How long until the Illinois Tollway goes completely cashless?

[Stratuscaster]

If I'm driving around Chicago for a day I"m supposed to remember every toll point I passed?

If you don't, ISTHA will do it for you for a fee.

ISTHA recommends you keep track, and if you forget, provides tools to help you remember.

http://www.illinoistollway.com/tolls-and-i-pass/unpaid-tolls

[Stratuscaster]

You would be surprised at how many people still don't have computers.

Actually, no I wouldn't. Nor surprised at how many don't have smartphones.

ISTHA isn't either - which is why there is a pay-by-mail option as well.

[Stratuscaster]

How do / will these work for drivers from out-of-state, who don't have I-PASS systems?   

http://www.illinoistollway.com/tolls-and-i-pass/unpaid-tolls

[Stratuscaster]

How about someone from Nebraska or Wyoming driving east on I-80. Are they supposed to research and apply for every single "pass" like they are getting Visas and inoculations for international travel?

No, you can research and apply for just one that will take you from Illinois to New York and other compatible systems. You could use Illinois' I-Pass or the EZ-Pass system used widely on the east coast.

I'm not against cash tolls at all, for what that's worth.

The other incentive to use an I-Pass in Illinois is that the tolls are HALF of the cash or pay online costs.

[slorydn1]

Since you can pay online at the cash rate, there's really no reason to continue to offer the cash option.

Granted you'll put all the people manning the cash booths out of work.

You would be surprised at how many people still don't have computers.

It's funny you say that (and you're right I would be surprised). I am by no means rich, and yet I have 4 laptops, 2 desktops and a tablet in my home as we speak. Only one (the laptop I'm typing this on) is mine, and one belongs to my 82 year old mother who lives with us.


I can remember when TV's and phones were the one per household item, and then computers. Now they all seem to be more than one per family member items.


Back on topic: I hope all tollroads figure out a way to be both cashless and compatible with all others. I can dream, can't I?

[triplemultiplex]

How long until the Illinois Tollway goes completely cashless?

I didn't know they were running out of money.
<rimshot>


And now back to the discussion of the future of electronic toll collection in Illinois.

[Truvelo]

If the Tollway does go cashless and relies on license plate recognition then I hope there if a facility to allow non-US residents driving rental cars to pay the toll without receiving violation tickets. Last year I had problems with exact change at an unmanned toll booth but I couldn't do anything about it as only US residents are able to pay retrospectively online. Thankfully someone on this forum paid the $1.50 for me rather than ending up with a violation plus a processing fee from the rental car company.

[triplemultiplex]

Seems like a rental car in Chicagoland should come with an iPass.  Then the company can just add your tolls to your final bill.
If that's not a thing it really, really should be.

[kphoger]

If the Tollway does go cashless and relies on license plate recognition then I hope there if a facility to allow non-US residents driving rental cars to pay the toll without receiving violation tickets. Last year I had problems with exact change at an unmanned toll booth but I couldn't do anything about it as only US residents are able to pay retrospectively online. Thankfully someone on this forum paid the $1.50 for me rather than ending up with a violation plus a processing fee from the rental car company.

I've heard that, if they can see on the camera footage that you tossed money into the basket, then a violation will not be assessed.  Not sure if that was accurate when I heard it.

[kphoger]

Seems like a rental car in Chicagoland should come with an iPass.  Then the company can just add your tolls to your final bill.
If that's not a thing it really, really should be.

That may be, but the problem would still be there if he had rented the car in Des Moines and taken a side trip to Chicago.

[Stratuscaster]

Seems like a rental car in Chicagoland should come with an iPass.  Then the company can just add your tolls to your final bill.
If that's not a thing it really, really should be.

Some do offer such a thing for an additional fee.

[Brandon]

Seems like a rental car in Chicagoland should come with an iPass.  Then the company can just add your tolls to your final bill.
If that's not a thing it really, really should be.

They do, for a fee to the rental company.  I rented a car when mine was in the body shop almost two years ago, and it did come with an I-Pass.  I declined and, of course, used my own.

[SSOWorld]

Seems like a rental car in Chicagoland should come with an iPass.  Then the company can just add your tolls to your final bill.
If that's not a thing it really, really should be.

Without registering the car right?

They do, for a fee to the rental company.  I rented a car when mine was in the body shop almost two years ago, and it did come with an I-Pass.  I declined and, of course, used my own.

[8.Lug]

I don't even know what the point of the passes are in the first place. If you drive through one of these things without a pass, you get a bill in the mail. The pass is completely pointless. You should just have to register your car's tag and be done with it. It would also be the easiest way to make a 50-state system. No more needing 15 different passes to cover the country.

[tribar]

I don't even know what the point of the passes are in the first place. If you drive through one of these things without a pass, you get a bill in the mail. The pass is completely pointless. You should just have to register your car's tag and be done with it. It would also be the easiest way to make a 50-state system. No more needing 15 different passes to cover the country.

Do you own a credit card?  The way I see it, an iPass is just like a credit card.  It allows you to go about your day and worry about paying at a later date. It's not for everyone, but it is a lot more convenient. 

[Stratuscaster]

I don't even know what the point of the passes are in the first place. If you drive through one of these things without a pass, you get a bill in the mail. The pass is completely pointless. You should just have to register your car's tag and be done with it. It would also be the easiest way to make a 50-state system. No more needing 15 different passes to cover the country.

Do you own a credit card?  The way I see it, an iPass is just like a credit card.  It allows you to go about your day and worry about paying at a later date. It's not for everyone, but it is a lot more convenient. 

Again - the point is that if you have the I-Pass (and this may apply to other systems as well) - the toll rate is HALF that of the cash or pay-by-mail/online rate. If you use the system a lot, that's not an insignificant amount.

[vdeane]

It also costs less and is more reliable for the toll authority to process a pass - a pass processes automatically, but a plate photo requires a human to read the number.  Plus the pass is pre-paid, with no need to chase someone for the amount owed and hoping they pay up.

[SEWIGuy]

What's the big deal about going cashless? If you don't want to pay cash just get I Pass. Who cares what the other motorist do.

Cash is more expensive for the Tollway Authority.  You have to pay people to handle it and there is risk involved with theft.

[dzlsabe]

Maybe the whole region needs to be taken over by ISTHA and go "cashless"?

[roadman65]

What's the big deal about going cashless? If you don't want to pay cash just get I Pass. Who cares what the other motorist do.

Cash is more expensive for the Tollway Authority.  You have to pay people to handle it and there is risk involved with theft.

Don't forget that the rental car companies can charge a daily fee for talking a renter into getting their specific IPASS, and for those who are going to ride the toll roads without getting it, most likely will "accidentally" end up on one and not realizing it thanks to common ignorance now.

If the rental car companies are not lobbying in Springfield for cashless tolls, they are sure hoping for it as they can collect the unpaid toll fees that they themselves charge their customers.  With no one anymore looking at maps and asking for best routes anymore thanks to GPS technology, it gives them a gold mine!

[dvferyance]

What's the big deal about going cashless? If you don't want to pay cash just get I Pass. Who cares what the other motorist do.

Cash is more expensive for the Tollway Authority.  You have to pay people to handle it and there is risk involved with theft.

The Indiana toll road does not man any booths on the exit ramps. It's all automatic by machines I got all dollar coins back for change. Only the mainline plazas at both ends still have workers and that will probably be all automated too in the near future. They have the machines there too.

[Joe The Dragon]

What's the big deal about going cashless? If you don't want to pay cash just get I Pass. Who cares what the other motorist do.

Cash is more expensive for the Tollway Authority.  You have to pay people to handle it and there is risk involved with theft.

The Indiana toll road does not man any booths on the exit ramps. It's all automatic by machines I got all dollar coins back for change. Only the mainline plazas at both ends still have workers and that will probably be all automated too in the near future. They have the machines there too.

What about high speed gate free ETC ?

[SEWIGuy]

What's the big deal about going cashless? If you don't want to pay cash just get I Pass. Who cares what the other motorist do.

Cash is more expensive for the Tollway Authority.  You have to pay people to handle it and there is risk involved with theft.

The Indiana toll road does not man any booths on the exit ramps. It's all automatic by machines I got all dollar coins back for change. Only the mainline plazas at both ends still have workers and that will probably be all automated too in the near future. They have the machines there too.

Right.  But the money still has to be transported from the toll booth to some office somewhere, accounted for against expected receipts, and then transported to the bank.  Along the way some sort of security must be provided as well.

Electronic tolling does this so much easier.  Pretty much all the manual labor is done on the front end.  (Basically stuffing the iPass into an envelope and mailing it out.)  Everything else is done electronically and cash doesn't have to be handled.

[DevalDragon]

You stop at the toll booths and pay each one...

How do / will these work for drivers from out-of-state, who don't have I-PASS systems?   

[dvferyance]

What's the big deal about going cashless? If you don't want to pay cash just get I Pass. Who cares what the other motorist do.

Cash is more expensive for the Tollway Authority.  You have to pay people to handle it and there is risk involved with theft.

The Indiana toll road does not man any booths on the exit ramps. It's all automatic by machines I got all dollar coins back for change. Only the mainline plazas at both ends still have workers and that will probably be all automated too in the near future. They have the machines there too.

Right.  But the money still has to be transported from the toll booth to some office somewhere, accounted for against expected receipts, and then transported to the bank.  Along the way some sort of security must be provided as well.

Electronic tolling does this so much easier.  Pretty much all the manual labor is done on the front end.  (Basically stuffing the iPass into an envelope and mailing it out.)  Everything else is done electronically and cash doesn't have to be handled.

But you still have to hire workers to do that. So it makes the argument of not having to pay people a mute point.