HARRISBURG, PA (04/18/2008) E-ZPass electronic toll collection will be available to motorists at the two northernmost mainline toll plazas on the Mon/Fayette Expressway (Turnpike 43) beginning at 6 am Monday, April 21.

E-ZPass lanes will be operational at the California mainline facility in Washington County and at the Jefferson Hills mainline facility in southeastern Allegheny County. Remaining Mon/Fayette fare-collection points will get E-ZPass later this year.

E-ZPass allows motorists to proceed through the plaza without stopping while the tolls are automatically debited from a pre-paid account. The passenger-vehicle toll for the Jefferson Hills mainline plaza (M52) is $1; the toll at the California mainline plaza (M35) is 75 cents for passenger vehicles.

An electronic tag, called a transponder, is mounted in or on the vehicle, enabling it to pass through the designated lanes without having to stop and submit cash to a collector or machine.

Later this year, E-ZPass will be expanded to include the Turnpike 43 mainline plaza on the Mon/Fayette Expressway's "Mason Dixon" Link in Georges Township, Fayette County and ramp plazas serving mid-Monongahela River Valley communities such as Charleroi, Mon City, New Eagle, Eighty Four, and Finleyville.

A new eight-mile Mon/Fayette segment between Uniontown and Brownsville will be E-ZPass-ready when it opens in October.

Pennsylvania's E-ZPass program functions seamlessly with other Northeastern toll facilities and a growing consortium of toll agencies extending as far west as Illinois. The tag can be used in Pennsylvania and 11 other states, including West Virginia, where the purple and white E-ZPass logo is displayed. The Ohio Turnpike is expected to be E-ZPass-ready by summer 2009.

It costs as little as $38 per transponder to open an E-ZPass account, with $35 of that being a pre-paid balance that does not expire if it goes unused. It's easiest to pay by credit card or debit card and authorize automatic replenishment when your balance drops below $10. Transponders can be moved between vehicles.

Vehicle owners can enroll through the Turnpike's web site at www.paturnpike.com, by calling toll-free 1-877-736-6727, by visiting any American Automobile Association (AAA) office in the region, or by obtaining E-ZPass "Go Paks" at participating Giant Eagle and Get Go stores.

In conjunction with the E-ZPass expansion, representatives will be stationed at three locations to enroll local drivers. Sign-up teams will be at the California mainline toll plaza (milepost 35) and the Jefferson Hills mainline toll plaza (milepost 52) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 21-25 and at California University's Natali Student Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 23, April 29 and April 30.

To enroll, a registrant must provide a drivers license, license plate number and a major credit card. Registrants will leave with an E-ZPass tag than can be used immediately.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike launched E-ZPass regionally in December 2000. Electronic toll collection has been available on the entire Ohio-to-New Jersey mainline and most of the Interstate 476 Northeastern Extension to Scranton since December 2002. All other tolling points in southwestern Pennsylvania, with the exception of the Mon/Fayette Expressway, were E-ZPass equipped as of February 2007.