Toll road authority cuts costs, takes everyone's deposits

Our local toll road authority has been pushing heavily for people to sign up with a tag system that allows people to travel the toll roads without stopping. At each toll point it is automatically charged to a pre-paid account.

I signed up myself, because we do use the toll roads and it is quite convenient. When I did, we were required to put a small deposit ($40) for each car, for which we get a small device that goes in the windshield.

Recently however the road authority changed their tags. Instead of a clunky box in the window, it is a throw-away sticker. This no doubt cut their costs significantly. But after they did this, all the current toll tag members had to mail back their original tags and purchase a new tag. Amazingly, the cost of the new sticker tag was exactly the same as our deposits! How convenient!

So the toll road authority basically took back their old tags, reissued cheaper sticker tags, and took all of our deposits. The local news didn't seem to notice a problem with that.