Toll roads

Before anyone says this is off-topic....Well I am travelling to tractor shows!
Problem is every time I go to America I end up with a credit card bill for evading tolls! How am I supposed to do it? Over in Europe you cannot miss a toll...You have to drive through it as it sits right across the road. But do I have to come off the road at EVERY toll booth, pay then get back on the road again?. I did this the first time I came down from Chicago O'Hare and it added a heck of a time to my journey....but must have missed one as I still had a visa bill.
Tell me how to do it.....please
Thanks......Sam

I do my best to avoid toll roads, but unless you have one of those electronic passes on your windshield, EZ Pass, or whatever they are called where you go through certain lanes without stopping, then yes you have to stop at each booth. Some you get a ticket as you enter, then there are booths at the exits and you pay as you get off based on how far you traveled. Seems to vary from state to state, I haven't been on the Indiana Toll Road since it was leased or sold to an Austrailian group I think it was, so hopefully someone will give you some more current information.

Here in MD they're using transponders. The cost for each car is $10.00 for unlimited crossings for a year. That's going up to $20.00 in Feb.

Our daughter has one and it just records the toll charge. When she goes to Maine she doesn't have to stop to pay tolls it records all the tolls and she gets a bill. There's a lot of tolls from MD to Maine. When I started working for government in 1951 the toll across the Susquehanna River was
only a penny if you bought a book of tickets for sixty cents. You paid toll in both directions back then. Now the toll for a car is $6.00 if you don't have a transponder and you only pay toll in one direction. MD has to be one of the richest state and they still are complaining of needing more money. Even put gas tax on starting in July at the pump. Will increase even more next year. Hal

They're called EZ passes here too as been mentioned. Hal

There is no easy answer. Every state has their own system of robbing you. We don't have many toll roads in Colorado. The one that bypasses Denver on the east has changed so much since they installed it and it is expensive. I drove all the way across Ohio for a lot less then it cost to use that toll road. At present, you just drive and they read an EZ pass or the license plate. I assume a rental car just gets the license plate read and you will eventually get a bill on your credit card. Many complaints here about out of staters getting late charges on their bills. Easiest to just avoid them if possible.
Frank

The toll roads here are designed for transponders, you essentially have to detour to pay.

I blew through one in Oklahoma City about midnight. I was getting tired and did not get over enough to make the booth.

Here in the USA you either have to exit, stop and pay the toll of have the electronic transponder for the particular toll road you are on.

E-Z pass is one of the companies but it only works in some states. Here is a link to the page with E-Z Pass information as to where it works.

http://www.e-zpassiag.com/about-e-zpass/where-can-i-use-it

I-Pass is Illinois system and is accepted in 15 states. Here is that list:


•Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority
•Burlington County Bridge Commission
•Delaware Department of Transportation
•Delaware River and Bay Authority
•Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
•Delaware River Port Authority
•Illinois Tollway
•Indiana Toll Road Concession Company, LLC
•Massachusetts Department of Transportation
•Maryland Transportation Authority
•Maine Turnpike Authority
•Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels
•New Hampshire Department of Transportation
•New Jersey Turnpike Authority
•New York State Bridges Authority
•New York State Thruway Authority
•North Carolina Turnpike Authority
•Ohio Turnpike Commission
•Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
•Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
•Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority
•Skyway Concession Company
•South Jersey Transportation Authority
•Virginia Department of Transportation
•West Virginia Parkway Authority

There are some systems that only accept their own transponders. Texas has one of these in Dallas if I remember correctly.

The toll roads over here are owned by many different entities. Several states have sold/leased their toll roads for short term budget issues. So the toll road is owned by a private company and that company pays the state/city that owns the road.

There is not a USA wide system that allows you to go on all of the toll roads and not stop. The fees/fines are many times the cost of the toll. Unless you are traveling in the North-Eastern states, you can avoid the toll road and stick to the non toll roads and still make good time traveling.

So your choices are:
1) Stop and just pay the tolls.
2) Find out which toll roads you will be using and sign up an prepay for a transponder system that works on the roads you are traveling.
3) Keep paying the penalties and extra fees by driving through the tolls. Keep in mind you can be stopped and ticketed by law enforcement when you drive through a toll without paying. They do setup and do this at times too. The delay will be much longer than paying the toll. You could have the entire car and all the people in it searched. I do mean all things taken out and searched right there.
4)Plan your route to avoid the toll roads and toll bridges.

There is no simple way other than to just stop and pay as you go.

I have lived several places that had toll roads.
I like them. The people that use the road, pay for the road. Same with bridges. Many toll roads have less traffic because the casual
ride-arounders stay off of them.

The un-political correct word is, "Highway robbery"
In this country we have become highly advanced in the field of electronics, and surveilance.
In days of old there were people like Jesse James and other people of questionable character who wood rob you. That wuz not very efficent cause they had to keep running from one local to another.The upkeep of the horse and the bullets they had to buy and the meals for the men ran into a lot of operating expense.
Now days they call it paying for the guverment, so you can enjoy the smooth roads and the wonderful secenery.
Hope you all have a good visit and no body trys to shoot you down
Are you going to git to Lanesville,Ind. this year?

Sam,
I think that's the way some of those toll roads work...there's no place to pay, but the camera takes a picture of your license plate and they send you a letter with a picture of your plate and a bill. Happened to me in downtown Denver.
Tom

You were charged for AVOIDING a toll road? Or because they think you were trying to avoid paying. My way of not paying to use toll roads is simple, don't use them. The few times I go through the States, I have to pay a toll to get across the Mackinaw bridge. That cost $9 because I didn't have american money one me.(stupid, I know). Did alot of extra driving to avoid the toll roads around Chicago.

JD, Texas Unfortunately has 3 Systems, D-FW, Houston, Austin,,, But our Tex-Tags will work on All Three!
You can ....
#1..Get a Tex-Tag cheapest way to pay toll!
#2..Don't get a Tex-Tag. Here in
Texas We Do Not Have to Stop at all... Let them send you a bill in a month and pay it then!.....So run the toll road and they take a pic of your rig and send you a bill in the mail! More Expensive than having a Tex-Tag!
#3..Find a alternate route that has no Toll road associated with it,....But it is slower, more lights, Idiot Drivers, Time lost!
Later,
John A.
Sometimes it is more prudent to use the Toll road, other times it is not, Is is my option.
Later,
John A.

Last Fall"s Colorado trip we went on the Denver toll roads a few times- there were no booths to pay at, so we got a couple charges via mail a couple weeks later. I didn"t think they were over-priced. Chicago area tolls we just come prepared to pay at the booth. Second last trip we found a 15 cent toll! Private entities build the roads, of course we have to pay to use them. Not gonna drive far to avoid them.

When I drive around Chicago I go out of my way to avoid toll roads. And that can be a real hassle. In fact, if I was wanting to cross into Wisconsin via there, I think I'd have no choice.

Let me tell you about my recent experience. I rented a car in Los Angeles for a Trade Show in Palm Springs. Flew in on Sunday...flew out on Wednesday.

Two Months later, got a bill for $75 from Thrifty Auto Rental for not paying tolls. They listed all the toll gates, and the highways. I looked at the road numbers and toll plazas, but they did not match at all the Los Angeles Toll roads. Googled the highway numbers and found they were all in the Orlando, Florida area, and the day before I left L.A. No way that I could drive 3000 miles overnight and return the car in L.A. the next day.

Thrifty reversed the credit card charges and said that they don't bother to check the bills and match up with rental contract....they just search the plate numbers and find somebody who rented a car at that time. So maybe you are getting charged incorrectly.

(quoted from post at 11:33:11 08/11/13) When I drive around Chicago I go out of my way to avoid toll roads. And that can be a real hassle. In fact, if I was wanting to cross into Wisconsin via there, I think I'd have no choice.

Click to expand...

Getting around Chicago can be a real pain.Last time I was there it cost me at least $15.00 to go 30 miles in a pickup truck.

There is a way for you to do it. Arrange for automatic payment next time you rent a car. When you rent the car. If you don't, then don't use the high speed EZ Pass lanes. Use the cash lanes. You really don't "exit" the tollway, you just use the cash lanes. They're usually on the right side. Anyway, there will be signs. Written in "English".
You know the ones I mean. They used to say "Illinois Tollway Authority. Rod Blagojevich. Governor". (;>))

Next time you rent a car and activate the EZ PASS check your bill. The rental company charges about $2.00 a day for the transmitter plus tolls. And they don't pay their bill--that was on the news about a month ago.
I think $2/day is outrageous for the amount of time you really use it.

$2.00??? I didn't think you could get anything for as little as $2.00 anymore. Now, in "my day", that was the target price for "services" down south of the border. The asking price was about 5.

Thanks for the help guys...I take it I have to exit every time I see a toll sign and then re-enter the same road?. I noticed roads before where they were smilar to here where the toll booth was right across the road and you couldn't miss it. Other roads had a ticket booth as you entered and another as you exited...neither of these were a problem. But that road down through Chicago seemed to be a real problem....just get in the fast lane where you could not exit and another fine!
Sam

I used to take I90 thru Chicago or 294 around Chicago too many toll stops. Now a days I stay on 80 headed for Iowa then turn north on 51 I believe it is. Up at Rockford back on 90 and on to Madison Wi. It takes a little longer, but if you happen to come upon an accident on 90 or 294, it takes a lot less time and it's a lot less stressful.

Sam, when you leave the airport, stop at a truckstop and get a decent map or atlas. Being a truckstop, they'll usually be fairly well up to date, and will cover the routes where you want to go. Do't be afraid of some of the smaller roads- quite often they don't have quite as much traffic and move along pretty well. That being said, I took you across the Pa. turnpike- a toll road- to Harrisburg. You can also use 476 to 76 and Pa.202 to Pa. 30 north of West Chester. It's good road but then there's about 15 miles of two way traffic east of Lancaster. But then, you can hit Pa 283 on the east side of Lancaster, which will take you north to to west I-81 and 322 at Harrisburg, with no tolls, but some traffic. But, at any rate, invest $10 or 15 bucks in an atlas. It will probably pay you back in short order.

You can now drive Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York toll roads with EZ-Pass...about 2 years now.

Sam
Hope I can shed a little light on the system around Chicago. On 294 the toll gates are at about 10 mile +/- intervals. When going through you just pay where there is a gate. If I remember right, there are 7 gates all the way around. You do not have to get off, pay, & then get back on, just keep going until you hit a gate. The pay-at-exit booth prices depend on how far you have traveled since the last gate across the main road.
It is several years since I have been through there, but there used to be one gate at jct 90-290 & one at Rockford jct 39-90, that were 15 cents for cars, 10 cents per axle (50 cents total) for big trucks.
Won't get into the debate on whether toll roads are good, bad, or otherwise.
Willie

That's I-39 back up to Rockford.
Used to be pretty good at getting around Chicago without paying too many tolls. Delivered groceries to wally's-mart up there for a while.

If you can get a good map find parallel routes. Like taking 322 to State College and up to 80 instead of staying on the PA turnpike. Where are you going from Pennsylvania?

The trend in the US and Canada is to eliminate toll booths and go with fully automated toll roads. If you have an EZ Pass or whatever the local transponder is called, you go right through. If you don't, they take a picture of your license plate and mail you a bill. In these places, the rental car agencies just automatically assume you'll use the EZ-Pass. If you manage to evade every toll road, it doesn't cost you anything; but if you hit even a single toll gate you'll get charged an additional two bucks for every day of the rental, plus the actual toll charges.

A while back I flew into Denver and took the E-470 expressway, assuming I'd be able to pay the actual tolls as I'd done in the past, only to find all the toll gates removed. As I recall, the actual toll was a buck and a half, but with the daily "convenience fees", my ten mile toll cost me close to twenty bucks.

It's been awhile since I've been through Chicago, but I know it's very easy to miss a toll booth on I-94 and other area expressways. I blew past one a few years back, but never got a bill. I think the hitch-mounted bicycle rack happened to obscure my license plate.