blh

We are renting a car in Boston and driving along the coast - Rockport, York, Portland, Camden and on to Bar Harbor. From Bar Harbor we will go into New Hampshire to Jackson and then to Vermont - Stowe, Bennington, and Woodstock. From Woodstock, we will return to Boston. We are there for the scenic drives - not the interstates. However, I am not sure if we will be able to avoid the toll roads completely. My question is - do most of the toll roads require a pass or can you pay cash at toll booths? I don't want to pay the fee to the rental car company for using the pass if I can avoid it. Thanks!

RoamsAround

Cash and E-Z Pass was accepted on all the toll roads and bridges we travelled on when we did a driving tour throughout New England.

gail

Currently all tolls accept cash.

emalloy

You can also go to the Massachusetts DOT site or phone them and they will send you a transponder. I wasn't charged anything for it but I gave them a credit card and they charged $25 to it which was used to pay tolls and when the balance gets very low they add to bring it up again. If I am traveling where I'll use more than $25 in tolls I call and have them add more so that I won't run out before they can add to it.

My experience is that 99% of the time you have a shorter wait at tolls with the transponder.

DiG

You will not be able to avoid all the toll roads. Have cash on hand to pay. E-Z Pass works from Maine to Florida but you do not need to get it on your rental car.

If you rent from a car agency near Logan airport, exit the area by following the signs for Route 1 North and you'll avoid the Callahan Tunnel toll.

Tolls:
NH (I-95) North and South
$2.00 Blue Star Turnpike: MA State line to Portsmouth, NH

Maine (I-95) North and South
$5.00 Maine Turnpike: York to West Gardiner, Maine

*$2.00 Portland North and South
*Appies Only If you got off (I-95) here and use I-295 Maine.

There are no Tolls in VT.

Ackislander

I think there are pencils requirements for using your own transponder on a rental car. I would check this out carefully before I did it, but you may get enough anecdata on here.

gail

If you have a transponder it is easy to change the car to which it is attributed. Just go to your account on-line and change it. We have done this when moving transponder from traded-in car to new one. They want make, model, plate number.

If you do not already own a transponder, obviously this is more difficult.

elberko

I'm wondering where you plan to find scenic coastal roads between Boston and Bar Harbor? Rt. 1, for instance, is mostly a slow slog through pine forest, and periodic even slower slogs through towns. Don't get me wrong...I love the area, but scenic drives are from Rt. 1 to the ends of various peninsulas.

~Liz

dfrostnh

I agree with elberko. Rt 1 is very slow going and not worth it unless you want to stop at a lot of stores. We don't care for southern Maine because of all the traffic but there are side roads. Usually we stay on I95 until Brunswick and then get off on Rt 1. There are fewer stores/restaurants and not as much traffic but you still don't get good views except when going thru Wiscasset and Camden.

We live in NH and don't bother with transponders since we don't have to go thru tolls very often. We just pay cash. But if you are traveling I95 during a high traffic period, it might be worth it. There will be backups at the toll in NH (Seabrook area) and later in Maine.

If you go from VT to NH via I89 to get to I93 south to Boston, there is a toll (Hooksett) just south of where you get on I93S. You can avoid this toll by continuing to the end of I89 then turn right (south) on Rt 3A. Eventually, Rt 3A will connect back with I293 or you can get on I93 to Boston. It's not particularly scenic but does run along the Merrimack River which can be pretty in the fall.

You need a really good road map if you are visiting during peak foliage season and should try to avoid interstates on Friday afternoon/evening and Sunday afternoon/evening. Traffic is going to be a crawl/stopped on I93 south Sunday afternoons/evening.

blh

Thanks so much for all the replies. We will just plan on paying cash as I don't think we'll be on too many toll roads, but just wanted to be sure that option (cash) was available. In so many areas of the US now, there are no toll booths, so cash is not an option.

As to our route, we are not expecting "scenic roads" in Maine, but rather are stopping in many places along the way, from Rockport to York to Portland to Camden, etc. and on to Bar Harbor the first week of our trip. Then we will go over to New Hampshire and Vermont for the "scenic" part of the trip (fall foliage). Thanks for all the replies - very helpful about the tolls. And we will definitely avoid any interstates on the weekends especially.

clarkgriswold

Use cash! Keep a human being working!

Dukey1

No, use a transponder: keep those nerds at the Turnpike Authority working!!!

Harves

I think the comments about toll roads taking cash were from 2013, so can anyone tell me if this still applies?
thanks

NewbE

I can't answer comprehensively, but the tolls we encountered in MA/NH/southern ME last spring we paid in cash.

usroadman

Although things are starting to change, most toll roads, bridges, and tunnels in the northeast still have cash lanes. I know the concern though, I once got hit with the huge administrative fee from the car rental company because a small toll (like $2) in Delaware hit their account on a 2 week rental. Although it was only 1 toll, they charged the admin fee for every day I had the rental, so it cost me around $50 in fees. (I had my own tag, but it misread and I hadn't added the rental car plate number to my account.)

I ran into the situation you're talking about in Illinois this summer. I had a rental car (for multiple weeks), forgot my E-ZPass, and figured for the 1 day I was near Chicago I'd just pay cash. It worked fine for the first toll, but for the second (and last) toll there was no staffed lane (and if there was a coin lane I didn't have enough coins). So I cringed and went through the I-Pass lane (without any tag, but rental car companies usually have all of their plates registered since they swap tags anyway). When I got to the hotel I went to the Tollway's website, and they had a page where I could enter my (rental car) plate number, plaza, date, and time and pay the toll with a credit card, and get a receipt saying I had payed it. It seemed to work since I never got a bill from the rental car company (and even if I had, at least I had a receipt saying I already paid it).

So if you ever do encounter an unstaffed plaza, figure out who the toll authority is and see if they have some way to pay on-line.

dfrostnh

my answer hasn't changed. We don't go thru tolls often enough to bother with a transponder. I pay cash at tolls in NH, MA and ME. Can't think of any toll roads in VT. Pay attention to the signs and green lights for cash lane.

cw

Harves, to update this to 2016, the only cashless toll in Massachusetts at the present time is the Mystic River Bridge inbound to Boston.

You can easily avoid the bridge by taking Rt. 93 into Boston from the North, or taking Rt. 1A to Logan airport from the North.

Dukey1

It isn't like Florida where portions of various toll roads are strictly cashless and you have to use something like SunPass. And no, E-Z Pass does not work any further south than North Carolina.