Travelocity this week is expected to begin offering an exclusive new option for online car renters who want access to E-ZPass fast lanes at highway toll plazas.
The idea is based on Netflix, the popular video-by-mail service. If the car won’t be equipped for electronic toll booths, an add-on device will be mailed to the renter before the trip. The user attaches the toll tag to the windshield using suction cups, and mails it back after the trip.
The service is being provided by Highway Toll Administration (HTA), a private company that has grabbed a big share of the market for equipping the nation’s rental fleet for electronic tolls. The company provides electronic toll-collection devices for several car rental companies, including Avis, Budget, National and Alamo, plus the franchisees of several other brands.
Company CEO David Centner said about 40% of the available rental cars in the relevant market areas do not have a toll collection devices, creating the need for another way to distribute what HTA calls the TravelPass. The solution works with any car rental brand.
Under the deal with Travelocity, renters pay $1.99 a day plus the tolls, which are billed to the user’s credit card after the trip. HTA pays the postage. Travelocity, which is adding an “Add a Toll Device” option to the booking screen, “gets a piece of the action,” according to Centner.
For now, the TravelPass tag works with E-ZPass and I-PASS in the Northeast and Midwest and the mail-in option is limited to Travelocity, but Centner said that, too, could change.