E-ZPass, the Pennsylvania Turnpike's electronic fare collection system, is coming to the 13-mile Greensburg Bypass, also known as Toll 66.

Turnpike and local officials will cut a ribbon at 11 a.m. Friday to inaugurate E-ZPass on the highway, which cuts a north-south swath through central Westmoreland County.

One lane northbound and one lane southbound will become E-ZPass Only lanes at the eight-lane mainline toll barrier in Hempfield.

E-ZPass will be phased in on the rest of the highway -- about one ramp a week, working toward the northern terminus at Route 22 in Delmont.

In addition, the turnpike will begin replacing old "exact change only" coin baskets that have caused occasional problems and some revenue loss with new equipment that will accept up to a $5 bill.

The turnpike will implement E-ZPass and related facets of the system on the Beaver Valley Expressway (Toll 60) starting at the North Plaza and South Plaza in August.

Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone estimated all work connected with the $30 million project, including new signs, will take about a year.

Retrofitting the two toll road extensions, both of which opened in the mid-1990s, and enhancing the electronic toll collection system on the primary 470-mile turnpike network is costing about $150 million.

Using a low-watt transponder or "tag" usually mounted on the windshield, the system employs modern technology to track vehicles and electronically collect tolls from pre-established accounts that are usually tied to a credit card.

Hundreds of thousands of E-ZPass enrollees a day avoid tickets, cash transactions and traffic backups at regular toll collection points on the turnpike, mostly in central and eastern Pennsylvania.

Mr. Capone said turnpike officials expect participation to pick up in the Pittsburgh region with the implementation of E-ZPass on the Greensburg Bypass and Beaver Valley Expressway, mainly because of the convenience. The annual maintenance fee is $3; users have to establish a minimum $35 credit account from which tolls are drawn.

He said that even occasional users like the program because there is no expiration and because of reciprocity agreements with other toll facilities in the Northeast, from the West Virginia Turnpike to the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, N.Y., and Canada.

"Not being able to use E-ZPass on [Toll] 60 and 66 has left a big hole in the system," turnpike Chief Executive Officer Joe Brimmeier said several months ago. "It's one of the biggest complaints I hear."

During the changeover, turnpike officials cautioned drivers about possible inconvenience, like being able to use E-ZPass going north on the Greensburg Bypass but still having to pay 50 cents at the Route 22 exit until the electronic toll collection equipment is installed there.

When the six-mile Findlay Connector opens this fall as part of the Southern Beltway to Pittsburgh International Airport, it will be equipped to accept E-ZPass. Retrofitting the 35 miles of Mon-Fayette Expressway already open is at least another year away.