Road tolls Miami / Florida

[CharlieBauer]

I was in Florida a while back. Managed to avoid tolls in Orlando and Tampa.

But heading out of the Florida Keys into Miami and then to Fort Lauderdale, the tolls were nuts.

In the space of 2 hours I spent $8!

How much do people spend in the Miami area if they're driving there every day?

 

[Blueskies123]

You need to get out more. Try getting into NY.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Blueskies123
You need to get out more. Try getting into NY.



Pulling a travel trailer (4 axles in total) a across a bridge in NY City I believe the toll was $30.00/maybe more can't quite remember.

 

[Leo99]

I met woman in Ontario that was spending $650 a month in tolls commuting to work.

 

[KrisZ]

When I crossed from Pennsylvania (no tolls) to NY and was greeted by the toll booths, I could not help but notice how much nicer the roads were in Pennsylvania. The money collected from tolls is obviously spent well...

 

[SZR48207]

I had the same experience when I visited Fort Lauderdale and took a day trip down to Key Largo. Tolls, tolls, tolls.

Even worse is I was in a rental car so I was worried about getting gouged by Hertz with their 'convenience fee' for paying the tolls for you.

There is supposedly a trick where you can register with Sunpass (I think) before you drive, and preload your account with funds and then the rental car company doesn't even know you incurred toll charges.

And yeah I don't know how the locals get around without huge monthly toll fees.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Originally Posted By: Reddy45
I had the same experience when I visited Fort Lauderdale and took a day trip down to Key Largo. Tolls, tolls, tolls.

Even worse is I was in a rental car so I was worried about getting gouged by Hertz with their 'convenience fee' for paying the tolls for you.

There is supposedly a trick where you can register with Sunpass (I think) before you drive, and preload your account with funds and then the rental car company doesn't even know you incurred toll charges.

And yeah I don't know how the locals get around without huge monthly toll fees.


The convenience fee for my rental was $4 a day and $20 max for the rental.

The $4 I paid for one day's use was reasonable for not having to register a Sunpass account and then having to add funds to it.

 

[ChiTDI]

You can cut your cost dramatically and eliminate waiting by buying a Sunpass.
They sell them in Publix, Walgreens, etc.

 

[y_p_w]

Yeah I know it's a lot of little tolls on Florida's Turnpike. I mostly avoided it the time I went to Key West, but it cost me at least 45 minutes.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a single $7.50 toll these days coming into San Francisco.

 

[pbm]

New York has to have the highest tolls in the country. I was sent to work in Queens recently and it cost me $29 dollars in tolls round trip (the G. Washington bridge is $14 (or maybe it's now $15) alone....couple this with the highest property taxes in the country... and you'd think our roads would be great.....but they are terrible.
And our Governor (Cuomo) thinks he should be the next President...hopefully that doesn't happen....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Speaking of most expensive toll roads (exluding bridges and tunnels), the 17-Mile drive in California at 54 cents per mile takes the cake...

http://thenewswheel.com/the-ten-most-expensive-toll-roads-in-america/#17-Mile-Drive


As far as outside of the US, one lap on Nürburgring is about 13 miles and costs 29 Euro, so that's about $2.40 per mile, but what fun.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Speaking of most expensive toll roads (exluding bridges and tunnels), the 17-Mile drive in California at 54 cents per mile takes the cake...

http://thenewswheel.com/the-ten-most-expensive-toll-roads-in-america/#17-Mile-Drive


As far as outside of the US, one lap on Nürburgring is about 13 miles and costs 29 Euro, so that's about $2.40 per mile, but what fun.

That's not really a toll road though. It's all private and paying the fee is more like admission to a state park than trying to use the road to get from point to point.

I've heard of people trying to get around the entrance fee by saying they were going there just for the Pebble Beach post office. Some try that to get into national parks.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
That's not really a toll road though. It's all private and paying the fee is more like admission to a state park than trying to use the road to get from point to point.

Well, it's open to the public, just like any other toll road.

 

[JustinH]

Texas has lots of tolls also. I'd imagine similar to Florida, as we have no state income tax either.

Florida is deriving dollars from tourists by using these tolls.

I live in the Austin area, and don't even work in Austin and only go once in a while, and I average $25-$30 per month in tolls.

Friends who work in Austin pay $50-$75 per month for tolls.

 

[Mr Nice]

Luckily most of Florida has nice roads and highways.

I've got a company car with Sunpass so I really enjoy using the Turnpike. I-95 always has 3 times the traffic since there are no tolls.

Tourism taxes on hotels and rental cars does help our state economy.

 

[bubbatime]

Drove for Florida to Connecticut a few weeks ago. No tolls northbound until about Maryland. And it was about $70 from Maryland to New York just for tolls.

 

[SeaJay]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
When I crossed from Pennsylvania (no tolls) to NY and was greeted by the toll booths, I could not help but notice how much nicer the roads were in Pennsylvania. The money collected from tolls is obviously spent well...


That money is well spent on many pork barrel projects that help out the cousins and other relatives of our favorite politicians. Not much of it gets spent on the roads.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer

But heading out of the Florida Keys into Miami and then to Fort Lauderdale, the tolls were nuts.

In the space of 2 hours I spent $8!


Quite simply, avoid the turnpike. I95 is a better option, it's less likely to be ground to a stop by a minor accident, and it's free. There is no reason what so ever to pay tolls to and from the Keys. There are no tolls in the keys.

 

[zzyzzx]

Meanwhile, in Northern VA:

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Drove for Florida to Connecticut a few weeks ago. No tolls northbound until about Maryland. And it was about $70 from Maryland to New York just for tolls.


When you get to Baltimore, drive around the west side of town, then go up 83 and go through Pennsylvania, instead of NJ. You can skip all or most of the tolls that way.