PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state Department of Transportation is overloaded with applications for E-ZPass transponders.

 

The all-electronic tolling goes into effect on Friday. But the state's website had become so overloaded with requests at times that it crashes. MassDOT is now setting up in-person locations to get people signed up and launched a grace period to refund any additional fees incurred during the rollout.

 

At the Lee Service Plaza, eastbound between Exits 1 and 2, this weekend MassDOT will be on hand to process transponder applications. State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier is using her office to collect the paper applications, which MassDOT is collecting every day. The applications are also available at the registry and at AAA locations.

 

"The online access has been extremely difficult," Farley-Bouvier said on Wednesday. "It is just jammed with so many people trying to do it."

 

Once a customer gets the transponder it takes some five days for the online account to be actived. Farley-Bouvier said to alleviate some of the issues, the department has crafted a fee forgiveness program. 

 

Motorists without E-ZPass accounts will be billed by license plate; for those who haven't signed up yet or whose accounts are not yet active, include an application or account information when paying the bill to receive credit for overpayment. The fees are 30 cents per gantry, meaning a one-way trip could cost a Berkshire driver as much as $11.20 between the pay-by-plate fees and the regular tolls.

 

"There is an opportunity to get that extra fee waived," Farley-Bouvier said. "These fees will be adjusted to the regular Mass E-ZPass rate."

 

The grace period is expected to be active for six months.

 

Farley-Bouvier said her office will be active in helping constituents through that process as well. Despite so much of a backlog now, which has grown from just three days to more than a week to get the transponders activated, and a vendor struggling to keep up with demand, Farley-Bouvier said the program will be rolled out as planned. 

 

The toll workers already know when their last day ends — at 10 p.m. Friday night there won't be anyone to take the tolls — and the contracts and timeline for the demolition of the toll booths have already been scheduled.

 

"To push it back would make the problem worse," Farley-Bouvier said. "I am approaching this as a constituent service issue."

 

The existing tolling websites will be shut down and the new website will be activated in conjunction with the "go live" date for all-electronic tolling.

 

"As of Saturday, when the new system comes online, there is more bandwidth so it will be easier," Farley-Bouvier said.

 

The scrambled to ensure all can sign up or activating the new accounts isn't the first problem with the roll out of the tolling system. Farley-Bouvier said earlier this summer she had constituents who signed up for the transponders at the Farmer's Market only to have them not be activated quick enough. That led the customers to take the E-ZPass lane expecting the tolls to be taken out of their account balance and instead received fines approaching $100 for a round trip.

 

"They were fined as if they didn't take a ticket," she said.