A question of tolls?

[Ray,IN]

Richard I agree with you.employees do as they are instructed, administration sets policy and methodology.

[egourley]

We are south of Kansas City on I-35 and have the K-Tag on our RV. We have had zero problems using the K-Tag going west to Colorado and south on I-35, including a trip last month from Kansas to Corpus Christi and back. The K-Tag works in Oklahoma, Texas and now supposedly in Florida.
We get billed for all of the tolls on our K-Tag
account, which is paid thru the associated credit card.
The K-Tag on our motorhome is a sticker on the windshield and has never failed to read.
In our toad we have a physical transponder which I store in a Faraday bag so it won't be read when we are towing it.

The only thing that made me scratch my head about the Texas tolls was that I was charged as different vehicle "classes" on different toll roads. It wasn't enough of a difference to make me pursue it. I was glad to pay a toll to get around the parking lot that passes for a highway in and around DFW anyway. Texans love their flyover bridges!
I just filed that with the questions I had after driving in Texas for a couple of weeks.
1. I have always wondered why they post signs saying driving on the shoulder is prohibited. Now I know, but I don't think it stopped anybody from doing so in Texas.
2. Does EVERY bridge in Texas carry a warning that it may be freeze before the road does?

We had a great time on this trip and really enjoyed Texas.

[Morich]

You mention one of my headaces we were shocked to find when moving here!
Passing on the shoulder is normally forbidden in my experience but Texas seems to like to encourage breaking any laws they pass!
The "legal" part is where they add so much hazard to driving as they set it out that passing on the shoulder is okay if it it safe and "necessary". The safe part is pretty much ignored and necessary seems to be any time it will save a half second!
It is common to see accidents where the person staying in the driving lane goes to the intersection to turn and gets plowed by the one going down the shoulder!

If left of the white line marking the edge of the roadway, you do have certain right of way provisions. Right of that line, you have NO right of way and any accident is almost automatically your fault! What I see is one going down the shoulder at high speed and another in line decides it is not worth waiting and pulls right to get on the shoulder!

It would be interesting to know how those get written up and settled! A good reason for me to never go into Austin!

[creativepart]

Richard, I can't think of more than a couple of times in 30 years of living in Texas where I've seen anyone pass on the shoulder while driving.

I have seen two kinds of driving on the shoulder - one is the famous Texas Two Lane, where a slower driver continues driving but pulls onto a wide shoulder to let a faster car pass them in the main lane and second, when someone stops in the road to turn left and is waiting for traffic so then all cars that would be blocked pull on to the shoulder to go around the waiting car. But other than those two instances I've not seen what you are seeing.

Perhaps living in the Austin area, where traffic is horrendously bad, provides a different experience to living in the more laid back hill country.

[Morich]

It's a tradition in many parts of the country for folks to drive much faster as they get closer to crowded! I notice it most often as we get closer to Dallas. As we get nearer the downtown where traffic is heavy we find more people passing us! Part of that is that I do slow down when traffic gets heavy!

Anybody who wants to verify the habit, try looking at the grass along the right side at intersections and you can see it is pretty common to pass, even if there is no hard surface!
As an example of an area that I travel and have to really be alert, we can take a look at Googlemaps to see what goes on!
The I35 frontage road gets backed up often at this street and people take the shoulder to turn instead of waiting in the right turn lane!
Currently, right at the intersection, the cross street has been repaired and some distance down on the shoulder of the frontage road but there is still an area where the shoulder is used so much that the damage shows from the air!

The green line is the legal right turn lane while the red is taking the short cut on the shoulder! If one is using the legal lane and not aware, they get crunched!


Further South at the same intersection we get the same thing as people use the shoulder to get a short cut to the gas station or on up to the corner!

[creativepart]

Well, Austin area is different than out here. San Antonio traffic is just no where near the same as Austin. Back in the early 1980's Austin was trying to slow growth and someone thought if they rejected all new road building projects it would keep the town from growing. But the town took off regardless without the needed infrastructure.

I do admit, in 1981 when I first moved to Texas there were only 300k people in Austin - less than 1/3rd as many as there are today. And, it was very very sweet back then. In many ways the perfect combination of jobs, entertainment, parks and nightlife. Really fun times.

For years after that it was always fun to drive up on a Saturday, do some record store shopping, eat lunch and head back home. But all that stopped in about 2010 due to traffic. Now, we avoid Austin at all costs.

Richard, what you point out as common, we only see in heavy construction zones on I-10 when traffic is backed up for miles. And, even then it's rare.

[tim myers]

Thread Drift, Thread Drift, where is the Thread Police, LOL

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by tim myers

Thread Drift, Thread Drift, where is the Thread Police, LOL

The title is "A question of tolls" not "calling all trolls"

I'm kidding Tim, this thread is a JDM drifting champion.

[Morich]

Getting back to toll thoughts? I took the 130 toll road from Georgetown on the North to the main commercial airport on the SE corner, just fo experience and we had a flier going out.
The traffic on our part o fI 35 Southbound was bogged enough to help me make the decsiion easier.
So comparing the two, we did make good time and Garmin says something like 15 minutes saved but that is a pretty iffy estimate. The traffic was low but fast, around 75 most of the time, which is okay for the car. Certain to be less stress than I35 and construction on more lanes has just started so that will be a thrill for as long as we are likely to be needing it.
Garmin routing was goofy but I felt okay to ignore it. We got to see some construction from a different side!

Interested in seeing how and when the bill turns up as that seems to be one of the main hangups that get complaints.

[DryCreek]

When you sold the other car, did you remove the toll tag?

[Ted Fyden]

Originally Posted by Matt J

Using our Ktag in Oklahoma or Texas has not been an issue unless I take the NTTA express way through Fort Worth. For some reason it does not read mine but it reads my in-laws when they go through it and they have a Ktag also. All other toll roads around Austin read it. I get the NTTA bill in the mail and pay it online. As for paying the Ktag bill, you keep a card or bank account on file and it debits the account on the 15th or so of the following month. Never had to deal with the NTTA over the phone.

i live in MA and have a NJ easy pass. all online account, auto bill with no issues. can i get a ktag online before my trip south and set up online and is that two seperate tags? NTTA and Ktag? do i need both?

[Morich]

When looking for alternates to the mess we had in Texas, I found this:
More to ask
Does Kansas recognize Texas toll tag?
What states does a K-Tag work in?
What is K-Tag. K-Tag is an electronic tag that you can install in your windshield to zoom through electronic toll gantries. Currently, K-Tags can be used on the Kansas Turnpike and any toll roads (Authorized Facilities) in Oklahoma and Texas.

Would seem to say, YES, It would work for the Texas roads!

Also they seem to have a better system of contact as they have a phone number for questions and they seemed to answer!

https://www.myktag.com/about

Sometimes I just like to talk to a real person as one answer may bring a different question and I can get done in one call what might take six e-mails!

Another point they speak to is the billing. They seem to indicate that they will send a bill near the first and you then have fifteen days to review and question the bill before due on the fifteenth!
One of the big complaints in the Texas system is that we don't get bills and then we have to fight to get overdue billing taken off!
They state that there is not specific time table for when bills are sent, so one doen't know to watch for a bill on any specific timeframe as it may be the first, the fifteenth or maybe quarterly.
Just seems to be random if they feel like letting you know before declaring late fees!
It has been aout ten years now and it seems to be building again as one local news station is collecting complaints for a big "expose"!

Good luck!

[Morich]

Late news on why I first brough the questions and asked about other states and how it worked there?

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/...aints-persist/



I'm reasonably sure we have a bill outstanding somewhere but we have not gotten it in the mail and can't reach anybody to ask! I would rather pay the $5+/- now than wait three months and get billed for late fees!

Somebody is getting their pockets lined somewhere!

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Morich

You mention one of my headaces we were shocked to find when moving here!
Passing on the shoulder is normally forbidden in my experience but Texas seems to like to encourage breaking any laws they pass!
The "legal" part is where they add so much hazard to driving as they set it out that passing on the shoulder is okay if it it safe and "necessary". The safe part is pretty much ignored and necessary seems to be any time it will save a half second!
It is common to see accidents where the person staying in the driving lane goes to the intersection to turn and gets plowed by the one going down the shoulder!

If left of the white line marking the edge of the roadway, you do have certain right of way provisions. Right of that line, you have NO right of way and any accident is almost automatically your fault! What I see is one going down the shoulder at high speed and another in line decides it is not worth waiting and pulls right to get on the shoulder!

It would be interesting to know how those get written up and settled! A good reason for me to never go into Austin!

Many years ago my cousin was enroute to Donna, TX for the winter. He always too the Eastern route, I think it was 89. On the way down he pulled over and drove on the shoulder like he has seen many times..
A guy passed him, then suddenly turned right, resulting in a crash. State police ticketed him for illegal driving on the shoulder.

[Morich]

In the states that I have stayed long enough to know the laws, there is a definition of the "traveled portion of the highway" and it is between the white line on each edge, seperating the shoulder and the "traveled portion".

But when they throw in that it is legal to pass on the shoulder "when necessary" that definition of necessary can get pretty wide! Now when I'm turning right at an intersection and stay in the lane, I occasionally get honked at because they feel I should go to the shoulder if I am going to slow down before turning!

Motorcycle rider killed this week when they were passing on the shoulder and hit the truck turning at the intersection!
Reports say he put it down and slid, but then the truck ran over him and the bike as they kept turning!

[liveaboard74]

Originally Posted by creativepart

I get monthly emails from TxTag with zero owed statements. I have my account prefilled with $50 and back in October, 2022 I drove from Chicago to SA to help my daughter move. I took both my EZ Pass for Chicago and my TxTag for OK and TX. Both worked as promised and I still have $38 in my TxTag account. Ever since that trip I’ve received the monthly statement emails.

Before I got the transponder TxTag was my worst nightmare. Back then my daughter lived and taught school in Round Rock and it was impossible to avoid getting on a toll road accidentally. You’d be going north on Mopac and suddenly you’d have 5-seconds notice to exit or be charged a toll. Then, just as you said, it would be months before you received a bill in the mail but by the time you got it you’d already be late and have 10-days to pay before much larger late fees kicked in.

I made the mistake of trying to complain on the phone and nearly became violent with the frustration. But then I figured out that their goal was to force you to sign up for an account. Once I acquiesced I was able to chill about the whole thing.

Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff.

This>>>

Trucker all my life EZ Pass is the way to go. Something most don't know you can add several cars trucks or Motorcycles to that account never have the transducer in the unit it will bill it to that account.
I take the Goldwing motorcycle to VA to eat often. I added the motorcycle tag to my account the camera picks up it up charges it to that account. Transducer stays in my Dodge 3500 pickup. Never take it out.
Ez Pass is reconized all over the country. I know. I ran all over the country from Washington state to maine to Fla and back across.
I don't use it as much as creativepart;3934678 uses it I only keep 35 dollars on it. I'll get a notic on my bank account they have charged it when the money runs low and even some of the signs at the toll road when your going through will lite up and tell you your account is getting low. Welcome to the modern world of we got ya.
I like it back in the 70s and 80s. Live was so much more smiple.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by liveaboard74

Ez Pass is reconized all over the country. I know. I ran all over the country from Washington state to maine to Fla and back across.

Here are the state that are part of the EZ Pass system. It only works in these states (current 2023):

[liveaboard74]

Lot of the southern states don't even have tolls yet. Some inter cities like Atlanta might but if they are adding tolls ez pass will be in there soon. Almost all the big rigs on the road now have a ez pass system in the windshield.. The units go two ways in the 18 wheelers they are the scale pass in them to.
Last 10 years I have had one of those duel systems in the two trucks I drove.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by liveaboard74

Lot of the southern states don't even have tolls yet. Some inter cities like Atlanta might but if they are adding tolls ez pass will be in there soon. Almost all the big rigs on the road now have a ez pass system in the windshield.. The units go two ways in the 18 wheelers they are the scale pass in them to.
Last 10 years I have had one of those duel systems in the two trucks I drove.

If I am on a toll road, it is because I have no choice. I feel like I already pay for the roads with State taxes, Federal Taxes, Gas taxes, Registration taxes, so I figure I travel on the roads I have paid for

[liveaboard74]

Originally Posted by dkoldman

If I am on a toll road, it is because I have no choice. I feel like I already pay for the roads with State taxes, Federal Taxes, Gas taxes, Registration taxes, so I figure I travel on the roads I have paid for

Me and you both.

Last 5 years I worked, Worked out of Chicago hauling cars. Had a steady run from Baltimore MD to Chicago. PA OHIO IN and ILL turnpike 24/7
Why we make the joke you never see a southern person retire and move north.

Durham NC has a toll, not sure about Charlette I'm way over by the Outer Banks there are no tolls east of I-95 only when I go into VA do we have to wonder about those. That new bridge in Chesapeake is the only reason I went with ez pass. Caddy, dodge 3500 and Motorcycle are all on that one transducer listed in ez pass web sight. Even if the transducer is not in the car truck or bike it charges to the my account using the plate. Makes life easy.

O ya, so much for double taxation. Hwy road tax 40 some cent per gal and tolls. O well. LOL