Will FasTrak ever exterminate the bugs in its tolling system?

QI read with interest about FasTrak issues brought to your attention that a couple of others have had, and probably countless others have not had yet but may … or they have had and just never bother to read their billing statements to realize it. But I can tell you from personal experience this has been going on for a while now.

We have one clean air vehicle and two regular vehicles that we have used our transponder with, both on interstates 580 and 680 express lanes (with the transponder set at 2 or 3), and they never work.

For over a year now, I have had to call FasTrak after I receive every single statement and ask them to credit me back for the erroneous charges.

I have tried every suggestion under the moon that they have offered, including moving the transponder to all the different spots in the car possible — on the windshield, dash, etc.

I even talked to one supervisor at FasTrak who said, “We have been having an ongoing issue with this for years and, unfortunately, they haven’t resolved it. We have no idea when they will.”

Seriously? FasTrak has known about this for years, yet doesn’t fix it? I hope you can call your “FasTrak hero” over there and they can help save the day for all of us who are tired of calling in for refunds, and can also stop FasTrak from collecting all that “extra” money from people who haven’t bothered to read their monthly statements.

— Dana Ogden,

Dublin

AAlways check your FasTrak statement. This situation can cause billing problems until bugs in the express lane tolling system are resolved. Toll officials believe the FasTrak system is “highly accurate,” but glitches do occur.

Neither old-school FasTrak tags nor FasTrak Flex tags beep on the Interstate 680 Contra Costa County express lanes. This is a deliberate design feature to prevent drivers from being distracted by beeps while traveling through the corridor.

A small number of vehicles (most notably some

Tesla models) have magnetic metal oxide windshields that require toll tags to be placed in a specific position in order to be read. Drivers whose vehicles have magnetic windshields should contact their dealer to learn exactly where to place the toll tag.

QOne other option for dealing with FasTrak transponders is to register the car’s license plate. Once the plate is registered, the transponder doesn’t need to be used. I have used this method for the past two years on the Benicia, Richmond and Golden Gate bridges.

— Edwin Reich

ABut there is a downside. The per-transaction cost for a FasTrak toll crossing with a transponder is 16 cents. This jumps to 40 cents for a pay-by-plate transaction and 48 cents for each cash-paid transaction.