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Smart Tag:
What a Deal!
They're from the Government
and they're here to help you
again.
The name "Smart Tag" tells only half the story.
The Times-Dispatch told us on June 27, 1999 how the Smart Tag has come to Richmond to help pay tolls on the RMA and Downtown Expressway:
- The new system costs $14.8 million dollars and you and I get to pay for it!
- We pay for it with tolls increased from $0.35 to $0.50.
- You no longer can buy the 45-cent tokens. You must use Smart Tag or pay $0.50 cash.
- If you want the Smart Tag, you have to pay your toll in advance.
The amount of "help" you get from the Smart Tag depends on how you pay:
Option 1: Pay Cash for a Smart Tag:
If you pay cash, it takes fifty bucks: a $15 deposit and $35 for the tolls. When the toll balance drops below $10, you get to pay again. For purposes of the arithmetic, let's assume you pay when the balance drops to $5. That means the RMA has somewhere between $20 and $50 of your money at all times.
Now you understand why they eliminated the tokens. A roll of tokens cost $18, so on the average they had $9 of your money all the time. Now they get to have on the average $35.
What a deal!
Option 2: Use Credit Card to pay for Smart Tag:
Same analysis as above, but no $15 deposit. On the average they'll have $20 of your money at all times. Plus they can hit your credit card to settle any dispute with you or to pay for some car thief to drive your vehicle across the Coleman Bridge (see below).
What a deal!
No Option: The Big Deal
You get to sign their contract. Oh, yes! When you apply for the Smart Tag you sign a contract and agree to their deal. It's a Big Deal:
If your kid breaks the Smart Tag, or your dog eats it, or the leak in the convertible drowns it, you pay $35 for it.
If some scumball steals the Smart Tag, you pay $35 for it. And the thief gets free tolls until you call VDOT with the correct serial number (You DID write it down and put it in the safe deposit box, didn't you?).
If there is any dispute over the "Agreement," you get to pay their costs and attorney fees to enforce it.
If somebody sues them because of your use of the Smart Tag (e.g., an accident arguably caused by a malfunction of the Smart Tag system), you get to defend (pay lawyers to defend) the Smart Tag people. If you don't, they defend themselves and then you have to pay their lawyers to sue you for the cost of the defense and any judgment they paid. I'm not sure my insurance covers this. How about yours?
Just in case they forgot something, they can change the deal at any time.
Moreover, you don't even know who "they" are. The Contract identifies them as "Smart Tag Customer Service Center." What they are trying to avoid saying is "VDOT." If you think you can sue either the Smart Tag Customer Service Center or VDOT for doing you wrong, you probably don't know how to spell "sovereign immunity" and you certainly have not read the contract.
The Contract says that even if they screw up they are not liable. [Remember, you accept this deal when you apply for the Smart Tag.]
What a deal!
Bottom Line
They made the toll plazas too small to handle the traffic. Now you and I get to pay $14.8 million to fix that with a system designed to screw us, not the folks who messed up in the first place.
The full name of the system: Smart Tag! Dumb Customer!
What a deal!
Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher