On Sept. 11th I took a road trip to the New River Gorge & Bridge. I paid a $4.50 toll on the I-77 portion of the route. (This is more than doubled from when I last went there c.2010.) One could complain about paying a toll on an interstate highway that I already paid federal taxes on, but that didn't bother me. Then I turned off at US-19, at which there was almost immediately another toll booth. I couldn't see anyone manning it and there was a green light, so I figured it would just photograph my license plate and send me a bill. That they did (a month and a half later), but that still didn't bother me. What did bother me was the phrasing - "You failed to pay a toll" - and the cost - 89 … cents. Why?? It cost over 60 cents to mail the notice, plus someone's time to track me down, compose and mail the notice. Why bother?

For over 20 years, I traveled back and forth from VA to Ohio (and a few times to KY) to visit family and also for Reserve duty.

It was quite a shock the last time I went and it went from $2 each way to $4.

I never got hit with one from WV but I believe it was either Indiana or Illinois that I got hit with one like that. The actual cost to mail the notice was more than the toll...

I had a small toll from MA or NY from a trip last Spring, helping a relative. It was near 50 cents, not even near a dollar.

I just chalk it up to Government silliness, inefficiencies don’t really matter.

Drove from Ohio to Daytona a couple weeks ago. three times that $4.50 one way, $13.50 to drive through that state.

Eighty-nine cents is the smallest check I've ever written.

As you say there are two tolls. My understanding is when that road was constructed the legislature borrowed money for it and authorized tolls to be collected until the loan was paid off. When I traveled on it the tolls were .25 and .10.

When the loan was soon to expire the legislature was lobbied by special interests mostly the toll workers and families, as well as WV's own Dept of Tourism, to keep the tolls in place to pay the workers and then utilize the toll proceeds for tourism, Tamarak, etc. Perhaps for road upkeep as well. Since then they've increased the tolls a number of times. Classic example of government changing their mind and doing what they said they would not.

Tolls have become a cash cow for governments, someone said that the tolls collected from I-80 and I-90 in Ohio *far* exceed the cost to maintain. I-76 all the way across PA is another money grab.

I'm guessing that one of these days every vehicle will have to have one of those toll transponders in their vehicles like many living in cities have to have now.

Try riding a motorcycle from Akron, Ohio to Daytona, FL for Bike week riding with as much insulation you can pile on and hitting those damned toll stops. Spend 3 or 4 minutes digging thru layers to get down to the cash and it gets real old real quick, especially when some truck driver starts blasting his horns to see how high you can jump. I will also note that 4.50 toll is plain stupid. I wouldn't mind it at all if they made it an even 5 dollars just because digging for the change is a PITA. One good thing is that if the traffic is light that stretch between Charleston and Beckley can be a real blast in a good handling sports car.

I'd rather pay that than what Oklahoma charges. Driving from Missouri to OKC and back on the Turnpike cost me over $40.

NEVER pull in a toll lane with a motorcycle in front of you!

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11:
I'd rather pay that than what Oklahoma charges. Driving from Missouri to OKC and back on the Turnpike cost me over $40.

Yeah I recall driving on a nice road across OK and having to stop seemingly every few miles to toss in a quarter.

I can't resist:

"Somebody's gotta go back and get a shit-load of dimes!"

I have to use our tollways here. I’ll drive 30 minutes on one and it’s $20. All from the toll tag.

I’m super happy my home state of Missouri has absolutely ZERO toll roads.

There used to be one but that was eliminated a few years ago.

Traveling through Oklahoma pulling a 5th Wheel can get expensive.

Toll roads? EZ Pass takes away a lot of the hassle.
Accepted practically everywhere east of the Mississippi.

Rolls are annoying for sure. EZPass is the way to go. Sometimes they have a “all you can drive” offer for a flat fee which is pretty reasonable. I don’t go that route frequently but I keep an ezpass for the convenience and cost savings.

As Scooter said, it is a fun road to drive in a good handling car without much traffic!

All the toll roads here have pay by plate or transponder options, you can get them easily,

You can get a universal toll account that's good in many states

Link UNI

Where can I use Uni?

Uni works on all toll roads and most bridges 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
Ohio

Drove from San Diego to Fresno and then real subtle like, turned right and drove another hour then, returned same route three days later.

$0.00 in tolls.

But $4.50 for gas. Lol

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
I can't resist:

"Somebody's gotta go back and get a shit-load of dimes!"

and I lol'ed



meanwhile, since I live in an area with tolls, I have a SmartTag,
and auto pay from a CC,

when i was in the gro biz I managed a couple stores that were close to 64.
I could go thru town, via 95 to 64 and not pay a toll,

or safe 30 minutes and take 895 and pay a toll,
the toll cost depended on the time of day,

it was worth it, a much smoother ride and 30 minutes (or more if prime time or and accident) saved each day


ditto NOVA, sometimes it is better to pay for the HOV lanes from the DC area to Fredericksburg which can be expensive vs sitting in traffic on 95

Years ago we would make a yearly trip from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach for a week of golfing. Used to be .25 to get on and .50 to get off. Just throw quarters in the basket.