happytrailstoyou

Have you had experience paying tolls while driving a rental car in Texas?

My rental car company charges $10+ a day for a program to pay for electronic tolls in Texas. On an 18-day car rental that will come to over $200 with taxes.

I would like to avoid paying this surcharge. (I have an AAA map that shows where the toll roads are.) Help!

HTtY

jill_h

I would plan on driving around them. I know you can rack up $10 in tolls a day , bu what about the days you have no tolls? I wouldnt want to pay for something I don't use.

emalloy

Look at the state's DOT site and see what it costs to get your own device. I know that along the east coast the Massachusetts device is free and you give a credit card number to cover the costs of the tolls you actually use. It is good for all the states from Maine to Georgia along the coast and I have switched it from one car to another and just held it in the window when I was using it in another car. They sent one to me for my second car when I asked for it. I doubt that the MA one would work in Texas, but they may have a similar plan for theirs.

txgirlinbda

I can drive around the majority of TX and never use a toll road. Just drive around them, and if you do find one that is more convenient, pay cash.

RoamsAround

Agree with txgirlinbda - we lived in Texas (in the DFW area) for more than 20 years and now spend a few months there every year. In all that time I've NEVER had a Toll Pass. There just aren't that many Tolls throughout the state and the ones you do find are easily avoided or have very low cost tolls.

In all that time I don't think I've spent more than $150 in tolls (that comes to something like an average of $7.50/year). So, even if you spend your entire trip driving around the major cities (where the majority of toll roads are located) I doubt you'll spend more than $20 for tolls, and that's probably a stretch. Just bring a few singles and some loose change (say a roll or two of quarters) along with you and you'll be just fine.

musicfan

We are visiting Texas now. There was a notice at the rental car counter about this--some toll roads don't accept cash. I didn't pay much attention since I knew we would not be using any such roads but you might look into the no cash locations.

jill_h

You don't pay cash for the tolls in Texas, they are all (most anyway) are electronic. They take a pic of your license plate and send you the bill later. However, if you only occasionally go through, I don't think they'll send you a bill until you've accrued an amount. My mom has gone through once or twice and never received a bill.

I would NOT pay the $200 surcharge. There's easy enough routes around tollways in this area.

happytrailstoyou

Thanks for the tips.

if you do find one that is more convenient, pay cash.

I had the impression that tolls in Texas are collected electronically, as they are on bridges here in Seattle. Do you know which toll roads do not have toll booths? We will be in Dallas, Austin, and Houston.

HTtY

travelerfromtx

The toll roads in North Texas (DFW area) are all electronic now. They removed all the cash tollbooths some time ago. Here is some info regarding using a rental car in the North Texas area: https://www.ntta.org/custinfo/rental...s/default.aspx Apparently, if you opt out of the rental car program, you can get a "Zip Pass" account. Personally, I would just not drive on them in the DFW area, but it might depend on where you are. Hwy 121 is really the best way to get to the airport if you're in the Frisco area, but you can still get there different ways.

In Austin you can still pay cash. http://www.texastollways.com/austint...nglish/pay.htm

In Houston, The Westpark Tollway, Katy Managed Lanes and the Northeast section of the Sam Houston Tollway are all-electronic tolling. https://www.hctra.org/tollroads

Hope this helps.

Rich

It is very easy to travel in Texas and avoid the toll roads . . and you will get to see a lot more of the country

happytrailstoyou

Thanks for the reassurance. In addition to the major cities will will be in Big Bend, the Hill Country and the Gulf Coast.

Should we check out Big Thicket NP? (We are big on walking, but not on hiking.)

HTtY

BigRuss

North Texas toll roads have electronic tolls - tolltag charges and "zipcash" charges. If you have a tolltag, the charges are generally 33% less than "zipcash" because the latter is a bill-you-later arrangement.

And they will collect. I was sent a bill for zipcash for about $2 because at the time they only linked tolltags with the specific car and I was driving a loaner (that has been changed). This statement from the NTTA website (at the link travelerfromtx provided above) is entirely true: "NTTA aggressively pursues all tolls owed, whether the vehicle is registered in Texas or another state."

If you drive without a tolltag, your car will be noted, the rental company charged and they'll charge you.

That said, if you can get a toll tag, do it - they're free.

And of course you can avoid tolls, but going across N. Texas on the Rayburn or the Bushpike is a lot easier and faster than dancing with traffic on LBJ, and the Tollway in Dallas doesn't have the long-haul tractor-trailers that populate Central Expressway and I-35.