We will be in Oz next year and will be renting a car in the Sydney/Melbourne/Adelaide areas. I understand the Metroad system is in effect and am wondering how people with rental cars cope with this challenge. Do the rental car people automatically offer a solution?

Thanks,
Big Blue

What is Metroad? As a local, I have never heard the term.

I assume you are talking about toll roads. You can buy a day/week pass when you rent your car - or simply call the relevant toll operator (the numbers are clearly posted at the toll booths) and pay by credit card on the non-cash toll roads.

Shandy, please see http://www.geocities.com/humehwy31/metroad.html

or go to Google and key in "metroads."

Bokhara, my assumption from what you say is that one can make the phone call after the fact.

Ta,
Big Blue

The Metroad system referred to on that website is just the road numbering system - they are not necessarily toll-roads, although some of them are. As far as toll-roads are concerned, Sydney has a system where on some toll-roads you can pay cash, but on others you either buy a pass (before or after use) or have what's called an e-tag.
In Melbourne, all toll roads work on either a pass (before or after purchase available) or an e-tag.
The numbering system is quite simple and all of the roads have very clear signage as far as where they take you and where the seperate exits go to.
I don't think there are any toll roads in Adelaide.
Your car rental company will be able to help you as far as organising passes to pay for the tolls etc.

Unless something's changed recently the only Sydney toll road which hasn't got a cash payment (tollgate) option is the M7, which is a ring road running from the NW to the SW of the greater metro area. On the others, just make sure you get in the right lane (i.e. for an exact-change unmanned booth or a manned change-given booth) as you approach the booths.

If you enter Sydney city from the north, across the Harbour Bridge, it's easy to end up in the wrong lane, with the result that you'll be spat out into a different part of the central business district than the one intended. This isn't the end of the world, as long as you don't stray too far, but it's a good idea to have a street map just in case. Sydney doesn't have the most intuitive layout (a mild understatement), so visitors should try to do their driving in daylght hours, which makes things so much easier.

"make sure you get in the right lane"

- To avoid confusion I should have said "the correct lane".

the cross city tunnel also doesn't have a toll booth.