Express Toll? What the Heck is This? (Denver, Boulder: car rental, to rent)

[Huntress48]

I received a bill as well. Had NO IDEA that I supposedly was on a toll road. Have no recollection of driving in the "special" lane. Frankly think this a crappy way to treat a visitor to your city.

See Colorado Department of Transportation Website here:
[url]https://www.codot.gov/topcontent/contact-cdot[/url]
Link to this:
[url]https://www.expresstoll.com/Pages/HowDoesItWork/LicensePlateToll.aspx[/url]

[Huntress48]

Colorado Department of Transportation number 800-999-4997.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by Huntress48

I received a bill as well. Had NO IDEA that I supposedly was on a toll road. Have no recollection of driving in the "special" lane. Frankly think this a crappy way to treat a visitor to your city.

See Colorado Department of Transportation Website here:
https://www.codot.gov/topcontent/contact-cdot
Link to this:
https://www.expresstoll.com/Pages/Ho...PlateToll.aspx

Toll roads and lanes are pretty clearly marked as such. A few years back everyone had to actually stop and pay an attendant, then carry on, on E-470. The new way is much quicker and more efficient. Be aware that if you use bill pay through your bank, it might take a week to process, and you will get a $5 late fee from Expesstoll. They'll take it off if you call, but it is a hassle.

[denverian]

I don't know how anyone could use E470 or the HOV/Toll lanes on the 25 or 36 and not realize it. It's all explicitly marked. And you'd have to notice if you used the center, reversible lanes on the 25 or merged into the HOV lane on 36.

[jlhedrick]

Being a traveler from California, I wanted the quickest way around Denver to be on my way to Iowa. Took the E470 toll road cause the GPS said so. I didn't evaluate alternate routes carefully enough in terms of time required, but I was not informed as to the toll rates. I just got the bill. Because of the paucity of information on the bill, it took a telephone call to LicensePlateToll to figure out what the heck it was. In 22 short minutes, I racked up a bill of $14.50 = $40/hour! Wow, what a rip-off of the unsuspecting traveler. If you are a resident of the Denver area, I understand the advantages for you and you "learn the system". For the passer through, you get fleeced!

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by jlhedrick

Being a traveler from California, I wanted the quickest way around Denver to be on my way to Iowa. Took the E470 toll road cause the GPS said so. I didn't evaluate alternate routes carefully enough in terms of time required, but I was not informed as to the toll rates. I just got the bill. Because of the paucity of information on the bill, it took a telephone call to LicensePlateToll to figure out what the heck it was. In 22 short minutes, I racked up a bill of $14.50 = $40/hour! Wow, what a rip-off of the unsuspecting traveler. If you are a resident of the Denver area, I understand the advantages for you and you "learn the system". For the passer through, you get fleeced!

You can program your GPS to avoid toll roads. That works as long as there is a free parallel path. When in Denver driving to DIA, I try to use the I-225 route to avoid the toll. It's actually a few minutes faster at 4 AM.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by jlhedrick

Being a traveler from California, I wanted the quickest way around Denver to be on my way to Iowa. Took the E470 toll road cause the GPS said so. I didn't evaluate alternate routes carefully enough in terms of time required, but I was not informed as to the toll rates. I just got the bill. Because of the paucity of information on the bill, it took a telephone call to LicensePlateToll to figure out what the heck it was. In 22 short minutes, I racked up a bill of $14.50 = $40/hour! Wow, what a rip-off of the unsuspecting traveler. If you are a resident of the Denver area, I understand the advantages for you and you "learn the system". For the passer through, you get fleeced!

Key parts highlighted. This is not exclusive to E470, but seems to be a aspect of modern life whether it is roadways, cell phones, satellite tv, automotive service, etc. Since the ancient Romans came up with the phrase caveat emptor, I'd tend to think this is human condition and not some new way to fleece travelers through our state.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by TCHP

Key parts highlighted. This is not exclusive to E470, but seems to be a aspect of modern life whether it is roadways, cell phones, satellite tv, automotive service, etc. Since the ancient Romans came up with the phrase caveat emptor, I'd tend to think this is human condition and not some new way to fleece travelers through our state.

way to fleece travelers there is a lot of fleecing by Express Toll + rental car companies

1) you can pay $5 - $7/ day (for using E-470 for 2 minutes during your 30 day rental)
gets you a 'plate-pass'
2) You can be careless and mistakenly take E-470 for a couple minutes, then get a $40 - $60 fee for rental company to pass your contact info to Express Toll, who will by then have a collection company NJ or FL contacting you with Fees + fines + interest.
3) Open an Express toll account ($35) (BEFORE your trip),
Add your rental car via 'on-line' AFTER you know the license number, but BEFORE you enter the toll road. I would guess you might need to buy a smart phone and data plan ($xxx) BEFORE taking your flight.

Either way, consider your 5 - 10 min route on E-470 could be a $100+ fee. (bout the same as 1 day at Disneyland)

I guess that is why E-470 is not using the more common EZ-pass system. (more complete fleecing available if you have a proprietary system, + you can spend millions and employ hundreds re-inventing and managing a common system, that would be self managing (outsourced) and available to thousands of travelers).

Similar problems in the non-unified Euro Zone. But ALWAYS there been an alternative way to pay tolls (within 24 hrs at a local store, or Post Office or bank) Including Ireland, UK, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Thailand...

Colorado is special (ly expensive and burdensome to travelers with rental cars) good way to fleece (later) and leave bitter taste and broke travelers.

[BarryK123]

IN 9 years living here, I've never used any of the toll roads here, but every sign I've seen for them, including E(xpensive) 470, the sign is clearly marked Toll Road.

[reed303]

Let's hope the OP never travels to NYC over the I-278 Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The toll for a visitor for a 2.6 mile span is $17.00