Cali Rental and tolls

[DISNEY FIX]

We'll have a rental car for 2 weeks in California and arizona. How best to psy for tolls? Thank you.

 

[MillauFr]

Where are you driving that you need to pay tolls?

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Anywhere between lax, San Diego, grand canyon and anywhere in between.

 

[China Expat]

I don't recall any tolls

 

[DLgal]

I don't recall any tolls

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.

 

[sndral]

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/.

 

[MillauFr]

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/.

Exactly. Just don't drive in the express toll lanes. Even if you do I think you can login into a website and pay the toll before it gets remitted to the rental car company but not sure.

 

[bcla]

The only tolls in Southern California are for toll roads, which are easy enough to avoid. However, there are also some toll roads where it's free with 3 or cheaper with 2, but requires a special transponder with a switch for 1/2/3+ people.

The only toll bridges in California are in the Bay Area. If you were coming there, I'd recommend perhaps getting a FasTrak toll transponder (valid on all California toll roads). There is interagency compatibility (they're all marketed as "FasTrak") but different rules. But you could establish an account and attach a rental car to it, just in case the transponder fails. Then when you return the rental car you can remove it from your account. And if there's any residual toll value, request a refund and return the transponder.

The toll bridges in the Bay Area have "license plate billing" now, but that gets really complicated with rental cars.

 

[bcla]

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.

 

[DLgal]

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

 

[bcla]

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.

 

[DLgal]

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.

 

[bcla]

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.

Sounds odd. They say they have some sort of battery free switchable transponder. It’s probably some sort of RFID system.

https://www.thetollroads.com/accounts/fastrak/transponder/​

Please note that switchable transponders issued after July 5, 2020, are made with the same battery-free technology as sticker transponders and no longer beep when going through a toll point.​

They also claim that the battery-free tech works for any FasTrak bridge or lanes. But a lot of what they say is contradictory. Like this where they say they’re out of stock (until 2020) of the switchable transponders but then state that if a customer needs one to get it from a different agency.

https://www.thetollroads.com/accounts/fastrak/california/​

Due to processing and fulfillment delays, switchable FasTrak® transponders are out of stock until September 2020.​

​

Sticker transponders can be used to pay tolls on every tolled bridge, lane and road in California.​

​

Drivers with sticker transponders pay the full toll regardless of eligibility.​

​

A switchable transponder can be obtained by opening up an account with one of California’s other tolling agencies.​

 

[DaisyDuck001]

There are no toll roads in Arizona.

 

[LKing]

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.

 

[bcla]

I still use a physical transponder on the 110 in Los Angeles. I don't drive toll roads in OC or SD.

Yeah. It doesn't sound like any of the FasTrak agencies have implemented a sticker-style tag other than The Toll Roads and 91 Express Lanes, even though they claim that those work for all agencies.

It's odd how all agencies offer a switchable transponder.

 

[longboard55]

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 everywhere