Toll road questions

[Goldfish Are Feral]

Hello everyone!

We are getting excited as we are about to make a trip to Disney World in 4 days!!! We are choosing to drive from Indianapolis to Orlando and I had a question about the toll booths in COVID times. Are they still taking cash and what is a good site to get reliable cost estimates on how much the tolls will be. We did the math before COVID and realized it would be cheaper by a lot to just pay them instead of using an EZ Pass on our rental but now I'm almost regretting that decision if the toll booths no longer take cash. Since we are renting, driving through and having them bill us later isn't an option. Does anyone have any information to help me? This little detail is just now occurring to me and getting an EZ Pass isn't an option at this point.

 

[Lewisc]

If you have an EZPASS just use it in your rental car.

You can buy an EZpass in some CVS locations.

 

[karen4546]

Hello everyone!

We are getting excited as we are about to make a trip to Disney World in 4 days!!! We are choosing to drive from Indianapolis to Orlando and I had a question about the toll booths in COVID times. Are they still taking cash and what is a good site to get reliable cost estimates on how much the tolls will be. We did the math before COVID and realized it would be cheaper by a lot to just pay them instead of using an EZ Pass on our rental but now I'm almost regretting that decision if the toll booths no longer take cash. Since we are renting, driving through and having them bill us later isn't an option. Does anyone have any information to help me? This little detail is just now occurring to me and getting an EZ Pass isn't an option at this point.

they take cash. I drove in December 2020. paid cash. We drove from Louisiana. I think it was $10 one way. (two tolls) It could have been more. Just have dollar bills and a roll of quarter. But they will give change.

 

[joelkfla]

Toll booths in the area are gradually being converted to cashless. For example, the interchange between the Turnpike & I-4 is now cashless.

If you have Amazon Prime or are willing to pay an extra $10 for shipping, you can order today on Amazon and get an UNI delivered on Monday. Search for "Uni toll pass". UNI is compatible with all FL toll roads and all E-ZPass toll roads. If you already have an E-ZPass, make sure you have only one transponder in the car, or shield one in an RF-shield bag.

If you have an E-ZPass from a state other than FL, it will be accepted on some roads in the Orlando area, but not others, and not on the Turnpike. If you take the Turnpike and exit on SR-429 south to WDW, E-ZPass will be accepted on SR-429 as far as WDW (but no further), and I think the only mainline toll plaza you'd go thru on the Turnpike still takes cash. If you don't have an E-ZPass, I think the only mainline plaza you'd go thru on SR-429 also takes cash, but I'm less sure about that one. All mainline plazas that still take cash also give change.

ETA: Just checked the Florida's Turnpike website, and it now shows "SunPass only" from the northern end through Orlando, so I'm less confident about that one mainline toll plaza taking cash. Apparently they intend to eliminate cash tolls, but I don't know whether it's happened yet. Things are changing more rapidly than I expected.

You can also purchase a SunPass sticker at the first service plaza on the Turnpike, which is before the first toll plaza. But I don't know how long it takes to become active after you set up the account. Might be faster if you set up the account on the web site before leaving home, if that's possible without having a transponder in hand. The sticker glues onto the windshield, and is good on all FL toll roads, but not out-of-state E-ZPass roads. You would have to scrape it off before returning the rental car.

 

[Eeyore daily]

The two toll booths from Tampa to Miami still took cash last week so I would assume the others do as well unless it's a toll by plate.

 

[Goldfish Are Feral]

Toll booths in the area are gradually being converted to cashless. For example, the interchange between the Turnpike & I-4 is now cashless.

If you have Amazon Prime or are willing to pay an extra $10 for shipping, you can order today on Amazon and get an UNI delivered on Monday. Search for "Uni toll pass". UNI is compatible with all FL toll roads and all E-ZPass toll roads. If you already have an E-ZPass, make sure you have only one transponder in the car, or shield one in an RF-shield bag.

If you have an E-ZPass from a state other than FL, it will be accepted on some roads in the Orlando area, but not others, and not on the Turnpike. If you take the Turnpike and exit on SR-429 south to WDW, E-ZPass will be accepted on SR-429 as far as WDW (but no further), and I think the only mainline toll plaza you'd go thru on the Turnpike still takes cash. If you don't have an E-ZPass, I think the only mainline plaza you'd go thru on SR-429 also takes cash, but I'm less sure about that one. All mainline plazas that still take cash also give change.

Thank you so much for your response! Toll roads are very forgein to me. I just bought a Uni pass off of Amazon and the cost is just for the transponder correct? Now I have to make an account and load money on right? Thanks in advance!

 

[Brandilla]

We had a rental car in Orlando in March and were majorly unprepared for the number of tolls we would have to pay! Some were exact change only and we did also go through one which was some kind of bill later thing where you didn't stop at all.

At one we did not have exact change (was 75 cents I think) so we had to drive away and ended up getting a charg from the car rental company. We had to pay like $9. So it wasn't terrible but boy were those tolls frustrating!

 

[joelkfla]

Thank you so much for your response! Toll roads are very forgein to me. I just bought a Uni pass off of Amazon and the cost is just for the transponder correct? Now I have to make an account and load money on right? Thanks in advance!

Yes. I've had mine for decades, but I believe the transponder will arrive with instructions on how to set up the account on the E-PASS website. It's easiest to just connect to a credit card. After the initial deposit, it will add money automatically when the balance drops. I have mine set up to add $20 when the balance drops below $10, because I don't drive as much since I'm retired.

 

[joelkfla]

The two toll booths from Tampa to Miami still took cash last week so I would assume the others do as well unless it's a toll by plate.

I'll assume you took I-4 to SR-417 to the Turnpike.

Looks like 417 still accepts cash, including at the Turnpike-operated toll booths.

On the Turnpike, you would have traveled mostly on the "ticket system" portion, which the website shows is still accepting cash, unlike the "Northern coin" section from Wildwood thru Orlando.

 

[Rudist]

E-ZPass is not accepted on most toll roads in Florida, but their SunPass is. In other states along the way E-ZPass would be accepted. I have found the Illinois I-Pass, which is interoperable with E-ZPass, to be the cheapest and easiest way to get a transponder, and they have no maintenance fees. I live in Ohio btw and rarely go to Illinois, but other states often charge a maintenance fee or extra money for the transponder. I doubt third parties would be any better

 

[Goldfish Are Feral]

E-ZPass is not accepted on most toll roads in Florida, but their SunPass is. In other states along the way E-ZPass would be accepted. I have found the Illinois I-Pass, which is interoperable with E-ZPass, to be the cheapest and easiest way to get a transponder, and they have no maintenance fees. I live in Ohio btw and rarely go to Illinois, but other states often charge a maintenance fee or extra money for the transponder. I doubt third parties would be any better

I ended up ordering a Uni toll transponder from Amazon so I'm hoping it will arrive when it says it will. Apparently its accepted almost everywhere. We'll have cash just in case and hope tolls are still accepting cash.

 

[joelkfla]

E-ZPass is not accepted on most toll roads in Florida, but their SunPass is. In other states along the way E-ZPass would be accepted. I have found the Illinois I-Pass, which is interoperable with E-ZPass, to be the cheapest and easiest way to get a transponder, and they have no maintenance fees. I live in Ohio btw and rarely go to Illinois, but other states often charge a maintenance fee or extra money for the transponder. I doubt third parties would be any better

As I posted above, UNI by E-PASS works on all Florida toll roads as well as all E-ZPass roads. It is portable with suction cups, and costs only $15 if you can wait a month for delivery and order directly, or $18.50 on Amazon for fast delivery. There are no fees.

 

[baptrap]

You can goto the central florida expressway website at www.cfxway.com and they have a printable map which shows which roads are there's and take EZ pass and which roads are the Florida turnpike's which don't.

 

[gharter]

You can get an EZ Pass or Sunpass. You can pay cash, but some of the exits don't do cash.

 

[baptrap]

You can goto the central florida expressway website at www.cfxway.com and they have a printable map which shows which roads are there's and take EZ pass and which roads are the Florida turnpike's which don't.

We are currently visiting Disney world. We drove today to Hunter's Creek using the Osceola parkway. I could not find any information on whether they took EZ pass or not. They are their own tolling authority. I had my EZ pass in the car and when I went to the cash lane they told me I was all set. The sensor read my E-ZPass and processed it. I asked him if they accepted the E-ZPass now and they said yes. I was thrilled.

 

[joelkfla]

We are currently visiting Disney world. We drove today to Hunter's Creek using the Osceola parkway. I could not find any information on whether they took EZ pass or not. They are their own tolling authority. I had my EZ pass in the car and when I went to the cash lane they told me I was all set. The sensor read my E-ZPass and processed it. I asked him if they accepted the E-ZPass now and they said yes. I was thrilled.

Good to know. Osceola Pkwy was built by a separate agency, but I heard they recently turned over toll collection to CFX, which is the agency that does accept E-ZPass.

 

[joelkfla]

I ended up ordering a Uni toll transponder from Amazon so I'm hoping it will arrive when it says it will. Apparently its accepted almost everywhere. We'll have cash just in case and hope tolls are still accepting cash.

Hey, if you're still there -- Did the UNI arrive on time?

 

[Goldfish Are Feral]

Hey, if you're still there -- Did the UNI arrive on time?

Sorry for late reply but yes! Super easy to add funds to! So far no problems!

 

[EACarlson]

I ended up ordering a Uni toll transponder from Amazon so I'm hoping it will arrive when it says it will. Apparently its accepted almost everywhere. We'll have cash just in case and hope tolls are still accepting cash.

Just as a heads up if you weren't already aware. That same UNI will work on the Indiana Toll Road, Illinois Tollway and the Bridge to Louisville on 65.

 

[Goldfish Are Feral]

Just as a heads up if you weren't already aware. That same UNI will work on the Indiana Toll Road, Illinois Tollway and the Bridge to Louisville on 65.

Thanks for the heads up! And yea as I was reading the leaflet I saw that.