Turnpike toll plazas shut down tomorrow night; the transponderless get a six-month grace period

The difference between tolls for out-of-state transponders and tolls for MA transponders is approximately equal to the previous difference between E-ZPass and cash toll rates.

And by the way, out-of-state transponders have always had to pay the cash rate anyway.

This is not true at all. The ACTUAL costs are available on the MassDOT All Electronic Tolling project website:

Total costs to design and build the physical AET system are approximately $130 million and toll demolition and roadway reconstruction will cost about $133 million, excluding the Sumner Tunnel.

That's a total cost of $263 million. The website also says that anticipated annual operating savings are around $50 million, meaning in a little over 5 years the conversion will have paid for itself. And that's just the savings directly attributable to MassDOT - there also will be indirect savings for the state's economy in the form of reduced fuel consumption and emissions from vehicles not having to stop to pay tolls.

The contractor has already mobilized, and demolition will begin immediately at 10 pm tomorrow. If you've driven the Pike within the past week or two you may have noticed new pavement markings and signage already in place for the work zone setups.

They're supposed to be demolished to the point where they're no longer impeding traffic by 2 days before Thanksgiving.

I've never seen such a good representation of how locals drive. They swerve, cut one another off, and not a single car is shown using turn signals.

Look at those license plates. European plates with European drivers. Probably Amsterdam tourists overexcited about not having any bikes in their way!

93 can't have tolls due to federal law.

Which is why they recommend wrapping the transponder you aren't using in aluminum foil if it's in the car with you when you drive through the fare collectors.

Or, take the transponder you aren't using out of your car. Either way.

You should check on how to manage this, since it sounds like you may need to have both transponders in the car, depending on whether it is a business or personal use. From the E-Z Pass website, it appears there is a 'pouch' they can give you so that a transponder won't get charged.

I had an experience getting charged twice, in a different kind of situation, with two transponders. If I recall correctly, I had added my father-in-law's vehicle to my transponder account and brought my transponder with me to drive him on errands as he was aging and no longer drove himself. Turned out he had an active transponder squirreled away in one of his glove compartments that I didn't know about. We didn't realize what happened until we got unpaid bills to his address in the mail.

So yes, according to this experience anyway, I think you may get charged on both. I'd look into how to get one of those pouches. My situation was a mistake easily fixed, but you will need to manage your situation, unless you want to risk getting in trouble billing the work account for your personal trips.

to keep a "promise" made in the 1950s. And I'm sure you'd have no problem with a portion of the current gas taxes being diverted from other highway and bridge projects to fund maintenance and construction on the Pike.