Toll By Plate - A Unique Challenge for RVers!

One of Oklahoma turnpikes gate near me has a non attended coin toss bucket. I can't count the times someone is out of their vehicle and is crawling around underneath the vehicle looking for dropped coins that didn't go into the bucket or a poor old granny looking through her purse for her change purse looking for the right coins for the toll. Or the toll is 1.15 and all you have is quarters and dimes......throwing in 3 dollars in change still won't give you a green light and those people just sit there. And your stuck 8 cars back.

I use Oklahoma's Pike Pass and use the through lane and it's good on KS Turnpike.

We use the E-470 pike to get around Denver going and coming on I-70/I-25. The bill from a picture of our tag usually come 90 days later. Great system as there is no stopping.

dodge guy wrote:


Exactly my point. It was created as a way to provide income for itself. At least it used to be. Then it grew and people started taking money from it. Now they are just running away with toll increases and there is never enough money for a project! Hmmm! Get rid of them and things will still run as they are without taking anymore $$$$ from he public that aren't necessary.

The original toll roads were pure profit making private ventures. Only newer public toll roads try (and usually fail) to make enough money to pay for the road.

Get rid of the tolls and the money to keep them up still has to come from somewhere.

D.E.Bishop wrote:


I don't know how you figure benefits raise an annual salary of 30K to 90K, on average it is just 50 percent of base salary or in your example 15K additional and you forgot to mention the payback time for the equipment and added costs of mailing the bill and the second third and forth reminders to pay.

From my experience it's a shell game of hide the costs that the vendors/contractors use to get municipalities to sign a contract with them to run the system. Greater savings comes in the far distant future when all the current workers have retired and there is no more liability for paying retirements.

Because I deal with fully burdened pay rates and around a 3.0 multiplier is pretty common. Particularly for a govt job with full benefits and management structure to support.

Even if we assume $45k/yr, it's still pays for itself in 6-9months and then it's gravy from there on.

We are picking up a new Class C in Elkhart next week and will be towing a car on the way back. I usually avoid the East to West toll roads by using I70. I checked the toll calculation for IN, OH and PA.
I will not be able to get an EZPass before registering the RV so compared cash vs. EZPass.

Elkhart to Breezewood, PA

Cash - $116
EZPass - $86

Will likely go southeast from Elkhart down to Columbus, OH and pick up I70.

valhalla360 wrote:

dodge guy wrote:


Exactly my point. It was created as a way to provide income for itself. At least it used to be. Then it grew and people started taking money from it. Now they are just running away with toll increases and there is never enough money for a project! Hmmm! Get rid of them and things will still run as they are without taking anymore $$$$ from he public that aren't necessary.

The original toll roads were pure profit making private ventures. Only newer public toll roads try (and usually fail) to make enough money to pay for the road.

Get rid of the tolls and the money to keep them up still has to come from somewhere.

Right, and that would come from fuel and licensing taxes! If they actually used it there it would be enough. But they use it in other places which doesn't work out well for the roads!

jplante4 wrote:
The other thing that was supposed to happen last year was compatibility across all automatic toll systems. Sun Pass should work in the northeast and EZPass should work in FL. It was postponed because hapless government agencies can't seem to do anything that will benefit the public in any reasonable amount of time.

Here in Taxachusetts, they cut you a discount for using EZPass, but ONLY if it's a MassDot issued EZPass. My NJDot EZPass does not get the discount.

I'm sure the discount won't last long. It's just a tease to get people over to the system since ripping out the toll booths.

And meanwhile in Rhode Island, they put auto tolls on the Mt. Hope Bay Bridge between Tiverton and Newport. They hit your EZPass if you have one, if not they send you a bill. So, they use state municipal union employees to stuff a bill into an envelope that gets $.46 stamp to send you a bill for... wait for it... 10 cents!!!

Tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge came down in 1998.

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I didn't read this whole thread. I just stay out of states that have toll roads. But, I never go far from home anyway so it's easy for me.

As for the toll both worker making 30k a year. That comes to about 15 bucks a hour. Do they really make that much ? Where can I find a nice cushy job that pays like that ?

Tolltakers on the Mass Pike made more than that...$50K/year was common, plus gold-plated benefits and retirement.

cross21114 wrote:
We are picking up a new Class C in Elkhart next week and will be towing a car on the way back. I usually avoid the East to West toll roads by using I70. I checked the toll calculation for IN, OH and PA.
I will not be able to get an EZPass before registering the RV so compared cash vs. EZPass.

Elkhart to Breezewood, PA

Cash - $116
EZPass - $86

Will likely go southeast from Elkhart down to Columbus, OH and pick up I70.

US30 is a pretty nice ride.

1968mooney wrote:

ljr wrote:

WTP-GC wrote:

HadEnough wrote:

As I travel from place to place, they snap my plate and that's that. I have no way of getting information on what be I owe. They do not contact you at your mailing address, nothing. Actually, Massachusetts did send a bill to my mailing address, but that's it.

How does anyone know what they owe and who they owe if they are a traveler?

If they got your a clear picture of your plate, you will get a bill. Might take a month. Might take 3 months. But you will get a bill.

The DMV told me I was required by law to use my street address on my registration. The Post Office doesn’t deliver to that address. I’ve probably got a bunch of outstanding bills but I don’t know how to pay them.

If you get stopped for a traffic violation in that state, you will have the opportunity to pay all of them at once. :S

Which leaves me stuck between the DMV and the Post Office. Talk about a no win situation.

Tvov wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
So, say you are from another state, you go through one of those toll sections, and they send you a bill 3 months later. What happens if you do not pay?

I've never encountered one of these toll sections, and I'm avoiding I-65 through Louisville, KY like a passion!

But, what happens if you simply do not pay the bill that comes in the mail?

Thing is, in today's world, everything is tracked and saved by computers. If you ignore toll bills from other states, be careful driving through those states in the future - I wouldn't be surprised if it showed up on a police car's in-car computer that you were delinquent next time you happen to drive through a state. You may be stopped for going through a stop sign and it comes up. Or, more and more likely these days, it could pop up on a cop's computer just by them driving by you - notice those multiple camera things mounted on the sides of police car roofs? More and more these days there are license plate readers in addition to speed radar guns.

If they haven't done it already, I wouldn't be surprised if states start having "reciprocity" for sharing information about toll and vehicle traffic ticket information.

Around here even if you don't pay toll (fine or whatever) in some other state the local police are going to know about it because it shows up on there local squad cars computer. My area is so rural and has so many cops that have so little to do they are going to stop you and talk to you about it the next time they see you in town.

Also, what if the state that you got the toll (fine) in yanks your divers license for not paying ? Then you are going to be in a world of hurt.

Also, if the state you got the toll (fine) in yanks your license it takes days if not weeks for you to get the letter in the mail. During this period you are driving without a license and you don't know it. But, the cops will because it shows up in on the computer right away. Then (around here) the cops will just wait until they see you driving and then pull you over and give you a ticket for driving without a license. Your probably going to spend a night in jail for that one.

Now, I'm sure someone is going to point out that this all might not happen. And, it might not. But, it could. So paying the stupid few bucks is a lot easier then going through all the other stuff that "could" happen .