I-Pass phasing out transponders for sticker tags

CHICAGO - Drivers can now say goodbye to their boxy tollway transponders and replace them with sticker tags.

The Illinois Tollway began selling I-Pass sticker tags in late January at its oases and customer service centers. They’ll be available Monday to order online and for purchase at Jewel-Osco locations.

Drivers with hard-case transponders can continue to use them until they expire.

Sticker tags are the latest advance in tollway fare collecting. They use a passive form of radio frequency identification technology that does not require a battery. Unlike hard-case transponders, stickers don’t expire, according to the Tollway.

California was the first state to introduce stickers in 2019. Several states now offer them.

Sticker tags don’t require a deposit. But a retail service fee is required to buy the tags at Jewel-Osco.

The $10 deposit that drivers paid for hard-case transponders will be transferred to their toll account balance once a sticker tag is registered.

Stickers should be placed on the inside windshield near the rearview mirror, just as hard-case transponders are, according to the Tollway.

The stickers can be used as soon as they’re registered to an I-Pass account, and within 24 hours on the Chicago Skyway and E-ZPass tolls.

The move to stickers is one of the most obvious changes to automatic tolling in Illinois since it was first introduced in 1993 on a stretch of I-355 in DuPage County. At the time, I-Pass transponders had screens that gave a readout of a driver’s toll balance.

Hard-case transponders, which have lithium-ion batteries, can be safely recycled at locations listed at search.earth911.com/.