Free Republic

ORLANDO, Fla. - Imagine not being able to pay cash for some of the toll roads you use every day. It's already happened in and around Miami and near Tampa, but now it is going to be happening in Central Florida. The Florida Turnpike Enterprise confirmed that all Florida's Turnpike roadways are going to all-electronic tolling in a 70-mile stretch from Osceola County to Sumter County by next summer. According to FTE, the project will take place on Florida's Turnpike from Kissimmee Park Road at milepost 239 to I-75, which is at milepost 309. "They're going to continue on the...

He used a remote control to troll the toll, cops allege. A 70-year-old Key Largo man deployed a remote-controlled license plate cover in an attempt to evade the tolls on Florida’s Turnpike in Miami-Dade County, the Florida Highway Patrol said. Unluckily for him, however, he did so in full view of an off-duty FHP trooper. It was just before 3 p.m. on Saturday when Davis was driving south in his Chrysler Pacifica minivan on the Turnpike approaching the Bird Road toll plaza, the arrest report stated. That’s when Lt. Alejandro Camacho, who was off duty and driving his own car,...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - The toll bills haven't stopped coming for some drivers in Central Florida after SunPass’ software meltdown last summer. In fact, state senators were told more than 4 million outstanding bills are still heading to mailboxes, adding up to an outstanding balance of $100 million. Related Headlines Last June, SunPass took its online payment system offline for a week of scheduled maintenance. At the end of the week, the system wouldn’t come back online. Almost 250 days later, people are still getting bills in the mail for the weeks of tolls that SunPass couldn’t process. Some drivers...

In life, some things are unavoidable: death, taxes — and if you live in South Florida — tolls. Coughing up money to drive on the highways add to the cost of living in South Florida. Drivers in Miami-Dade and Broward spent more than a half billion dollars in tolls fees in the last year. Consider: A daily trip from Kendall to downtown Miami costs over $4 roundtrip by Sunpass, or about $1,000 a year for a five-day a week, 50-week commuter. For those who haven’t signed up for Sunpass, the toll-by-plate rate of almost $8 per day amounts to $2,000...

ORLANDO, Fla. - One state lawmaker isn’t ruling out the possibility of an investigation, while thousands of customers wait for tolls to start posting to their SunPass accounts.SunPass conducted a major upgrade earlier this month, and since June 1st, many drivers haven’t seen any charges yet. Officials had promised to post those toll charges gradually, so as not to overwhelm the system.This delay is already causing concern for some drivers—like Mark Hammonds, who we caught in between trips that often take him on the turnpike. “You’re at risk of not being reimbursed if you don’t file them timely,” he said. The state...

It's time to mount a serious campaign to end tolls in Miami-Dade County. Any time the government wants to charge people money, we should be allowed to vote on it. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) are highway robbers preying on predominantly poor motorists struggling to have a roof over their heads, put food on the table, and take care of their families. I remember the days when there was only one toll on State Road 112 when you left Miami International Airport to get to Miami Beach. Now there are tolls on virtually every major highway...

Drivers from northern states that use the E-ZPass system for toll roads will be able to use their passes to drive on some Central Florida toll roads — and get the same discount SunPass users receive.Central Florida drivers, however, will not be able to use their EPasses to pay for tolls if they travel to the 16 E-ZPass states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and South Carolina.“One of our main objectives is to improve the ease and uninterrupted travel that E-ZPass customers enjoy, and portability to the Sunshine State is certainly a common request,” E-ZPass Group Executive Director P.J. Wilkins...

Will your E-ZPass allow you to pay a toll in a faraway state, where toll tags are named something else like SunPass or FasTrak? The concept to do that is called "toll interoperability" and it was supposed to go nationwide last October under a federal mandate. That means is Jersey drivers could use their E-ZPass on any toll road or bridge even if it uses a different electronic toll payment system. It would allow different toll systems communicate with each other and properly bill a driver who uses another agency's tag. The idea differs from electronic tolling which bills the...

Josh Kalin drives between Delray Beach and Delaware a couple times a year to visit his son and he has to have a SunPass and an E-ZPass account to pay the tolls. "It's a pain in the neck," said the 80-year-old retired opthalmologist. There's no end in sight. Although Congress required that all state toll systems be compatible by October 2016, the deadline passed and no new target date has been set. "We are unaware of any federal action as a result of the missed [deadline]," said Chad Huff, with Florida Turnpike Enterprise. Florida's SunPass, Georgia's Peach Pass, and North...

TAMPA, FL (WFLA) – Driving on Florida toll roads is part of doing business for trucker Bill VanEpps. “Tolls are a huge expense, and it adds up to a lot of money at the end of the year,” Bill said. He noticed a lot of mistakes with his EPass account so he switched to SunPass in January. “I’ve discovered weekly mistakes,” Bill added. Between January and September, Bill found 42 mistakes by the SunPass electronic tolling system. “My rig is a five axle rig. I’ve been charged for as many as 7 at one time. I’ve been charged for as...

While Miami-Dade residents were strike recently with new, rare fee hikes on vital east-west arteries, Gov. Rick Scott was rewarding his farming regressive supporters with $9 million to build and urge their toll-free roads. So while down south we compensate a way, a folks adult north who minister reduction to state revenues get a giveaway ride. Poor timing? Irony? A giggle to go with a slap to a pockets of Miami-Dade’s toll-payers? The governor’s proclamation from Tallahassee was all those things — and came by approach of press releases finished with difference of regard from a prolonged register of who’s...

A few months ago I got online to pay on a new account I have at U.S. Bank.  I pay a certain amount every  month, like everyone does on installment loans.  U.S. Bank has a full-featured consumer website; I mean it’s got all the bells and whistles.  That’s what you’d expect from a bank with $19.6 billion in revenue (2013); the fifth largest bank in America, with assets of $353 billion.  U.S. Bank is bigger than American Express, SunTrust, and ScottTrade, combined. So I was surprised when I only saw the option to pay online, a single payment at a...

The authorities that run San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge announced that next year, they will remove the crossing's human toll takers and replace them with electronic sensors. The switch has been sold as a triumph for efficiency and traffic flow but is potential budget disaster for tourists who now risk stumbling into fines or having to pay more money for e-pass equipment. Cities and states across the world have been moving to sensor-based tolling systems, from TxTag in Texas to E-ZPass in 14 states, without regard to the burden it places on tourists who either don't understand the system,...

Help from Florida FReepers. SunPass or E-Pass? I will be moving to Florida and I am wondering which is better for someone who will be traveling the state on business and using Orlando airport.