Oklahoma - Get your act together

[Rain Man]

What's the deal with those toll roads? I was driving along and all of a sudden my road announced that it was turning into a toll road. Whatever - that's rude, but I can deal with it.

But here's the thing that annoys me. There's a sign that says, "Exact Coins Required". That's it. That's the extent of the instructions.

First off, I live in the 21st century, so I generally don't have coinage in my pocket at all. Occasionally I may have a few if I just bought something with cash, which in itself seldom occurs.

But second, and most importantly, what exact coinage do I need? I'm more likely to have a quarter in my pocket than to have 88 cents. Is the fee 50 cents or 32 cents or 79 cents? This is really important information to provide to the traveling motorist.

With no other option available to me, I veered off on the alternate route and drove the backwoods for an hour, which was probably more interesting and fun. But come on, Oklahoma. Give me a chance to use a credit card, or at least give me a change machine or something. Things like this are why people choose to vacation instead in California or Hawaii.

(I may have posted about this the last time I was in Oklahoma, but if so, it's still not fixed.)

[Flying High D]

I just drive through those.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Flying High D

I just drive through those.

I assumed that a big net would scoop your car up if you did that. No?

[KCUnited]

Not sure about OK, but in IL you can pay online within 7 days after you just roll through them.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Not sure about OK, but in IL you can pay online within 7 days after you just roll through them.

According to the sign, exact coins are required in Oklahoma. I have to think that there are other options, but worry that there are massive squatter cities of people stuck at the tolls because they lacked exact change, and they're living in their cars with no running water or electricity, mining ore from the ground as they attempt to smelt crude coins.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

According to the sign, exact coins are required in Oklahoma. I have to think that there are other options, but worry that there are massive squatter cities of people stuck at the tolls because they lacked exact change, and they're living in their cars with no running water or electricity, mining ore from the ground as they attempt to smelt crude coins.

You aren't going to get pulled over if you don't pay for tolls. In Chicago, they send me a bill with a photo of my car. So **** them in their tolls. Last couple of times Ive driven to Chicago and through Oklahoma I just put on an old novelty Nevada plate I bought. Keep the real one in my car. Free. Yes, I'm a pos

[Flying High D]

Nope, alarms go off and cameras flash. If they can’t pay someone to sit in a booth to take my money can they really pay someone to look at pictures and try to find me?

[Naptown Chief]

Originally Posted by Flying High D

Nope, alarms go off and cameras flash. If they can’t pay someone to sit in a booth to take my money can they really pay someone to look at pictures and try to find me?

Where do you think the rude prick that used to work the booth went?

In Maryland they give us like a week or two to pay without an outrageous fine, or so I think.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by dwwataz

Where do you think the rude prick that used to work the booth went?

In Maryland they give us like a week or two to pay without an outrageous fine, or so I think.

I drive frequently in California, and they had a decent system that allowed you to log onto a web site and pay. That must have worked too well, because they the last time I was there, they switched to a system where you cannot pay it and get a $250 fine and then spend three weeks going back and forth with the different organizations that run the tolls trying to explain that there's no way to pay now when you're using a rental car.

[DanT]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I drive frequently in California, and they had a decent system that allowed you to log onto a web site and pay. That must have worked too well, because they the last time I was there, they switched to a system where you cannot pay it and get a $250 fine and then spend three weeks going back and forth with the different organizations that run the tolls trying to explain that there's no way to pay now when you're using a rental car.

If the California toll roads take FasTrak, it may be worthwhile to open an account with them. You'll get a toll tag (about the size of a fat wallet) and you can then add rental car vehicles to the account, at least in theory. https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/gu...sRentals.shtml

I have a FasTrak account, but I've never tried to to use it in a rental car. I would guess that it would work OK.

I rented a car this week at the Denver airport, to get back and forth from Westminster for a scientific conference, and hadn't thought about toll roads as an issue until after I was on the road, when I encountered some toll lanes along the way. Fortunately, it turned out that the non-toll lanes were fine.

Denver seems like a great place to live, at least the little bit of it I've seen.

[Flying High D]

Originally Posted by dwwataz

Where do you think the rude prick that used to work the booth went?

In Maryland they give us like a week or two to pay without an outrageous fine, or so I think.

Dang it. I always forget about the rude prick. I must of had that repressed.

[carcosa]

Your first mistake was being in Oklahoma

[Flying High D]

If they ever catch you, tell them you have low testosterone that causes brain fog.

[srvy]

Indian Nations toll roads are everywhere in Ok.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

But second, and most importantly, what exact coinage do I need? I'm more likely to have a quarter in my pocket than to have 88 cents. Is the fee 50 cents or 32 cents or 79 cents? This is really important information to provide to the traveling motorist.

Well... the price is prorated depending on the distance you traveled on the toll road. So they can't just slap a single price on the sign. For example, hypothetical people that entered at mile marker 20 will be paying $4.25 while people that entered at mile marker 40 will be paying $2.