STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

laken1 · Hermes

Do you travel toll roads often?

carmenb513 · Coach

Luckily I don't have to daily, But I drive to NYC frequently and it is a bitch if I'm going the past the Bronx - because when you get on the wayto Manhattan I feel like I'm emptying out my life savings.When I do have to go for work- they pay my mileage and my tolls- Thank God.

Which the post reminds me to submit my mileage for a trip I took last week.

zeitgeist4 · Gucci

In the Bay Area we don't have toll roads, but all the bridges have tolls (only for one direction on each bridge), ranging from $3-$5 depending on the bridge. A couple years ago it was $2, then they raised it to $3, and now there's talk of a hike to $4. The Golden Gate is $5.

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

We have the Tri-State Tollway here. According to the website, the tolls are approx 2.6 cents a mile. I think that the toll is .80 at most booths if you pay manually, but you're only charged .40 if you have the transponder (I-Pass). I don't have to travel on the tollway a lot but I use the I-Pass because it's so much cheaper and it's easier because you don't have to stop at the booth.

Paying tolls sucks but it's not as bad here as it is in some other places. When I lived in Japan, a trip to the airport would cost about $30 in tolls (it was maybe 50 km away). They didn't have any automatic lanes either so the booths would get backed up and traffic was AWFUL. The only way to get to one of the other military bases was via tollway and even though the other base was only about 20 km away, it was a 1.5 hour/$20 trip!

Edited because I said responder instead of transponder. Duh!

-- Edited by tri_sarah_tops at 11:45, 2006-01-31

Sandy · Kate Spade

The only toll road that I'm aware of in my area (RI) is to get to Newport, which is 30-40 mins away... and I go there maybe once every two years and I'm not sure how much it is, but I want to say $1. If I want to go certain places in MA, I have to go on the Mass Pike, which is a toll, but I ususally only use that to go to Six Flags and it costs under a dollar I think.

shopgirl82 · Chanel

tri_sarah_tops, did you know that the toll fees in Chicago were supposed to be done away with years ago? According to the book, Secret Chicago,my bf got me before i moved to Chicago,

"Even worse, the toll authority assured Illinois citizens in 1947 that once the bonds to build the toll roads were paid, the tools would be taken away. Lies, lies, lies. Today, Illinois drivers still line up and toss money into baskets on roads that have long been paid off."

You gotta love Mayor Daley . The book goes on to say that there's a way to get out of the tolls (hence the name of the book, Secret Chicago). if you put two NECCO wafers (made in MA, if any of you MA ladies want to send me some ), and a nickle (for weight), the automated gates should work just fine. I've never tried it because the author admits that since this is the second issue of the book, after the first issue, the authorities have caught on. my bf and i don't have an EZ pass since we barely travel them, but when we do, we make sure to use pennies.

i remember driving through the state of PA when i was moving to Chicago, when i finished going through the state, they asked for $17. well, being the college student i was, all i had was an atm card and maybe 5 bucks, but since i had been crying all through the state of PA, the toll person saw what a mess i was, and let me through, after i admitted that i was moving and that it was a hard day for me, yadda, yadda, yadda, can they bill me...

then when i went through ohio they wanted like $7 (by then i had gone to the gas station and got money).

i hate tolls.

member · Hermes

shopgirl82 wrote:

The book goes on to say that there's a way to get out of the tolls (hence the name of the book, Secret Chicago). if you put two NECCO wafers (made in MA, if any of you MA ladies want to send me some ), and a nickle (for weight), the automated gates should work just fine. I've never tried it because the author admits that since this is the second issue of the book, after the first issue, the authorities have caught on. tolls.

OMG shopgirl - I swear to god, when I was in high school, my friends and I put the NECCO wafer trick to the test and it WORKED!!! We used this method for years!

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

The NECCO wafer thing is awesome! I haven't lived here that long and I've never heard that before. I am tempted to try it, but I have the worst toll booth aim ever. Seriously, I throw change and I almost always miss. I would have to take a whole box of cookies :) That's part of the reason I got the I-Pass, even though I only drive on the tollway three or four times a month. And I am a very impatient driver so I HATE waiting in line at the booth.

I also had no clue that the tolls were supposed to be temporary. Obviously they have no intention of ever getting rid of them since they're spending all this money on I-PASS lanes and open road tolling. I also think it's stupid that the tolls are more if you pay manually. I understand that they want to cut back on congestion and stuff but it's really not fair to the people who are just passing through or to people who don't use the toll road much. It would also be nice if they offered some sort of discount to frequent travelers, like commuters. I think my husband pays $1.60 a day just to go to and from work. For awhile he was working south of the city (past Midway) which was one hell of a commute because we lived in the northern burbs. At that point I think it cost almost $4 a day.

HeatherLynn · Gucci

I do. Everytime I go home I take tolls (back to OK, butI have a pass) and then I am always in Dallas and we are on the tolls. It can get very expensive, but the other options are so far out fo the way that it makes the tolls worth it- I guess.

laken1 · Hermes

tri_sarah_tops wrote:

T I have the worst toll booth aim ever. Seriously, I throw change and I almost always miss.

Hee hee, me too! And we can't use pennies - it's forbidden. And now we are finding out that they are going to use the money from the tolls on our new road in front of our house in other areas of Texas. This after most of the communities passed the toll road idea for the additional income in the local communities. I am appalled at this but most people that live here, while they are mad, aren't really surprised. It really pisses me off though.

jessallen · Nine West

Laken1 are you talking about how Collin County is expected to help pay for the new toll road waaaaay down in Tarrant County? I live in Tarrant and it p*sses me off that they're doing this. And this proposed road is so far out of the way, I don't know who from up north will ever drive on it.

laken1 · Hermes

jessallen wrote:

Laken1 are you talking about how Collin County is expected to help pay for the new toll road waaaaay down in Tarrant County? I live in Tarrant and it p*sses me off that they're doing this. And this proposed road is so far out of the way, I don't know who from up north will ever drive on it.

Hey, yeah, it's my understanding that the tolls from 121 will be dispersed through the state. McKinney, Allen, Frisco, The Colony (where I am) all the way to Grapevine. Pisses. me. off.

Maddie · Coach

Gah I HATE tolls. We don't have them in the west so I never remember change or anything. It's not that bad, but it costs $5 to go to Boston and lke $3 to get to Portland. To get from Boston to anywhere though can be really expensive.

Lilykind · Hermes

Well, there's always EZPass.

I don't drive, but tolls were the bane of my family's existence.

No joke...I remember when my mom first got it in maybe 1995. We lived right by a toll road (NY Thruway) and my parents worked in NYC so tolls were inevitable. They really do try and take your life savings to get you to Manhattan.

We also had a running joke that we'd never go on the Garden State Parkway because it seems like every three minutes you'd hit another one of those damned toll booths and fork over 35 cents. So annoying until EZPass came along.

But you want to know what's evil...IIRC correctly, you could pay up to eithe $21 or $50 for the privilege of traveling The Florida Turnpike.

NCshopper · Hermes

I don't think we have any here in NC. I think we *might* be getting one soon, but even if we do, it's out of my way, so I doubt I'll ever use it.

And come to think of it, we didn't have any in San Diego either. There's one that we take occasionally to get up to LAX, but that's the only one in CA that I know of. My best friend and I definitely spent the better part of $10 trying to get to Fashion Island one day because we kept taking the wrong exit and we'd have to pay to get back on. Such a pain in the ass.

-- Edited by NCshopper at 08:56, 2006-02-03

erin · Chanel

just the penna tpike.

when i lived in dc, i worked in reston and i HATED taking the dulles toll road. it felt like i was paying to work, rather than the other way around...so i always would go back roads even if it was a bit longer.

bex · Chanel

this year i have to travel the Penn turnpike a LOT, i want to sign up for a EZPass but i'll always be in a rental car so it won't work for me

i also travel the OH turnpike but not as much... it doesn't bother me cause its only $1.00 most of the time and i can find roads around it

rlutz · Chanel

I take the toll roads to work everyday...thank good for the ezpass...make things quicker and now in Ill you have to pay more if you do not have one.
They say we pay tolls so fund the toll roads, but I heard a rumor that they were paid for years ago...hmmmm...