The same technology is increasingly used to let commuters breeze through toll plazas. A version called E-ZPass has garnered more than 6 million users in and around New York City. The system, much like the one McDonald's is testing, lets users roll through toll plazas at 5 mph. E-ZPass transponders, which deduct tolls from a prepaid account, are affixed to the windshield behind a vehicle's rearview mirror. They are now used in seven states including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland and Delaware.
Consumers often resist new technologies, but if they save time, they tend to become popular.
Electronic toll payment systems have caught on from the Oklahoma Turnpike to Argentina. The McDonald's trial electronic payment program in Chicago, which McVety says has proven popular, works with Speedpass, a system developed three years ago by Mobil for use at its gas pumps and which the company is now offering other businesses. Each Speedpass then charges a purchase to a credit or debit account. The system is similar to that being tried in Boise by McDonald's, which was developed by Pennsylvania-based FreedomPay. Inside the FreedomPay wand, a microchip contains a customer identification number read by the sensor.