# Toll road and no change **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690 "2020-01-20T04:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/21 "2020-01-21T15:13:35Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > There seems to be a need for a national EZPass system that everyone would have. Maybe Canada could adopt it too. I actually have an EZPass that is registered to my Quebec licence and piggybacked to my son’s account in Boston. Once I was driving up the Garden State and as I went through a toll zone, it failed to register and photoed my plate number. But somehow it synched the plate to the Pass and charged in anyway, my son told me. Do you have toll roads in Quebec, **Hari**? We don’t have any in Saskatchewan. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/22 "2020-01-23T02:10:42Z")
There are a number of toll roads in the Greater Toronto Area: Hwy 407 and its branches, Hwy 412 and Hwy 418. They were built without toll booths; instead, you drive at speed under a frame or gantry which either reads your transponder or takes a picture of your rear number plate. The system looks up the owner of the car and sends a bill. I have no idea whether Hwy 407 transponders are compatible with E-Z Pass. It would be nice if the two systems were hardware-compatible and all they needed to do was sign an agreement and link the two systems (probably a much larger project than it seems). I believe that the international Peace Bridge across the Niagara River near Buffalo accepts E-Z Pass for tolls and Canadians can get E-Z Pass accounts there. Not sure about other international bridges. In particular, the new Gordie Howe Bridge across the Detroit River is going to be tolled on the Canadian side\*, so whether they use E-Z Pass or some other transponder will be an interesting question. \*Canada is paying for the whole thing, including the works on the US side. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/23 "2020-01-23T02:43:11Z")
> [@ginman999](#): > > went to a state with a toll road. no attendant to make change. My choices are use the express pass or run the change taking bin. I had a bag of change I was going to take to the bank but that was by luck. What was I suppose to do if I didnt have the 4 quarters to pay. A lot of times if you’re out of state, the long arm of the law won’t catch up to you. But that may not always be true. When I was going back and forth between Oregon and California I was going off the 680 toward 80 (near Suisun) and didn’t have the toll. The toll booth guy said I’d get a bill but I had Oregon plates and when I called weeks later wondering when I was going to receive my toll notice, the lady on the phone said not to worry - they only went after Californians. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/24 "2020-01-23T05:47:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Do you have toll roads in Quebec, **Hari**? We don’t have any in Saskatchewan. Yeah, this is only a problem for people who allow toll roads. They are absolutely forbidden here in Minnesota\*, and a highway person who tried to suggest some was nearly driven from his job by the negative public reaction. And with good reason. - We do have a couple of toll bridges in the state, on borders going into Dakota & Canada. But none on our own roads. We also have a Ez-pass type system in the metro area, which lets people buy a pass to be in the carpool lanes with a single person vehicle. But that’s really just a sop to the rich people (campaign contributors) from the Legislature & Highway department. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/25 "2020-01-23T06:20:06Z")
Sort of related but I was in a parking garage that used the system where you take a ticket when you enter, then deposit the ticket when you leave and depositing the ticket calculated just how long it actually was between getting the ticket and leaving. Apparently the guy in front of me forgot his ticket somewhere, but there was no apparent way to get out of the garage without his ticket since the automatic arm wouldn’t go up without the ticket. Since I was behind him and there were five cars behind myself he couldn’t just back up so he had to get out of his car and tracked down some employees who were standing around the main office, and apparently they told him without the ticket there was no way to actually exit the parking garage besides going all the way to the front, grabbing a new ticket, waiting for the ten minute grace period, then depositing it in the machine at the exit on the opposite side of the garage. Eventually the solution turned out to be for me to give the guy my ticket, the employees holding the arm up manually so it wouldn’t come down on my car, then having me drive-through for free right after him. I have no idea why the system was so badly designed in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/26 "2020-01-23T08:09:12Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > There are a number of toll roads in the Greater Toronto Area: Hwy 407 and its branches, Hwy 412 and Hwy 418. They were built without toll booths; instead, you drive at speed under a frame or gantry which either reads your transponder or takes a picture of your rear number plate. The system looks up the owner of the car and sends a bill. I was in Toronto last summer, and rented a car. I noticed at the car rental counter at Pearson, that there was an option for “Highway 407 tolls,” which cost extra, but which also meant that you wouldn’t be hit with a bill later from the rental company, which would include a service charge from the rental company, plus a photo charge from Highway 407, plus the toll itself, plus tax on everything. Since I knew I would not be travelling Highway 407, I didn’t take it, but it seems to me to be a sensible approach for those of us who don’t live where the toll roads are, but who need to rent a car when we get there. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/27 "2020-01-23T12:31:21Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > A lot of times if you’re out of state, the long arm of the law won’t catch up to you. But that may not always be true. I’ve never found it to be true. With the exception of Illinois giving 3 Mulligans every state I’ve had my own car in that I went through a tollway I always gotten a letter threatening to pay up or my registration and DL would be suspended. Thing is, my state is not a member of the national Compact. So the worst they could do is suspend in their state and hope that I get pulled over the next time I’m there. Except I always pay the tolls when I get a letter. I found the toll down in Louisville strange. There was no way to pay it. Then I got a letter demanding some really low amount like $4. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/28 "2020-01-23T12:54:47Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > There seems to be a need for a national EZPass system that everyone would have. Maybe Canada could adopt it too. I actually have an EZPass that is registered to my Quebec licence and piggybacked to my son’s account in Boston. Once I was driving up the Garden State and as I went through a toll zone, it failed to register and photoed my plate number. But somehow it synched the plate to the Pass and charged in anyway, my son told me. We have a Massachusetts EZ Pass. When I bought a new car and sold my old one, I forgot to associate the new plates with the EZ Pass. We drove on toll roads or bridges in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland on a vacation. Everyone just charged my EZ Pass. Except Delaware, where the toll booth said paid, but then I got billed by mail with service charges of $57! So it seems inconsistent between states and tolling authorities whether they require a match between the transponder registration and the car. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/29 "2020-01-23T13:35:44Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I found the toll down in Louisville strange. There was no way to pay it. Then I got a letter demanding some really low amount like $4. That is the way you pay it if you don’t have a transponder, which is why the bill was so low. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/30 "2020-01-23T15:55:14Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Sort of related but I was in a parking garage that used the system where you take a ticket when you enter, then deposit the ticket when you leave and depositing the ticket calculated just how long it actually was between getting the ticket and leaving. Apparently the guy in front of me forgot his ticket somewhere, but there was no apparent way to get out of the garage without his ticket since the automatic arm wouldn’t go up without the ticket. Since I was behind him and there were five cars behind myself he couldn’t just back up so he had to get out of his car and tracked down some employees who were standing around the main office, and apparently they told him without the ticket there was no way to actually exit the parking garage besides going all the way to the front, grabbing a new ticket, waiting for the ten minute grace period, then depositing it in the machine at the exit on the opposite side of the garage. Eventually the solution turned out to be for me to give the guy my ticket, the employees holding the arm up manually so it wouldn’t come down on my car, then having me drive-through for free right after him. > > I have no idea why the system was so badly designed in the first place. I’ve had the opposite experience here. Parking garages have evolved from pay at a machine and validate your ticket or you can’t get out to having a credit card slot for paying as you exit if you forget to pay at the machine before going to your car (still slows things up, but not drastically, and there is just a set fee if no ticket is available) to systems where license plate recognition associates your car with the ticket and if you pay at the machine before going to your car, you don’t even have to insert your ticket to get out, the arm just raises as your car approaches. Also, I can’t think of any parking garages that don’t have a help button that connects you to a central office if there is a problem (like you forgot your ticket, or the validation is unreadable, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/31 "2020-01-23T16:13:37Z")
I had to make regular visits to a local hospital recently. Their car park issues a ticket at the entrance which you put in one of the various pay machines before returning to the car. On my second visit, I left the ticket in the car, but there is a pay-station at the car park so - no problem I thought. The pay stations only take cash - coins or notes, and I only had a note and the machine had run out of change so would not accept it. It’s a long walk back to reception so I pressed the button for an attendant. “I can’t…” was all I said and he cut in with “Go to the barrier and I will let you out.” Clearly I was only one of many getting free parking that evening. On the nine visits I made, I only paid for four. I overheard other people suggesting that it was always easy to ‘blag’ free parking as the attendants really don’t care. I didn’t test that, but paid up whenever I could. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690/32 "2020-01-24T20:58:00Z")
20+ years ago, I came to a tollbooth I hadn’t used before. It had a change basket thing attached, but there was also a guy sitting in the the booth. It was night time, and dark. The toll was fifty cents. I said hello, and handed him a $5 bill. He handed me some bills and change. I didn’t even look at it, I just dropped it into an upside down ball cap I had sitting in the passenger seat, said “thank you” and drove off. I noticed the red light never turned green, but didn’t think much of it. When I got to the next toll booth on my trip, I reached into the upside down ball cap and discovered four $1 bills and four quarters. That was when I realized the guy was only sitting there to make change. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toll-road-and-no-change/846690.md?page=1)