochemistry * Toxin complex a, an insecticidal toxin complex produced by ''Photorhabdus luminescens'' bacteria * Tricarboxylic acid cycle, an alternate name for the citric acid cycle pathway in cellular metabolism ...

facilities only) **

Peach Pass Peach Pass is an electronic toll collection system in use in the U.S. state of Georgia, which is currently used primarily for high-occupancy toll lanes and express toll lanes on Interstate 75 (I-75), I-85, and I-575 in metropolitan Atlanta. Pea ...

in Georgia **

NC Quick Pass The North Carolina Turnpike Authority was created in 2002 to speed the implementation of needed transportation improvements by funding some projects with tolls. Governed by a nine-member authority board, it is located within the Department of Tr ...

in North Carolina ** Palmetto Pass in South Carolina

References

{{reflist

External links

Official EZ TAG websiteHouston TranStarEZ TAG Design BackgroundEZ Tag by BancPass
Transportation in Texas Electronic toll collection