Tolls in Southern Florida

[prairiesarah]

I am wondering if anyone has experience driving in Southern Florida and what to expect about tolls. I am a bit confused about the Pay by Plate only roads and how that works with a rental car etc (if it means you need to opt in to the rental company's program for tolls). On our upcoming trip, my BIL/nieces are flying into Fort Lauderdale, then renting a car and driving up to Orlando (got airfare prices they couldn't pass up and the driving doesn't bother him). But it looks like part of the road has toll booths but some is Pay by Plate. Any thoughts on this greatly appreciated. Just figuring out all the little last minute-ish details for the trip.

 

[JimMIA]

Like many questions, the answer is, "It depends."

First, how long is their rental for?

If they're going to have the rental for a few days, they might want to buy a SunPass (sunpass.com) and set up an account. SunPass works great and also saves you money because many of the tolls are discounted for SunPass users.

How things work using the rental car company program depends on which rental car company, and whether they have transponders or just use toll by plate. Renters need to research that option carefully because different company policies are all over the place.

At a minimum, toll by plate charges you the toll + an administrative fee, and the rental car company might well charge additional fees. So they need to do some research.

 

[MarcIsMe]

With the Bill by Plate you opt in if you use a toll road and do not have a transponder of your own. You should take the time to read the company’s policy. Some will charge you a daily fee every rental day once you trigger the toll charge regardless of usage on top of the toll. Some will charge you a daily fee on top of the toll only for the days a toll is charged. Some have a flip down box on the windshield. It may be more cost effective if you are going to use the toll roads for more than 2 days to stop at a 7-Eleven or other vendor and buy a transponder for $20 and top it off on the Sunpass website. I keep one to take on my annual trips to Margate and as an added bonus can use it here in NC. Now if I could only stop leaving it in the rental car.... Fortunately when you set up a tag, you can designate the car as a rental and set a start and stop date/time. If you have already run the car through a toll reader, make sure you backup the start time to your pick up time. Their database seems to update at midnight and I personally have never had to pay a toll to the rental agency if I catch my mistake same day (usually happens when I am in a hurry at the airport and forget to add the rental’s tag).

 

[Capt_BJ]

a lot of info here: read down the page and how the major rental companies handle the electronic toll system(s) is explained.

https://www.sunpass.com/en/tolls/rentalVehicles.shtml
There is SIGNIFICANT difference ....

some charge only for days you encounter a toll (good) some charge for every day of the contract (usually bad)

<IMO alamo/eneterprise/national has best deal: $3.95 plus tolls for days you encounter a toll {hit a toll and it starts a 24 hour clock for coverage} nothing to sign up for. Go thru an electronic gate and you get charges the $3.95 and are good for 24 hours. After 24 hours, hit anther and ditto}

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you CAN go Ft L to WDW and avoid tolls completely .... toll road is faster but it can be done sans tolls

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see also this map .... assuming you want to jump on turnpike north you can go FtL to WDW and pay CASH all the way.




hint: the turnpike runs parallel to I-95 up thru Stuart ... save some toll $ by taking 95 to Stuart where 95 and turnpike will be side by side .. and here cross to turnpike before it heads westerly. Again you can pay cash from here to WDW

 

[holden]

The tolls are crazy down there! We recently had to travel from WDW to a sporting event about an hour away. Tolls on the way there were around $3.00. Tolls on the way back were around $10.00. I have no idea why.

 

[pwmitch237]

[deleted] advice was for Central Florida & MCO.

 

[gatour]

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you CAN go Ft L to WDW and avoid tolls completely .... toll road is faster but it can be done sans tolls

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hint: the turnpike runs parallel to I-95 up thru Stuart ... save some toll $ by taking 95 to Stuart where 95 and turnpike will be side by side .. and here cross to turnpike before it heads westerly. Again you can pay cash from here to WDW
[/QUOTE]

For grins, I pulled up Google maps. Using the turnpike is says 3 hours and 20 minutes from Port Everglades to Disney Springs. Using I-95 and and the Beach Line (528) it says 3 hours and 40 minutes.

When traveling between Ft Lauderdale and WDW, we switch between I-95 and the turnpike at Ft Pierce. However we also use the turnpike the entire trip, mostly depends on my mood.

 

[Capt_BJ]

For grins, I pulled up Google maps. Using the turnpike is says 3 hours and 20 minutes from Port Everglades to Disney Springs. Using I-95 and and the Beach Line (528) it says 3 hours and 40 minutes.

I believe it .... I live near the beachline//95 interchange .... but using the beachline you still have to deal with some tolls ..... that's not the 'toll free' alternate route .... 95 to 192 to WDW is toll free but 192 gets slow when you get into Kissimmee

 

[Capt_BJ]

We recently had to travel from WDW to a sporting event about an hour away. Tolls on the way there were around $3.00. Tolls on the way back were around $10.00.

hmmmm .. details? this intrigues me . . .

 

[prairiesarah]

Thank you all for your advice - especialy @Capt_BJ. That map from the Sunpass website was exceptionally helpful. It looks like if he gets on the toll road a bit north of Fort Lauderdale and then can avoid the pay by plate section and can just pay the tolls in cash for the rest of the trip. His rental is currently with Budget which charges $3.95 a day for the whole trip (to a max) vrs other that only charge for the days used (obviously plus tolls).