TRANSPORTATION/PUBLIC WORKS--E-Pass Means Discounts
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Tolls on Cobequid Pass are discounted for motorists who purchase
the E-Pass transponder.

The E-Pass is a playing card-size transmitter that mounts on a
windshield. Electronic equipment at the toll plaza scans the
E-Pass and automatically deducts the toll from a personal prepaid
E-Pass account.

Car drivers can take advantage of the E-Pass system by acquiring
a transponder for a one-time cost of $15 and a $30 deposit that
will pay for 20 trips on Cobequid Pass. The E-Pass for commercial
trucks costs $40, with an initial deposit of $54 to open an
account. Mounting kits are $1.

Car drivers with an E-Pass will be charged $1.50 per trip. Trucks
with an E-Pass will pay $1.50 per axle to a maximum of six axles.
Without transponders, the cash rate is $3 per car and $2 per axle
per truck.

Police, fire and ambulance vehicles are exempt from paying tolls.

Staff will be on duty at the toll plaza on the highway to inform
motorists about the discounts available with the E-Pass
electronic toll system and to set up E-Pass accounts.
Transponders are available only at the toll plaza between 8 a.m.
and 10 p.m.

Applications, but not the transponders themselves, will be
available beginning Monday, Nov. 17, at Registry of Motor
Vehicles offices across Nova Scotia and at Access Nova Scotia
centres in Halifax, Dartmouth and Kentville.

For information about transponders, contact the Atlantic Highways
Management Corp. at 902-668-2211.

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Contact: Susan MacLeod
         Highway 104 Western Alignment Corp.
         902-424-2248
         E-mail: macleosu@gov.ns.ca

sab                     Nov. 14, 1997        11:00 a.m.