New Hampshire Newsmakers of the Year 2005: EZPass

For years New Hampshire was one of the few eastern states without a system to get commuters through its tolls quicker. Many lobbied for years to get a transponder system for the state- and they finally got their wish this year, as the state's first EZ Pass system went into effect.

Yet EZ Pass wasn't as EZ as people hoped it would be. Months-long political fights over tokens and discounts involved the Governor, the Executive Council, the State Senate and the Department of Transportation, which slowed progress. Then, after being installed, the state dealt with new issues of billing and technology- as well as a state that took to the new system almost immediately.

EZ Pass had a major impact on the state's political system as well as its transportation system, and that makes it one of 2005's Newsmakers of the Year.