An Expensive Trip on the Toll Road

I am one of a zillion poor suckers who commute from Maryland to Virginia. On a good day my commute takes forty-five minutes, on a bad day it can take well over two hours. Sometimes the commute doesn’t seem so horrible, other days I scream and curse as I sit in wall to wall traffic with the cars beside me. Of course, in addition to spending tons of time in my car, I also have to spend tons of money driving to and from work. I often use 1/4 of a tank of gas sitting on the beltway waiting for the cars in front of me to move. As if that isn’t bad enough I also spend $2.50 on the Dulles Toll Road: $1.25 each way.

A few months back I bought a used car from my grandmother who had given up driving. As I drove in the ez-pass lane of the Dulles Toll Road it never occurred to me that I had forgotten to transfer my ez-pass transponder from the old car to my new one. I got onto the Dulles Toll Road singing along, trying to keep my sanity on this very long drive to work. But just as I was exiting the Toll Road a very bright, red, you failed to pay, sign flashed before me.

I figured the VA transit authority would send me a bill as a first time offender equal to the price of the toll I failed to pay. WRONG! I was billed $26.25 for failing to pay! I tried to appeal the charge but failed. Adding insult to injury I paid $26.25 to save 15 minutes on a two hour drive.