DISNEY FIX
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2007
We'll have a rental car for 2 weeks in California and arizona. How best to psy for tolls? Thank you.
I don't recall any tolls
Yeah, don’t know about Arizona, but tolls aren’t really a thing in CA, except for bridges & bridges aren’t really a thing in SoCal. There are freeways that have express lanes which you pay to drive in & go faster than the rest of the traffic & a couple of toll roads in OC & San Diego - this link might help https://enjoyorangecounty.com/california-toll-roads/.Where are you driving that you need to pay tolls?
Yeah, don’t know about Arizona, but tolls aren’t really a thing in CA, except for bridges & bridges aren’t really a thing in SoCal. There are freeways that have express lanes which you pay to drive in & go faster than the rest of the traffic & a couple of toll roads in OC & San Diego - this link might help https://enjoyorangecounty.com/california-toll-roads/.
There are a few toll roads between San Diego/OC and Las Vegas. My husband uses them routinely when driving up from San Diego to OC and we use them when going to Las Vegas.
The easiest way to pay for them is go online the day you use them and pay immediately. There are no toll booths. You need to know where you entered and exited the road, as well as your license plate number.
I'd ask the rental agency if the car has a transponder on it. If so, they will just bill it to your final bill.
Note: it is OPTIONAL to use toll roads, never a requirement. It only saves some time during bad accidents/extreme traffic.
It might make sense to get a switchable toll transponder just for carpool/HOV lanes where it's free. Not sure exactly what the rules are in Southern California.
Also - rental car agencies might charge a "convenience fee" if there's any tolls. And the fee is supposedly for every day of the rental if there's any toll. I've heard of cases where the toll was pretty cheap (possibly just a few dollars) but the convenience fees were for a whole week.
FasTrak down here doesn't use a transponder. It's a sticker and you have to register it to your vehicle ahead of time. The easiest way is to just go online and pay right when you use it. The website address is located on all the signs where you enter the toll road. You don't need a sticker or transponder if you do it this way.
It's:
www.thetollroads.com
I believe they still have the 3-position battery powered (and user replaceable) transponders that can be tossed on the dash. I think these are the only kinds that will work for HOV use. I know around here it's getting rather confusing because it's apparently mandatory for "express lanes" regardless of the number of passengers. I guess The Toll Roads charges the same regardless of people in a vehicle, but the switchable transponder could still be used for other toll lanes (like Metro Expresslanes) or bridges if one really wants to go to the Bay Area.
https://www.thetollroads.com/accounts/fastrak/transponder/
I'm thinking the adhesive version wouldn't be practical for a rental car anyways. I've heard they pretty much have to be stuck on and don't work if taped on. Not sure you could buy one at Ralph's or Costco.
The southern CA toll roads do NOT work with any transponders. Only the stickers. Even when renting a car in Southern CA, the rental agencies will tell you their transponders won't work on the toll roads in San Diego and Orange County. It's a different system.
I still use a physical transponder on the 110 in Los Angeles. I don't drive toll roads in OC or SD.The southern CA toll roads do NOT work with any transponders. Only the stickers. Even when renting a car in Southern CA, the rental agencies will tell you their transponders won't work on the toll roads in San Diego and Orange County. It's a different system.
I still use a physical transponder on the 110 in Los Angeles. I don't drive toll roads in OC or SD.
I use the physical one so we can get free 110 going to USC games, they work everywhereI still use a physical transponder on the 110 in Los Angeles. I don't drive toll roads in OC or SD.