Pike sued for Fast Lane, E-ZPass toll differences

A class action lawsuit has been filed agaist the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority over a difference in prices between the E-ZPass and the Fast Lane electronic toll paying systems.

The lawsuit alleges that drivers on the turnpike who use the E-ZPass system unfairly pay full price for tolls while those enrolled in the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's Fast Lane system receive a discount.

The E-ZPass tolls range from 25 cents to $8.60 to travel from Logan Airport to the New York border. The Fast Lane discounts range from 25 cents to 50 cents.

"Drivers approaching the Boston toll booths with the discriminatory discount program are greeted by large signs declaring 'E-ZPass Accepted,' but there are no signs saying that drivers will not be receiving the discount that the MTA provides to Fast Lane users," said Matthew F. Pawa, a Newton lawyer representing the E-ZPass drivers in the suit, in a statement yesterday.

The suit alleges that offering the discount to Fast Lane users but not E-ZPass users is a form of discrimination against interstate commerce.

"It's a clear constitional violation because [the turnpike] takes all interstate transactions and puts them in one basket and charges them more, and they take all intrastate transactions and put them in another," said Pawa, reached by phone last night.

"You just can't do that under the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution."

Fast Lane and E-ZPass are separate entities that operate in the same way, with sensors that allow motorists to drive through roadway tolls without having to stop to collect a ticket or pay cash. Fast Lane was created in 1998 solely for use on the turnpike. E-ZPass is used in nearly every other state in the northeast, including New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.

Mac Daniel, a turnpike spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Pawa said the size of the class in the lawsuit was potentially in the thousands, with damages in the millions.

"We don't know how many millions because there's limited publicly available information from the MTA," he said.

Alan LeBovidge, Turnpike director, said at a turnpike authority board meeting that about one-third of electronic toll users on the Pike use E-ZPass.

John Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com