Avis, Budget Use E-ZPass To Expedite Expense Reporting

Cendant-owned car rental brands Avis and Budget next month will begin offering customers electronic toll technology in the New York and Houston areas, easing both the toll-paying process and expense reporting for business travelers.

For a daily fee, customers in April will be able to rent vehicles equipped with the E-ZPass technology, which accesses high-speed toll lanes from Virginia to Maine, and the Platepass technology, which accesses lanes in Texas. Cendant Car Rental Group, the parent company of both brands, plans to offer other electronic toll plans by year-end, including service in Florida, Illinois and more spots in the Northeast and Texas. Budget has offered the technology for the past 18 months from Newark Liberty International Airport as a pilot program.

The fee for the technology—$1.50 per day in New York and $2 per day in Houston—is charged upfront as part of the rental cost. The tolls themselves are charged later and can be itemized on whatever credit card the customer provided for the service, so there's no need to collect and save the receipts from the toll stations.

Cendant plans to have about two-thirds of its fleet capable of supporting the technology by year-end, said Chuck Fallon, the company's executive vice president of revenue generation.