PORTLAND – One month after the multistate E-ZPass system was introduced in Maine, more motorists along the Maine Turnpike are opting to pay their tolls electronically.

The turnpike handled 250,000 more noncash transactions in February than it did 12 months earlier, even though overall traffic showed a slight decline, the Maine Turnpike Authority said.

The surge in electronic toll collection is attributed largely to out-of-state motorists. Only about 81,000 people have signed up for Maine’s E-Z Pass, compared to 97,000 accounts under the old Transpass system.