Driving on toll roads has become easier. Motorists and truckers needed to obtain a toll ticket at their entry point to the toll road until recent years. When exiting, drivers had to stop and hand over the ticket at a staffed toll booth. The toll booth agent would read the ticket, calculate the charge, the driver would pay and then get back their change and a receipt.


Pretty straightforward, like checking out of a grocery store? Not exactly. Obtaining that toll ticket often meant waiting in line behind other vehicles. The button on the machine dispensing the toll tickets always seemed just out of reach, so you also had to wait on drivers to open their doors for better access. And then there was merging into traffic on the toll road while tucking the ticket away, only to search for it later as you approached the exit toll booth. You’d then discovered you ended up in the “Cash Only” lane with a credit card. Once through, the process reversed – storing the receipt, juggling any change, and merging back into traffic.


ALL-ELECTRONIC-TOLLING COMES IN TWO BASIC VERSIONS: TOLL BY PLATE AND TOLL


BY TRANSPONDER. HOWEVER, EACH WORKS DIFFERENTLY AND THESE DIFFERENCES AFFECT YOUR BOTTOM LINE AS A TOLL ROAD USER.


Today, most major toll roads are moving to “all-electronic-tolling,” or AET. Manned toll booths are becoming a thing of the past, as are most entry and exit gates. Motorists and truckers save time with “open road tolling,” where toll booths and the hassle of manual toll transactions don’t interrupt highway speeds. The subsequent reduction in lane-changing and merging improves toll road safety.


Satisfied customers support one reason for the switch to AET. Toll authorities justify another with a simple business decision: manned toll booths are the most expensive means for toll roads to handle toll transactions. Dollars drive business decisions. And when the COVID-19 pandemic made close personal contact challenging, removing the staffed booth became an employee safety decision.


AET comes in two basic versions: toll by plate and toll by transponder. Both systems must follow three steps. However, how toll by plate and toll by transponder accomplish these steps differs. And those differences affect your bottom line as a toll road user. Let’s walk through the steps and then look at examples of actual toll charges that result.


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