I live in Northern Indiana. I'm about 2 hours from Chicago, but I never go there unless I absolutely have to, for obvious reasons. I do travel out west a couple of times a year, though, and for some idiotic reason, all highways through IL seem to funnel right through the greater Chicago area. It's already overly congested, the roads are destroyed beyond their ability to maintain them, and yet the only major east west highway that doesn't go through that mess is I-70, which is 4 hours out of my way.

Tolls are idiotic even in normal times, but with COVID they've stopped staffing the toll booths. I don't have an EZpass, or IPass, or whatever they call it. I drive on a toll road maybe one trip per year, and I've never really needed one. But now since they're not staffing the toll booths, the only way to pay is to have them take a picture of your license plate as you drive through, and then pay online.

Except you can't pay online unless you have an account, which I also don't have. I tried looking it up by plate on their website, but it didn't yield any results. So at this point, my only option is to wait on them to mail an invoice with an invoice number that I can enter to pay.

Yesterday I got my "invoice" from the IL toll road for $19.xx. $8.xx in tolls, and $11 in fees for a "late" violation. I paid it, but IMO this is complete bullshit. I tried to pay at the toll booth, and it was closed. How can they penalize me for not paying, when they failed to provide a method for me to do that at the time I used the road? And then they don't invoice me until after I'm considered "late", and in "violation". The stupid new toll bridge on I-65 in Louisville works the same way, but at least they don't automatically consider you delinquent before sending you a bill.

It's a typical Chicago racket, and literal highway robbery.

Until earlier this summer, I’d be in total agreement with you.

In July we drove to visit my son who lives near Philadelphia. The tolls going through Ohio and Pennsylvania are astronomic. But, even those tolls seemed “reasonable” when we decided to head up to Connecticut and took the New Jersey Turnpike. Ouch.

As a life long IL. resident I have cursed the IL. toll system since it was built.
The toll booths were the absolute in stupidity.
The IPASS is sooooo much better.
The racket is the toll is double if you go through a toll booth as opposed to using the drive through IPASS system.
As I understand it the IPASS is also excepted in Indiana and some other states.
To me, well worth getting the Indiana version.

Live in Ohio but have a cottage in Lake Geneva WI. Been doing the trip for over 60 years every summer. Tried the Chicago by pass for years, stopping every 15 minutes throwing the change in the baskets. Then started doing the Skyway through downtown. I remember when the by pass was two lanes in each direction, now I thing it's up to 4 or 6??? Doesn't really matter, 1/2 of them are under constant construction anyway. The trip is no fun, and the rest areas on the Indiana Turnpike are something out of a third world country.

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To me, well worth getting the Indiana version

I actually signed up for one tonight...just to avoid all the extra fees in the future. But I still think it's bullshit. If they're going to essentially force you to use it, they ought to be required to provide a method to take cash.

I couldn't tell you the last time I drove on the Indiana Toll road...it's probably been 15 years. When I have to go to Chicago, I take 49 to 94 to avoid it.

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Originally posted by armored:
...As I understand it the IPASS is also excepted in Indiana and some other states...

We have the IL IPass, for sure it's good on 80/90 from IL all the way to Albany NY and on the PA Turnpike as well. It's NOT good on some (all?) of the toll roads around Dallas or the KS tollway.

Just checked my balance on the www and tomorrow I will add a rental car for ten days. It's one of the few things that IL does efficiently.

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Originally posted by MMSIG229:
Live in Ohio but have a cottage in Lake Geneva WI. Been doing the trip for over 60 years every summer. Tried the Chicago by pass for years, stopping every 15 minutes throwing the change in the baskets. Then started doing the Skyway through downtown. I remember when the by pass was two lanes in each direction, now I thing it's up to 4 or 6??? Doesn't really matter, 1/2 of them are under constant construction anyway. The trip is no fun, and the rest areas on the Indiana Turnpike are something out of a third world country.

Last time I had to go through there, we did the skyway to avoid most of the tolls. It was 2am, so I figured traffic would be ok. I still got stuck in stopped traffic twice. At 2 in the morning. When we weren't bottled up, I was going 70mph (allegedly) and getting passed like I was standing still (IIRC the speed limit is 55). We came back on I-80 during the afternoon, and stopped traffic added 2 hours to the trip. I hate Chicago.

I last paid a toll in the 1960s. I also cannot remember paying for parking except at the airport. There are many advantages in living in a small metro area. I still have memories of my Dad going ballistic when the car in front had out of state plates and held up the line. I grew up in Chicago and know the games.

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Originally posted by MMSIG229:
Live in Ohio but have a cottage in Lake Geneva WI. Been doing the trip for over 60 years every summer. Tried the Chicago by pass for years, stopping every 15 minutes throwing the change in the baskets. Then started doing the Skyway through downtown. I remember when the by pass was two lanes in each direction, now I thing it's up to 4 or 6??? Doesn't really matter, 1/2 of them are under constant construction anyway. The trip is no fun, and the rest areas on the Indiana Turnpike are something out of a third world country.

I go to eastern Indiana twice a year. Get the IPass and take 80/294 to 294 when you go to LG. Much more pleasant drive with no stopping (except in Indiana) and you are not endangering yourself or your passengers as you are when you take the Skyway.

The Houston, Tx area is similar. The express highway is a toll road, but we out of state drivers cannot pay as we go. Paying the extra fees versus driving through the downtown area was worth it though.

Modern day toll systems - they track your movement and then tax you for the privilege of doing so.

We go from KY to WI sometimes. My wife hates IL so much, she refuses to stop there. We stop at the IN border for a rest break, next stop is Janesville, WI.

As a former trucker, I scoff at your little baby tolls.

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Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Modern day toll systems..

NY is removing all the toll plazas and going all Ezpass and "Tolls by mail". Meaning again we reward those who ignore the law (have unregistered cars, switch/stolen plates etc etc) and pass the cost off to the rest of the suckers.

There's only one toll road IN Chicago-
The Skyway.

Everything else is in the suburbs- hence the ILLINOIS Toll road.

That being said, there's something like 5 out of the last 12 Tollway Commissioners which have been guests of either the Ill penal system or the Fed...

You think that 294 is bad, take a jaunt out on the Jane Adams Tollway! There's $30+ that you'll never get back!

My wife and I don't have the IPass thing, however, she's probably going to get one this week. She just got dinged $53 for tolls and late fees going to and from Galena Il.

We try to remember when we're out on the tollway and a "hey, honey, pay the tolls on line!" Which makes things much easier and cheaper!

I will sympathize with the OP and say "THIS IS BULLSHIT!" And fuck this state!

We travel out west a few times a year, and avoid Illinois at all cost. Usually adds time to our trip, but well worth it.

Our last trip through Chicago was last October, and it seems they had just closed down all the toll booths, everything online, or you get one of those passes. Easier just to avoid.

They have to make a ton of revenue from those toll road, but their roads are crap. One of those things, you wonder where the money goes.

Related rant: Why can't someone come up with ONE pass that works on all toll roads? Why do I need half a doze different things stuck to my windshield if I travel multi-state?

(This is merely an annoyance to me, as I almost never use toll roads any more.)

Down side(beside potential tracking) is it's painless. They can steadily jack the tolls up and since it's out of sight, out of mind, there's no backlash (not that it ever did any good) It's easier to swallow when you don't remember you're swallowing it.

We have the SunPass/EPass here for tolls, I wouldn't run a toll road without one, no stopping no backed up toll booths with some guy from out of state that can't figure out what he needs to do.

Great for motorcycle, no stopping in the lane, slippery roads, finding change, exposing yourself with no brake light illuminated to the iFone reading nit wit behind you.

It's a state that can't afford to pay their lottery winners. What would you expect?

Hell, it used to be not all that uncommon that they would set up in Kentucky at the cigarette shops across the state line and watch people loading their car with cartons of cigarettes. Then when they crossed back into Illinois, they would stop them, seize the cigarettes, and charge them for attempting to get around the state cigarette tax. And I don't mean dealers coming across and buying cartons, I mean users coming across the line and buying them.