Ohio Turnpike begins accepting credit & debit cards at toll booths
Cruising the Ohio Turnpike is about to get a whole lot easier. Anyone who's ever traveled the highway is probably plenty familiar with the annoyance of having to scrounge for change and small bills to pay at each toll booth. But after holding out for years, the Ohio Turnpike Commission is taking a big step forward. Not only will they now institute the E-Z Pass system already implemented across much of the northeast, but many toll booths will now begin accepting debit and credit cards even if you're not part of the E-Z Pass program.
The implementation of the credit and debit card readers will begin at select, low-traffic toll booths by the end of the year, eventually to be installed at a larger array along the 241-mile highway. Neighboring Indiana will follow suit as well, where the E-Z Pass system is already in effect.
[Source: Cleveland.com via Kicking Tires | Image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
k.w.a 9:09AM (6/10/2009)
AMEN! can the penna. turnpike learn from this?? I'm tired of collecting quarters before i leave the house, or borrowing family members' EZ passes
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Ian 10:41AM (6/10/2009)
The PA Turnpike is annoying as hell with their choices of tolls. Its 95 cents to go from the exit I get on at to the next one to get on the train. Why 95 cents? Just make it a friggan dollar. The price has also gone up significantly in the past 3-4 years. 4 years ago it was 50 cents, then 75. OK, no problem, prices go up, its a fact of life. Then within a year it was at 95 cents with no warning. I have a stack of nickels in my car from paying with a dollar. Just make it a dollar and be done with it, ok PATC?
And yes, paying with a card would be awesome. Please do this.
k.w.a 10:28AM (6/10/2009)
lol, and don't forget the peak hours vs. regular times... it used to be 65 cents going from Fort Washington to NE Extension then during peak hours 75 cents; then 75 cents during regualr hours and a dollar during peak hours, and last time i checked I think i paid 1.25. it's not that the tolls are particularly expensive its just that its hard enough scrounging for change, and i'd like to know whether to look under the matress for $0.65 or almost twice as much at $1.25. Thats why i just use someone's EZPass if i want to use the highway
dukeisduke 11:16AM (6/10/2009)
By the end of July, all the NTTA (North Texas Tollroad Authority) toll roads will be cash- and tollbooth-free. The only methods used will be the TollTags, which have been in use since 1989 (the first electronic collection system in the US), and ZipCash, where a high-speed camera takes a picture of the license plate and debits an account, or sends a bill to the registered owner.
JDM Life 9:16AM (6/10/2009)
Lets see who can guess what car that is......
I say 94-97 honda Accord
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Jeff 9:54AM (6/10/2009)
I like this game...
Definitely a Honda product. I have an Acura Integra and that looks suspiciously like my cluster (minus the automatic tranny indicator), so my money's on mid/late-'90s Integra.
Leaf 10:04AM (6/10/2009)
Integra GS with an automatic... the real question is... hatch or sedan?
Grant 4:01PM (6/10/2009)
Yes, 3rd gen integra, automatic.... due to the low miles I would say it is a later model 99-01... and the ABS is messed up, uh-oh!
Bobby 10:34PM (6/10/2009)
Hey, that's the reason i clicked on the comments ..... damn you! LoL~~
mazda_justice 9:20AM (6/10/2009)
Driving while taking pictures, eh?
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Tecmec 9:34AM (6/10/2009)
When the ABS isn't even working, no less. :P
Joe K. 10:51AM (6/10/2009)
At Least he was smart enough to fill up in Youngstown before getting on the turnpike...
Dave S 9:37AM (6/10/2009)
On the Ohio turnpike you do not pay at each toll booth, only when you exit.
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davidmeza 9:36AM (6/10/2009)
I know they have booths to keep jobs, but it would make more sense to just have cameras that shoot your plates and face. They could use a computer system to then mail a bill to address that's registered with the car. If the plates are missing or don't check out, then they could just pull you over. So much time is wasted going through the tolls. The E-Z Pass system is clever, but even then; why not just have your license plate registered?
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warren 9:56AM (6/10/2009)
It's easier to send an invoice to someone for a couple of dollars than it is to collect at the time you use the highway?
Really?
akboss302 10:05AM (6/10/2009)
This is how the 407ETR works in Ontario and it works beautifully. You have a small sensor in your car that registers when you drive through the cameras, the system matches your plate to your registered sensor, and you keep driving at highway speed. If you don't have a 'transponder' there's a $10 charge, but registering for one is like $20/year. They mail you a monthly statement, works beautifully. But I can't believe its privately owned - how genius was that deal?
Ian B. 10:17AM (6/10/2009)
Better idea. There's a reason the word 'free' is in freeway. Tollroads are a throwback to medieval Europe. Get rid of them. Your local auto registration fees and gas taxes should be enough to pay for roads, not this daily tax. Interestingly, if you can even find one in a Western state, it was built and administered by a private company, strictly for profit.
nardvark 10:26AM (6/10/2009)
I like tolls. I really like graduated tolls. I shouldn't pay the same rate as a big-rig, which causes a significantly higher level of wear and tear on the road than I do in my car. Tax me for things I use, and I'm OK. Tax me for things that other people use, and I'm annoyed. Don't get rid of tolls.
dukeisduke 11:20AM (6/10/2009)
David, that is how the NTTA does it - check my comment upthread.
Art 9:40AM (6/10/2009)
this is awesome and needs to trickle its way down to each and every state. it would raise revenue, because more poeple would be likely to use toll roads if the inconvenience of having to scrounge for quarters is eliminated
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