Driving in England --EasyPass/Sun/Pass equivalent
 

Can one buy a short term/inexpensive transponder in England for use on the toll roads that don't take cash, or do those roads take credit cards?

Thank you for any information.

there are next to no toll roads in the UK (only one section of the M6 motorway)- and where you do pay for major bridges or tunnels they take cash

I have no idea what a "short term/inexpensive transponder" is. There are virtually no road tolls in the UK (roads are paid for through general taxation), so it's generally not something you need to think about at all.

LynFrance - I wonder how much research you've done on driving in the UK if you think that one of these is necessary.

Where do you come from, and where do you hope to drive to in the UK?

There are tag schemes for individual bridges/roads but they are designed for daily users. e.g. http://www.dart-tag.co.uk/nossl/home.php for the Dartford crossing,

There is no common tag system that works on all systems since they are so few and far between

We have driven throughout the UK a number of times, but not within the last 10 years.

The following is from my Hertz contract:
"Note: Certain toll roads do not accept cash. If you travel on such a toll road without a personal transponder that can be used on the toll road, you will be required to use PlatePass and be billed automatically as outlined above, or incur toll violations for which you will be responsible. "

I'm happy to hear that there are few if any tolls.
Looks as though Hertz is trying to peddle "PlatePass".


Thank you for the informatiojn.

There was no need to be rude,annhig!!

Lyn . . . PlatePass is on the <u>US Hertz</u> site.

If you found in on Hertz UK -- it may be boilerplate/generic verbiage.. But my guess is you were looking at Hertz US.

I'd use autoeurope myself. Often it will hook you up w/ Hertz -- but only if Hertz is cheapest for the car class/location.

No such thing as Plate Pass in the UK . . . (even w/ Hertz)

Get ready for THIS possibility in that Hertz contract for a rental in the UK: DYNAMIC CURRENCY CONVERSION. Unless they have removed it from their standard contract you can expect to have it completed.

Yes, you can fight it but be ready for some hassle. Perhaps it means little to you, perhaps not.

There was no need to be rude, annhig!!>>

well, I don't think i was, Lyn, but I'm sorry you felt that way.

what is frustrating is that you only posted half of the story - had you started off by telling us about this clause in the Hertz contract, then we'd have understood your problem a little better.

good luck with your trip.

Hmmm....UK: DYNAMIC CURRENCY CONVERSION does not sound like something positive! According to our contract,we will pay for the car with Amex in pound sterling.I don't know how dynamic Hertz can be with American Express.

Thanks for the information
dukey1.

janisj, we used autoeurope in France this year..... not a happy experience!

<i>The following is from my Hertz contract</i>

PlatePass® is currently available on multiple toll roads in multiple states across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico.

http://www.hertz.com/rentacar/produc...Splatepass.jsp

LynFrance, on the miniscule number of roads or bridges that charge a toll (off the top of my head, the Severn Bridge crossing into Wales, the Dartford crossing to the east of London, a section of the M6 near Birmingham which is optional, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol which charges a mighty 50 whole pence), you can always pay in cash, the price is a fixed amount and is always under ten pounds. Just keep a tenner in the car.

just used http://www.auto-europe.co.uk/ two weeks ago, they made a mistake on their website which meant that the shop would not be open when we turned up. They discovered the error a couple of hours after the booking, rang me up, understood what problems their error would cause me and offered me several ways of improving the situation. The actual booking went off very well and that was for a tiny car for one day. Very impressed.

to Kate's list add the Tamar bridge going west to east from Cornwall into Devon. £1.50 for a car.

they don't charge going the other way.

So most people reverse across and then go back forward.........or use the ferry.

you're on form today, khunwilko.

of course the ferry costs too [don't know how much, i never use it]. you can get out of Cornwall for free by going up the A30 and then cutting across the moor, but you would use far more than £1.50'a worth of petrol going the long way round.

A (possibly apocryphal) anecdote about the Tamar Bridge - There was a statistical conundrum concerning the bridge for several years.- as surveys always showed more cars going into Cornwall than ever came out. This lasted for years.....until all became clear when a young "job opportunity" lad was shipped out to the toll booths. After he's been there for a day or 2 he was given instructions by some of his colleagues on the "best" way to take the tolls - this involved not issuing tickets to all the cars just taking the money. THis "system" was discovered when the youth opps supervisor came to see how he was getting on and the lad in his naivety carefully explained this system to him. This resulted in several arrests a changing in the payment system and balancing of the mystery statistics.

I used to use te ferry a lot - but that was some time ago.......they reorganised that too...they s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d the ferries and had the brilliant idea of letting them cross as soon as they were full rather than waiting for a specific time - in one day they halved the lengths of the queues - although now I think they are up again.

he was given instructions by some of his colleagues on the "best" way to take the tolls - this involved not issuing tickets to all the cars just taking the money. >>


khunwilko - i hate to ruin your story but there are no tickets at all, and haven't been ever since i've been using the tunnel - 16 years or so. The ferry is not on my route, but when the traffic news comes on, it's said how long the wait is often enough for me not to want to explore it.

Sorry but I know one of the guys who went to prison for it., may have been over 15 years ago though. - try Google.
this of course would be one of the reasons they don't issue tickets now!