Another toll question East Coast tolls

In September we went most of the length of the Mass Pike. We didn't know about the new toll system so we just drove, accepting that we'd get charged. Somehow.
As of today, we haven't been billed. (Ontario plates). We expect to have the MH confiscated the next time we cross the border.

Whew! It's refreshing to know we don't have many toll roads yet in the West. I'm sure they are coming.

If you tow a vehicle which has an EXpass, make sure you that the toad transponder off and put it in the foil bag they give you. Otherwise you can get dinged for both vehicles. In many cases it is less expensive to separate vehicles and drive separately but if you leave them hooked up, the tow vehicle gets charged for all the axles and then the towed vehicle gets charged.

THIS JUST WENT INTO EFFECT THIS WEEK. The amount of toll pricing increases with the amount of traffic on the highway at the time you are traveling. The price changes every 6 minutes! There is NO TOLL if it is at non-peak times (I'm not sure when this is other than at 3 am on a Saturday morning). There is always lots of traffic on this road.

New toll lanes kicked off Monday morning along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia. At first blush, the rates seemed rather high.

The estimated toll for one-way travel from the Beltway to Washington before 8 a.m. was $28.50. About 8:40 a.m., the toll was $34.50.

The rates are variable depending on traffic conditions. Officials with Virginia’s Department of Transportation said the $34.50 rate was the “peak of the peak rate.”

“It is a dynamic toll,” said Jenny McCord, a spokeswoman for VDOT. “It will vary and fluctuate based on the demand.” Other times, she noted, the toll was in the low $20s. The toll changes every six minutes.



The new toll lanes run from Route 29 in Rosslyn to Interstate 495. They are meant to help alleviate traffic along one of the most congested roadways in the region.

Tolls kicked in for the afternoon rush at 3 p.m. Monday. Rates were lower than the morning commute, with westbound I-66 drivers paying $6.25 to travel from Washington to the Beltway at 4:15 p.m.


The new toll lanes are similar to those found on 495 and the 95 Express Lanes. Solo drivers can use the new HOT lanes — high occupancy toll lanes — during rush hours as long as they’re willing to pay the toll.

Previously, there were HOV restrictions that limited the use of that section of I-66 during rush hour to vehicles with two or more people and drivers of hybrid vehicles with special clean-fuel license plates.

There is no cap on the toll pricing. The price changes as congestion rises and decrease as congestion is less. The hours of the toll lanes are from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. eastbound and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. westbound, Monday through Friday. The lanes are free to all drivers during off-peak hours and weekends.

I was all worried about tolls when I went from Charleston SC through Niagara Falls, Pulaski NY, Burlington VT, Lincoln NH, Freeport ME, Acadia ME, Mt Washington, back to western PA and home. Total tolls was about $8 going from near Buffalo to Syracuse, paid cash when I got off. That is the only toll road I saw and thought the rate was worth the road. The only other traveling fee I paid was for the Lake Champlain from Port Kent to Burlington, which was my option as I love ferries. Guess if you stay away from the big cities, you don't have a problem with tolls.

You can still pay cash most everywhere in these states.

Not on MA. Completely electronic now.

Jarlaxle wrote:
The Tappan Zee is cashless.

Good to know. I haven't been there in a while.

New York, if you set up replenishment via credit card or direct bank debit, has no transponder deposit and no monthly or annual fees if you receive statements by email. If you sign up for the pay per trip plan (which is linked to a bank account), you don't need to maintain a float in the EZ-Pass account; and if backed up with a credit card, it appears that you don't have to pay one penny to sign up and get a transponder. I have a hard time seeing how any other states could have cheaper setups than no initial fee and no monthly or annual fee and no initial deposit, though they might have equally as inexpensive plans.

Dutch_12078 wrote:

jplante4 wrote:
Get a NJDOT EZPass. DO NOT get a MassDOT EZPass. They can't get their billing system right. Some of the tolls are pay by plate where they snap a pic of your license plate and send you a bill. There are some instances where they get the toad and not the motorhome. EZPass allows you to specify when you're towing. Usually, the toll charge for a motorhome + the charge for a car is more than a motorhome towing a car.

Does NJ still have a monthly fee for an EZ-Pass account? Other states do not, including NY other than the NY/NJ Port Authority accounts that follow the NJ rules.

New Hampshire does not...I recall the transponders are $8, no other fees except the tolls themselves.

turbojimmy wrote:
Get an NJ EZPass. It's usually discounted vs. paying cash. EDIT: I read Cramden's post backwards. Dyslexia and all.

I have not encountered a bridge or tunnel in NJ, NY or PA yet where cash still was not an option. The only exception is the Henry Hudson Toll Bridge headed to the Bronx. You either have EZ Pass or they mail you a bill. No booths at all.

The Tappan Zee is cashless.