Community Magazine April 2012

New E-ZPass Tag Can be Bought On The Go After the success of its pilot program, the new E-ZPass On The Go tags have been expanded to the Bronx-Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges, and will soon be available at all MTAcrossings.Almost 9,000 tags have already been sold at the Henry Hudson Bridge. Drivers can purchase the tags in the cash lanes for $30, plus the cash toll for the trip they’re making, and then the tags can be used to pay up to $30 in tolls. If the tags are bought with a credit card, the entire amount can be used for tolls; if bought with cash, they are worth $20 in tolls and a $10 tag deposit. Customers have two days to then register the tag, online or by phone. A tag that is not registered within two days is deactivated. People who do not want to use a credit or debit card are encouraged to try the new MTA Reload Card, which uses cash to pay the E-ZPass account. The On The Go tag is the same as an E-ZPass, except that it is bought at the tollbooth, and can also be found at over 500 retail stores. E-ZPass, On The Go, and MTA Reload Cards all save users $1.70 per trip at most crossings, and they are used by almost 80 percent of drivers. Reload with Cash on E-ZPass E-ZPass users can now use cash to reload their accounts and pay for MTA toll crossings. The MTAReload Card allows users to load their accounts at 2,500 retail stores in the region. The pilot project is designed to appeal to existing customers who use cash, and new customers who would have had difficulty making cash payments at one of the three previously existing walk-in cash centers in Yonkers, Queens or Staten Island. Now, thousands of merchants in the city allow you to add cash to your E-ZPass account by using the new Reload Card. Almost 90 percent of E-ZPass accounts are paid with credit or debit cards, a figure that is likely to change with this more convenient way to make cash payments. There are 2.2 million E-ZPass account holders in total. Cash deposits require a minimum of $20, and the funds are available to use within 24 hours. Customers can choose to receive emails or text messages when their account balance is low. The retails do charge a transaction fee of between $1 and $5, though some places, like CVS, Duane Reade and Walmart, only charge between $1 and $2. For users who would have otherwise paid cash at the toll booth, the transaction fee is usually recouped after only two trips, because the E-ZPass discount is usually $1.70 at bridges and tunnels compared to paying cash. A list of retailers can be found at www.ezpassny. com/retailerlocator. Broadway is Deadliest Street in New York A recently released report from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign announced that over 1,200 pedestrians are killed annually in the Tri-State area. The most dangerous road in New Jersey, Connecticut and downstate New York is the Hempstead Turnpike. Manhattan’s Broadway is the deadliest road in New York State. The report criticized the streets for not being designed to take into account the needs of pedestrians. New York’s Department of Transportation responded that improvements are being made, and safety is the foremost priority. Print Your Own Book at the Library The Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza has a new machine to help the budding author – a made-to-order printing press. The Espresso Book Machine allows writers to load their own works digitally, and print a paperback version of their book in five minutes. The machine prints pages, and then trims and glues them together with a cover. The machine is also useful for non-writers, as people can print books from its catalogue of over seven million titles, allowing users to find obscure books that may otherwise be unavailable. Printing books from the catalogue costs the same as purchasing a book from a bookstore. Those wanting to publish their own works can also offer the book for sale through the book machine, with a basic self-publishing package costing $149. This is the first machine of its kind to be available in a library. Life in the Big City 106 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE