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I usually travel late and night and early morning so having to "stop" and pay a toll with an actual tolltaker isn't a big deal at all. There's no line.
However, I did just get EZ Pass in a state where there's no monthly fee -- AND you don't have to sign up for them to automatically put tolls on your CC to maintain a certain balance. Those were my two main concerns.
That said I don't like highways that are EZ Pass only. No toll takers at all. 1) I never had EZ Pass until recently so IF I wanted to take that road, they'd have to mail me an invoice and I've heard horror stories about how they don't really give you enough time to mail the payment back before the penalty would kick in. 2) There's no way to pay the toll as soon as you get home or wherever you're going -- you HAVE TO wait for the bill, then that's where issue 1) comes in....
As for privacy and data collection......they've taken license photos for decades and I'm just. starting. to. think. there may be nothing that can put "Big Brother" back in his room. All we can do is keep it at bay as much and as long as we can, and have SEVERE penalties for misuse of the information.
And you know that new one near us is so underperforming that the previous Governor increased tolls on all the other facilities to make up the shortfall.
Agreed. I live in the Houston TX area, and urban TX cities have gone crazy building toll roads because we can't afford to build roads any other way, at least, that's what our government claims. Every new piece of highway we have now build is tolled, (and even some exits) and they are all automated, so permanent jobs are not created from them. I find it interesting that companies say "We're making X system automated to save customers money" but we see no savings at all. Fortunately I rarely drive outside my suburb, so I don't use my EZ Tag much. Our toll roads are expensive relative to other states, I have heard.
Theoretically, if you were to drive all the way around the Sam Houston Tollway, you'd pay $12 (ignoring entry and exit ramps). By my calculations, that's around 14.4 cents per mile. Not quite cheap in isolation, but comparable to other Southern states.
My point of reference is always the cost to cross the Hudson River to get to New York City from New Jersey. $15 a pop (up to $12.50 with E-Z Pass). At least they only charge one way.
NJ is still clinging to it's archaic toll booths on the Garden State Parkway and I-95 ("the Turnpike") with no immediate plans to get rid of them but basically every other surrounding state with toll plazas are in the process of tearing them down in favor of electronic/open road tolling. To be fair the Turnpike already does have some plazas with open road bypass lanes but would be a hell of project to covert the whole system to cashless.
I think every road in the country should be tolled. The toll should be congestion-based so if you drive at peak hours creating traffic jams, you pay more. I think the toll should sense how many passengers are in the car. If you car pool at peak hours, you pay less. If you fill all the seats of the car, it's virtually free. I think the toll should be means tested. Low income people commuting to work as a Walmart greeter shouldn't pay the same toll as the high income person in the Lexus commuting to their 6 figure job.
I have an EZ Pass transponder. Tolls are no big deal. It's been many years since I actually had to stop and pay money at a tollbooth.
Are people under the age of driving to count as "people"? The argument is against it is they weren't going to drive themselves anyways, so it's not like they were going to save any extra trips. OTOH, I hear folks say they should since they're still more efficient than finding alternative means of transport, or riding in another car.
NJ is still clinging to it's archaic toll booths on the Garden State Parkway and I-95 ("the Turnpike") with no immediate plans to get rid of them but basically every other surrounding state with toll plazas are in the process of tearing them down in favor of electronic/open road tolling. To be fair the Turnpike already does have some plazas with open road bypass lanes but would be a hell of project to covert the whole system to cashless.
I have family and acquaintances who live in NJ. Overall sentiment I hear was they're against going fully cashless. However, that's only a small sample from the people I know, and not really indicative of any large number of people. Also heard that one toll stop has (or will?) be fully cashless, so it's already begun.
Unmanned toll roads suck for travelers. We encountered one in CO. Unbeknownst to us we were on an unmanned toll road of which we saw no signs saying it was a toll road. 5 months later when we arrived back home (after traveling around the country) there was a bill in the mail for nearly $200.00 for failure to pay within 30 days of notice. They added fines on monthly until it was paid.
We had no idea while we were gone there was a bill. We contested it and their law firm was adamant that this fine was to be paid. Later we learned that thousands of tourists traveling through on this road experienced the same situation, some had fines over a $1000.00.
So CO you lost our business and probably a few more tourists for your sneakiness. We now travel around outside of the state of CO.
I find that hard to believe there was no signage at all indicating it was a toll road. They are usually well marked. If you're out RV'ing you should probably have a Rand McNally Motor Carrier Atlas. About $15 at any truck stop. Toll road highways and interstates are indicated by a heavy green line instead of the usual blue.
NJ is still clinging to it's archaic toll booths on the Garden State Parkway and I-95 ("the Turnpike") with no immediate plans to get rid of them but basically every other surrounding state with toll plazas are in the process of tearing them down in favor of electronic/open road tolling. To be fair the Turnpike already does have some plazas with open road bypass lanes but would be a hell of project to covert the whole system to cashless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ackmondual
I have family and acquaintances who live in NJ. Overall sentiment I hear was they're against going fully cashless. However, that's only a small sample from the people I know, and not really indicative of any large number of people. Also heard that one toll stop has (or will?) be fully cashless, so it's already begun.
Remember, y'all, NJ still doesn't let people within its borders pump their own gas either.
When I was in Toronto, drove the rental car about 10 miles on the 407(?) Toll road. Got the bill finally a month later and it came to $11+. Those charges seem pretty steep.
At home in the Boston area, the tollbooths in the Mass Pike were just eliminated and replaced with electronic transporders and cameras. The commute definite improved. Those tollbooths used to be mega bottlenecks that added major aggravation to the drive. So glad to see them gone.
Remember, y'all, NJ still doesn't let people within its borders pump their own gas either.
Nor does Oregon. It's stupid I agree. If you're filling up a commercial big rig or a motorcycle you're usually still doing it yourself though
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