Paying the toll

[Dray]

A couple weeks ago I went to Half Moon Bay near San Francisco California.  To get there I had to cross the San Mateo Bridge.  I was a bit nervous to do this since it was only my second time out with the PU.  When I got to the bridge I had my $4 toll ready.  When I got up the the place to pay the guy says that will be $6.  A bit surprised I asked DW for a couple more to pay the toll.  Come to find out they charge by the axle.  The Golden Gate Bridge is more expensive.  I think $5 to cross.  So the toll on that bridge would be $7 for my PU.  I'm glad I don't have to pay that every day.  

In case your wondering.  I crossed the bridge without incident.  All went well.  The bay area drivers can be crazy but I just stuck to the slow lane and it was actually kind of cool.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of it.

[dthurk]

A couple weeks ago I went to Half Moon Bay near San Francisco California. To get there I had to cross the San Mateo Bridge. I was a bit nervous to do this since it was only my second time out with the PU. When I got to the bridge I had my $4 toll ready. When I got up the the place to pay the guy says that will be $6. A bit surprised I asked DW for a couple more to pay the toll. Come to find out they charge by the axle. The Golden Gate Bridge is more expensive. I think $5 to cross. So the toll on that bridge would be $7 for my PU. I'm glad I don't have to pay that every day.
 
In case your wondering. I crossed the bridge without incident. All went well. The bay area drivers can be crazy but I just stuck to the slow lane and it was actually kind of cool. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it.

You'll get used to it.  Well, maybe not.  Be glad you don't have a tandem.  Or a really high 5th wheel.

[wavery]

Just be glad that you don't live on the East Coast.  :sombraro:

[AustinBoston]

Minnesota (like 36 other states) has no toll roads, tunnels, or bridges.  Since significantly more than half of all states don't need them at all, why do some states need so much of them?  That's one thing I don't miss from Massachusetts.

Illinois (we drive through there often) has instituted something called open-road tolling.  If you have a transponder, you don't even have to slow down.  The equipment can keep up with you at 70 MPH.  If you don't have the transponder, you have to EXIT, pay the toll, and get back on!  The whole experience has given me the impression that Illinois government is more corrupt than most third-world countries.  Hey Illinoisians, wait till they start putting in new toll booths without telling you...

Austin

[Campaholics]

Austin,
You forgot to tell the "best" part.  If you have a transponder, aka IPASS, I294 and I90 tolls are 40 cents.  Cash customers get hit 80 cents. They really stick it to the occasional user and out of state drivers. The sensors can tell if I am towing the PU and charge for the extra axel.
 
Bob

[AustinBoston]

Austin,
You forgot to tell the "best" part.  If you have a transponder, aka IPASS, I294 and I90 tolls are 40 cents.  Cash customers get hit 80 cents. They really stick it to the occasional user and out of state drivers. The sensors can tell if I am towing the PU and charge for the extra axel.
 
Bob

You mean 80 cents...and 80 cents...and 80 cents...

Austin (taking I-39 to I-80 from now on)

[ScouterMom]

yes, I live in IL, and I have an I-PASS -

I got it because when I worked for Home Depot, I had to drive to the southwest  side of Chicago (from the IL/WI border) every week for a meeting, using the toll roads.  Even though I didn't use the toll roads that much - I resented having to pay TWICE as much just to got to work once a week.

I have mixed feelings about the I-roads and the tolls.  On one hand, they were SUPPOSED to only be for a short term, to pay for the building of the actual roads - once paid for, the toll booths were supposed to shut down.  But that never happened. If you've traveled up here, you know that the HUGE amount of traffic and our lousy winter weather is really hard on roads - they constantly need repair. On the other hand, I do see that it's not the bulk of local Illinois residents (like me) who use and create the wear on the roads - it's the commercial traffic and long- distance commuters. So this is an attempt to tax those who USE the roads, for their repair - and not ding those of us who don't use them much with hundreds more in property taxes.

WI has the scenic and well maintained, FREE state highways I've seen almost anywhere, and their snow removal and winter safety crews are the best i've ever seen.  You don't need a state line marker to tell when you cross into WI - whether it's a 4 lane divided highway, or a 2 lane farm road, the roads are better, and the snow is always cleared - and they don't use as much salt to eat your car, either.  ( how can they do that and IL can't?) But you also have to admit that WI doesn't get the volume of traffic that IL gets thru and around chicago and across the rest of IL.

I think the transponder itself cost about $15 initially - $10 of which was included as toll money - so $5 for the unit.  You can also switch the unit between cars - so a friend or family member can use it - it isn't linked to a particular car or driver.  It IS easier, and faster than dealing with change booths - even if you don't use it alot.  For IDOT, it means that many less employees they have to hire to stand there all day in a booth and make change at $12 - $15 per hour (or more).  It's WAY less expensive than chasing cheaters or putting in and maintaining those tire puncture thingys. ( It takes a photo of your license plate as you go thru if you don't pay, and you get an automatic ticket.)  You can put $10 increments in it when you run down,(charged automatically to your credit card or bank account, or you can send in a check).

Il is not the only one who has this system, and they are looking into linking all the toll systems together, so you could use it across state lines.  Would be handy for the truckers - can you imagine a cross-country trucker having to have a different unit for each state?

However, since leaving Home Depot 2 yrs ago,  - I've used it only 6 or 8 times. I just don't go anywhere that I need the toll roads for, much.

I'm a born and raised WI Cheesehead, and prefer to camp in WI over IL.  WI doesn't have toll roads - but I have to pay out-of state fees (1 1/2 times) for my State Park sticker (useable in ALL WI state parks) and sometimes out-of-state campsite fee as well.  so I pay 'additional' to use WI facilites, just in a different form.

laura

[6Quigs]

Hey Dray,
that happened to us also the second time we went camping with a popup.
Now with a Hybrid that has 2 axels, it gets even more expensive.

As most of the big bridges in the bay area only charge a fee going one direction, whenever we camp north of San Francisco, we take 280 north, 19th avenue through San Francisco, and cross the Golden Gate Bridge,(without paying the fee).
We coming home via the east bay, and take the Richmond bridge,  and avoid paying their fee.

[Greg Ellis]

I can relate.  I took my PUP out for the first time last week, and just got a toll fare notice in the mail, even though I have an electronic toll tag on my dashboard that automatically pays my toll from my toll account that I prepay every month. The camera at the toll booth took a picture of my trailer tags and the state sent me a bill for  $1.64 for the same reason you guys are talking about, I have to pay for another axle, and the extra axle wasn't registered on my toll tag account to bill automatically.  It's not a big deal, but it did catch me by surprise, I thought I had everything worked out and figured out, I guess I forgot murphys law.  Ha

[robpoe]

Austin,
You forgot to tell the "best" part.  If you have a transponder, aka IPASS, I294 and I90 tolls are 40 cents.  Cash customers get hit 80 cents. They really stick it to the occasional user and out of state drivers. The sensors can tell if I am towing the PU and charge for the extra axel.
 
Bob

Yeah, tell me about it ..  I just recently pulled a trailer across the great state (cough) of Illanois.  I think I paid $80 in tolls..