It's a Team's Life

Toll Devices

By Sandy & Stephen
Posted Sep 19th 2022 8:00AM

Often we get this question: “What electronic toll devices do you have?” We have two: Ohio EZPass and TXTAG. These two work well for our operation and where we run our loads. But as an operator you have many options out there of different toll devices.

We have noticed that a lot of the toll roads and bridges are going away from cash toll booths and going to just electronic and pay by mail. We have heard that the pay by mail you have to be proactive and go online and pay as soon as you can. You can not wait for the bill to come in the mail since they will already be charging you “interest” on that toll.

Let’s take a look at some of the ones you can choose from and this might help you choose one or more that fits your operations.

BestPass – The system covers the majority of the toll roads and bridges from coast to coast. Complete Pass give you the best coverage of the four options they provide, this pass covers twenty-six states (Alabama, California, Colorado (covered by plate), Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington (covered by plate), West Virginia). This system’s costs are as follows: One-time $35.00 hardware access fee per transponder, $25.00 activation fee, $14.00 monthly fee and $350.00 pre-paid toll balance. https://bestpass.com/

EZPass – This system covers multiple states and those states are (Delaware, Florida, Illinois (I-Pass), Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia). Each state manages their own system. Some have fees and some do not. https://e-zpassiag.com/

Uni Toll Pass (also known as E-Pass powered by E-Pass and EZPass) – This covers the tolls in the following states (Florida (including express lanes), Maryland, Rhode Island, Indiana, Georgia, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maine, West Virginia, New York and Ohio). You have to buy the device and it has suction cups on it. The price for the device is $14.95 + Tax, also $10.00 of prepaid tolls to activate. We could not find if they have any fees. https://www.cfxway.com/uni/

Sunpass – This is very similar to the Uni Toll Pass. The differences are no discounts on tolls, the price of the portable suction cup device is $19.95 + Tax, and the permanent sticker costs $4.99 + Tax. https://www.sunpass.com/en/home/index.shtml

Express Pass (Utah) – This pass does cover vehicles over 12,000 pounds and if you are pulling a trailer. https://www.expresspass.utah.gov/

EXpressToll (Colorado only) – This transponder only covers the toll roads in Colorado at this time. https://www.expresstoll.com/Home

GO-PASS (Colorado Northwest Parkway only) – This transponder only covers the Northwest Parkway which connects I-25 at the north Denver Metro area with US-36 in Broomfield. https://www.go-pass.com/

FasTrak (California only) – This transponder only covers toll bridges and roads in California. They have four different versions of the transponder. They have a sticker, hardcase transponder, hardcase transponder switchable that allows you to move to different vehicles and a external transponder that attaches to the front license plate. http://fastrak.org/FASTRAK

Freedom Pass (Alabama only) – This is a card that you hold up to a unmanned toll lane. This is also prepaid. It covers the following toll roads: Tuscaloosa Bypass, Montgomery Expressway, Emerald Mountain Expressway and Beach Express. https://freedompass.americanroads.com/

GeauxPass (Louisiana only) – This will cover all toll roads and bridges in Louisiana. It is a prepaid transponder system. The transponder costs $1.59 plus you have to prepay $20 to activate the account. https://www.geauxpass.com/

Good to Go (Washington State only) – This has three versions of the pass. A sticker pass that costs $5.00 + Tax, a flex pass that costs $15.00 + Tax and a licenses plate pass that costs $12.00 + Tax. https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/roads-bridges/toll-roads-bridges-tunnels/good-go-accounts-passes

Michigan has two passes:

MacPass – This pass will only work on the Mackinac Bridge. It requires a $80.00 deposit, $7.00 free and each windshield sticker costs $1.00. https://www.mackinacbridge.org/macpass/macpass/

Nexpress Toll – This pass is only for the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. The tunnel toll only accepts this form of electronic payment. It requires a $75.00 deposit. https://nexpress.dwtunnel.com/

NationalPass – This a transponder that will cover the following states (California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia). They are working on the following states (Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington). The costs are $12.95 per month and $3.50 per transponder, a $25.00 one-time activation fee, a $35.00 transponder hardware access fee, and $250.00 prepaid account balance. https://www.nationalpass.net/home/

Palmetto Pass – This is for the I-185 in South Carolina. https://www.southernconnector.com/

In the Southeast the following work with each toll road or bridge:

NC Quick Pass – This covers the toll roads in North Caroline including some HOV lanes. https://www.ncquickpass.com/Pages/default.aspx

SunPass – See above for the information on SunPass.

The South Plains interoperability area (North Texas Tollway Authority hub).

K-Tag – This is a windshield sticker that electronic toll collection in Kansas. The sticker is free and they have no admin fees. https://www.myktag.com/?/k-tag

Pikepass – This is just like the K-Tag system. https://pikepass.com/

TxTAG – This is also just like the K-Tag and Pikepass. https://www.txtag.org/txtagstorefront/en/

TollTag – This is a sticker system that only for the Dallas, TX area. https://www.ntta.org/custinfo/tolltag/Pages/default.aspx

EZ TAG – This is a sticker system that only for the Houston, TX area. https://www.hctra.org/EZTAGExpress#!

We hope you found this helpful and you can use any of the above information above.

Sandy & Stephen

Pinch Hitting for TeamCaffee