Some Fast Lane accounts double-billed

Fast Lane double-billed 8,498 accounts this week, an error Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials attributed yesterday to the electronic toll company running the system.

The computer glitch drew money Tuesday out of credit card and checking accounts belonging to Fast Lane customers, then mistakenly docked the same customers Wednesday. The total wrongly withdrawn could amount to tens of thousands of dollars, said the Turnpike spokeswoman, Mariellen Burns

Of the 8,498 accounts wrongly charged, 8,433 had been reimbursed by noon yesterday, Burns said.

''Fast Lane is a customer service," she said. ''This is not a moneymaker for us. But anything like this is very unfortunate, and we want to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Burns said the Turnpike Authority had asked the Fast Lane contractor, TransCore, to explain the problem and offer assurances it won't happen again. Officials at TransCore, based in Dallas, could not be reached for comment yesterday evening.

Richard A. DeRosa, 58, of Weymouth, said he had noticed something amiss on Tuesday, when he was checking his bank account online. First, $30 was taken from his account and sent to Fast Lane. The next day, another $30 was transferred.

Not having used the turnpike, the Tobin Bridge, or the Ted Williams Tunnel all that much, DeRosa called Fast Lane and learned of the glitch. He said he had been told by a customer service representative that his account would be reimbursed in one to two weeks. ''That I don't understand," he said. ''That's a lot of interest on all those accounts."

Burns said the agent was mistaken. DeRosa checked his account late yesterday, he said, and the wrongly withdrawn $30 was back.

Fast Lane bills customers various amounts, depending on the tolls they accrue and the type of account they have. When an initial $20 account drops below $10, they are billed to bring the account back to $20. Commercial users must maintain a $50 balance.

It was unknown why DeRosa had been billed $30.

The Fast Lane transponders, which cost a nonrefundable $27.50, allow drivers to go through tollbooths without stopping to pay.

Almost 200,000 Massachusetts drivers may have to replace their transponders as batteries inside older models begin to die. The Turnpike Authority is considering whether to charge customers for the new transponders, but no decision has been made.