Driving Tolls in the USA

                                                                                         

A huge country perfectly suited to driving holidays, the United States has almost 6.5 million km of roads ready to be explored. Whether on a road trip, business visit, or perhaps cruising along in a Motorhome, the US has an excellent network of highways and freeways connecting cities and is perfectly suited to commuting by road.

Understandably though, good roads come at a cost, so it’s no surprise there are some places in the States where tolls are charged. Luckily there are not so many of them, and where you do come across such roads they will almost always be one of these three main types:

Toll Booths:
Booths exist along the way, and drivers stop to pay in cash.

Ticket System:
This works by charging vehicles for the total distance they have travelled. Drivers receive a ticket upon entering the highway or freeway, and then pay on exit. The ticket will show where they entered, thus the distance travelled, and should list charges also.

Electronic Toll Collection:
This system relies on a transponder which is attached to the windscreen of the car, much like the E-Tag system in Australia. Vehicles are scanned at various points along the toll road and billed accordingly. If no transponder is present or the scanners fail to read it, a bill will be sent to the cars owners.

In the case that you drive your rental car through an electronic toll system, be sure to notify the staff at the depot when returning the car. Otherwise a penalty may be charged to you later on.


Other fees:
While most toll roads are covered above, it is important to know that some National Parks in the US do charge for entry also. The fees are used to maintain and preserve these great places, and parks will usually offer daily or weekly passes, which are issued upon entry.

About the author:
Car Guru writes for DriveAway Holidays, http://www.driveaway.com.au, DriveAway Holidays New Zealand, http://www.driveaway.co.nz, and the DriveAway Holidays Blog - http://driveaway2008.blogspot.com/.

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