Tampa Area Tolls - Rental Car

[kryskay16]

Looking for great advice as usual from all of my disboards buddies....

Next month we're arriving in Tampa and we'll be renting a car. The rental company wants $7 per day for the toll transponder regardless of whether we use toll roads or not. However, if we choose not to get it and accidentally pass through an electronic toll then there will be a $25 penalty per toll.

Does anyone have any experience driving around the Tampa/Busch Gardens/Clearwater area? Are there cash paying toll options? Is it terrible to try and avoid the toll roads? They advertise that the electronic tolling system does not give an option to pay cash but I just find that so hard to believe. What do out-of-towners that drive their own car in FL do? I hate to tack an extra $7 a day onto the already outrageous rental price. This just seems like a scam to me. Any suggestions?

 

[JB2K]

FYI, you can purchase a toll transponder at most CVS/pharmacy and Publix (grocery) stores in Florida (I'm also from IL and maintain a SunPass transponder for those road trips to FL).

For those curious, your I-Pass/E-ZPass transponders will not work anywhere in the state of Florida as they operate on a different system.

 

[Capt_BJ]

you can easily navigate that area without encountering any tolls . . .

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

There are only 2 toll roads in the Tampa area, neither which you're likely to use. TOLL 589 (Veterans Expressway) runs north from the airport into Tampa's northern suburbs. No reason to get on that road and even if you did, there are cash lanes. More secluded is TOLL 618 (Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway) which runs east-west from Brandon, through downtown Tampa and ending out near MacDill AFB. There would be no reason to get on this road either. This road is SUNPASS/TOLL-BY-PLATE only. In the unlikelyhood that you ended up on this road, note the phone number on the signs to call and pay over the telephone within a couple days, referring to the rental car's tag number. As long as you pay, the rental car company would never be informed or involved.

Going out to the Beaches or heading to Orlando/Disney would not involve any toll roads. All toll roads in the Orlando area take cash so you need not fear them.

So you really don't need to need to pay their transponder fee.

BobK/Orlando

 

[kryskay16]

Thank you so much! It's so good to have a reliable source to turn to.