Signing up for Fastrack

the time has come...

A couple of weeks ago, while we were at Disneyland, my sister borrowed my car for a few hours. As she was about to enter the Bay Bridge from Oakland, she drove through a Fastrak lane.

My sister's car has a Fastrak pass. Mine does not.

She says that she realized what she had done the second she drove through. Obviously, there's nothing she could do, so she warned me that I might be getting a notice in the mail.

Well, that notice came today: a fine for $25, plus the $4 toll.

After I read all of my payment options, I saw that I could open a Fastrak account (which is free) and avoid the $25 penalty.

I figured, why not? According to the application, if you register less than 3 cars on an account, and pay by credit card, they will waive the $20 deposit for each toll tag. They keep a balance on your account, and when that balance falls below $15, they will automatically charge your credit card for one month's average use. That's really pretty good.

I never looked into getting a Fastrak account, because frankly, I don't cross the bridges very often (thankfully). However, whenever I do, I use the regular lanes, which are slower, and I have to shell out my $4-5 in cash each time.

I figure this is as good of a time as any to sign our cars up for a Fastrak account. I probably cross the bridges once or twice a month only, but when I do, it'll be nice to use the Fastrak lanes for a change.