Hertz has expanded the availability of its
PlatePass system, a service that permits renters to pay bridge and
road tolls electronically, to several more cities.
The car rental firm
said the PlatePass system has worked so well in the New York area
that it now will make it available in Baltimore, Boston,
Philadelphia and Washington.
The system is
designed to save renters time by enabling them to utilize E-Z Pass
lanes through rentals of E-Z Pass toll tags rather than manually
paying tolls. Hertz is using a similar system in Houston as well.
The PlatePass system utilizes a small electronic device that can be
picked up at the Hertz rental counter and can be used wherever E-Z
Pass is accepted.
Customers are
charged a $2.50-per-day, up to a maximum of $10-per-week, usage
fee. However, customers are only charged the daily service fee for
days that an E-Z Pass toll road is actually used. After the rental
car is returned, the customers credit card is charged the usage
fees plus the actual amount of the tolls incurred during the rental
period. Customers later receive an itemized listing of all tolls
and charges by mail or they can download an itemized receipt from
www.PlatePass.com.
Hertz was one of
the first car rental companies to use an electronic toll payment
system, but other car rental firms, such as the Dollar Thrifty
Automotive Group, currently are testing similar systems.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael
Milligan at [email protected].