E-Pass to end discount for SunPass customers

ORLANDO, Fla. — Whether drivers have a SunPass or an E-Pass while driving on Central Florida Expressway roads makes no difference, but that’s all about to change starting May 1.

"I probably drive--definitely over 3,000 miles a month,” said driver Del Barge.

Barge’s job requires lots of driving and he uses a SunPass.

He's a driver who could be affected next month when the Central Florida Expressway Authority, which operates E-Pass, stops giving a volume discount for anyone using a SunPass on local Expressway Authority roads.

Currently, E-Pass and SunPass customers get a volume discount on E-Pass roads.

Anyone driving between 40 to 79 tolls a month gets a 5 percent discount.

Eighty or more tolls means a 10 percent discount.

Starting May 1, SunPass customers will no longer get that discount.

But customers with an E-Pass will get an even bigger discount.

E-Pass drivers who average 40 to 79 tolls a month will get a 10 percent discount while drivers who average 80 or more can get a 15 percent discount.

“If they’re going to continue to use our roadways, it will benefit them greatly because of the volume discount,” said Welton Cadwell, of the Central Florida Expressway Authority.

E-Pass said it’s doing this as a way to encourage more people to use E-Pass, since both agencies are going to start charging each other for transactions processed.

The Expressway Authority said 64 percent of the transactions it processes are for SunPass customers.

SunPass customers will still get a small discount over people who pay cash.

Cox Media Group