Tollways, I-PASS etc. (car rental, rental, cost of)

[M TYPE X]

Michigan has been repaving roads and rebuilding interchanges. I guess Illinois is just too corrupt to even compete with Michigan. Then again, Michigan takes pride in its historical status as a highway pioneer.

I-355 between I-355 and Army Trail Road is extremely loud and bumpy for a relatively new roadway. What happened? Actually, I noticed that the extension is built out of the same **** too.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

Michigan has been repaving roads and rebuilding interchanges. I guess Illinois is just too corrupt to even compete with Michigan. Then again, Michigan takes pride in its historical status as a highway pioneer.

Is this a serious post? Have you noticed that they just spent 2 years ripping up and repaving the Dan Ryan? Did you not notice the construction on portions of the Kennedy and Northwest Tollway that just finished up? The ongoing roadwork on the Edens and Tri-State? The work being done on the Reagan Tollway? What about the Bishop Ford that just got repaved? The 355 extension? Seen the recent handiwork on the Northwest Tollway out by Rockford? How about I-57 through Ford County? Where the hell have you been?

[irish setter girl]

I learned a valuable lesson about the world of I-Pass recently. When you first get your I-Pass you include the car you drive. Well...if you change cars and don't notifiy them that the I-Pass in now in a different vehicle and you have any issues with your I-Pass they fine you big time. Luckily I got my fine reduced from 600.00 to 23.00. So, if you get a new car, let I-Pass people know!!!

.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Drover

Is this a serious post? Have you noticed that they just spent 2 years ripping up and repaving the Dan Ryan? Did you not notice the construction on portions of the Kennedy and Northwest Tollway that just finished up? The ongoing roadwork on the Edens and Tri-State? The work being done on the Reagan Tollway? What about the Bishop Ford that just got repaved? The 355 extension? Seen the recent handiwork on the Northwest Tollway out by Rockford? How about I-57 through Ford County? Where the hell have you been?

I've been on Gettingaroundillinois.com , looking for ways to avoid all those orange barrels. The rebuilt Dan Ryan is very nice.

There have been state trucks on I-57, but if they are doing any work, I would be surprised.

[Drover]

Oh yeah, and they just finished up that stretch of I-74 between Champaign and about 1/3rd of the way out to St. Joe.

The section of I-57 in Chamaign County, north of I-74 anyway, is in pitiful shape and needs some work.

[ackmondual]

Originally Posted by AnonymousCoward

Frankly, I'd rather just pay when I fill up. It would save the state money, they wouldn't have to build fancy toll booths, set up infrastructure for payment systems like I-Pass, etc.

Still, compared to having to stop at toll booths, I'd rather have an I-Pass. Either way you are being monitored, if you don't believe me try going through going through the I-Pass lanes without an I-Pass.

While that could be a concern, I'm thinking some places could workaround that by simply buying gas out of state. While IL is a large state, I'm told a large amount of traffic does goes through them from motorists coming from as far away as the very east and west coasts!

[ackmondual]

PROS
-You do NOT need to have IL plates/reg. your vehicle there to use this
-open tolling lanes means you get to maintain 55mph speed
-even without open tolling, it's still quicker to go through a dedicated I-Pass lane vs. waiting for others to fumble for change. In best case scenarios, the cash has vehicles stopping, whereas I-pass is 15mph
-many (if not all) tolls are 50% off. For example, $1.90 is now only 95 cents
-some of those booths only take change! No bills nor card! So in the above example, you'd need to prepare 7 quarters, 1 dime, and 1 nickel ahead of time! IIRC, you can overpay, but you won't get change back
-no need to fumble for change
-for those that would like a record of your travels, you can go online to review where you passed through when, and how much it costs.
.
-at least back in 2013-2014, there were no surcharges. For example, EZ-Pass used to (or still does?) have these. For NJ and/or NY, you need to use it x times per time period to avoid "maintance charges", if you or PA charges 50 cents to $2 per month?
.
-it also works with the EZ-Pass system from Maine to Virginia
This was important for me, as I ended up moving back to NJ. When I moved to CA and couldn't use it anymore, I just passed it down to my parents, and changed the vehicle info to theirs.
HOWEVER, there are restrictions, like it couldn't be used to pay for airport parking, or it won't work with any EZ-Pass stations south of Virginia!
-Also, you can use it in other people's vehicles, but you'll either want to register that vehicle, or let them know that "they're OK" (they'll know since they have the plate of your primary vehicle, and that the plate of the other vehicle you let borrow doesn't match that)


CONS
-Privacy can be an issue, although AFAIK, if they really wanted to find you, I'm sure they have surveillance set up anyways. I will acknowledge that the transponder system does let them gather more info on you.

-If you're in only temporarily (sounds like you're moving to IL, but can't quite tell), it may not be worth the cost to buy the transponder itself, register, etc.
-you need to keep up on automatic deductions if that's going to be an issue. E.g., if it takes money out of an account with low funds, you won't have that money when you need it for something else (assuming say, you link it to a debit account. I used a credit card)
-if you lose the transponder, you'll want to report it so it can be deactivated and not incur unauthorized charges (can do this online IIRC)
-remember to take it with you if you switch cars! (Although TBF, you'd need to make sure you have enough cash anyways, or remember to pay online within 7 days to avoid penalties anyways)

Originally Posted by Drover

I don't see any cons to getting an I-Pass. You spend less times at toll booths and you only pay half as much as you would versus using cash, The only possible drawback I see to I-Pass is there's really nothing stopping them from judging your speed by how long it took you to get from tollbooth A to tollbooth B and automatically dishing out speeding tickets accordingly. It hasn't happened yet and there's no serious discussion about implementing such a scheme, so it's basically just a bit of paranoia on my part. But there's really little to nothing stopping them from doing it.

FWIW, they don't need a transponder to track that. I've been pulled over by state troopers after passing through toll lanes, given warnings that I was 10 or 15 over the posted limit as you approach the toll booth stations.

Originally Posted by AnonymousCoward

The I-Pass lanes are shorter, and open road tolling is really, really nice where they have it, not to mention tolls are usually 1/2 price! A lot of people downstate and in southern Wisconsin who travel through or in the Chicago area find an I-Pass worthwhile. For someone actually living in the Chicago area it's a no-brainer.

Most Jewel-Osco stores carry the I-Pass, but you can get one without even going to the store directly from the tollway people:

http://www.illinoistollway.com

How it works:

$10 for the deposit on the I-Pass
$40 prepaid from your credit card, automatically refills

After you have the I-pass, logon to the above website to register it, mount it to your windshield with the weird velcro-like tape, and you are good to go. It might be a good idea to use a cash lane the first time just to make sure it works. Oh and watch your speed in work zones, especially if there are signs about photo radar in use.

IIRC, there's a (higher) initial cost to get the transponder from Jewel-Osco. IIRC, alternative was to try another store (forgot the name), or have them ship it to you from their website. It's a tradeoff though, as the nice thing about Jewel-Osco is they're everywhere, and you can get it immediately.

[noid_1985]

Lol you folks gotta be running outta of things to talk about, a thread from 07'? It's ok to start a new one....

[whakru]

Originally Posted by noid_1985

Lol you folks gotta be running outta of things to talk about, a thread from 07'? It's ok to start a new one....

Zombie thread!!!




The information in this thread is so old that the arguments aren't even worth discussing anymore. Although, one thing remains the same.....10 years later and the tollways and traffic still suck!

[pvande55]

Some obscure information: if you go through a toll plaza without it, (most common when several vehicles are on one account), they take a picture of your license plate. If it is registered to an IPass account, they deduct the toll, and it shows up as a "VToll." I've heard they may start charging more for VTolls.

Here is some new information: the Elgin OHare Expressway (IL 390) is the State's first all-electronic toll road. You must have a transponder, or pay later online. Cash is not accepted.