The Ultimate Guide to Car Rental Tolls Across the U.S.

Cashless tolls are becoming more and more common on U.S. roads with the ability to gain travel data from transponders and the benefit of increased profits from unmanned toll plazas.

It’s not just the road companies who are profiting from these tolls — rental car companies have also spotted an opportunity to make money, quite often from unaware drivers who don’t read the small print or those that haven’t checked out the toll situation for their journey.

How Cashless Toll Roads Work

Forget throwing your quarters in the basket or handing them over to a booth attendant — cashless tolls work with electronic payments only, and this doesn’t mean payment with a credit card. Vehicles are billed by reading a transponder on the car or by scanning a license plate as vehicles drive through an open lane.

Transponders are often the cheapest option, and drivers need to register an account to benefit from these reduced toll rates. License plate scanning often has higher toll rates, with a bill sent to the registered keeper’s address, which also often comes with an admin fee.

Car Rental Companies and Toll Charges

Car rental companies have different policies for how they handle toll payments. Some charge flat fees for each day of the rental, regardless of whether you pass through a toll or not. Some charge a daily fee for every day that you use tolls, and both of these options also charge for the cost of the tolls, of course.

The third option is an all-inclusive rate that is charged every day of your rental that includes the toll fee and any administrative charges.

For some policies, you will need to opt-in, and for others, you will need to opt-out, so be sure to read the small print and inquire with the company when booking or picking up your car, so you don’t get caught short.

Policies and Fees for Individual Rental Car Companies

How to Avoid/Reduce Toll Fees

Avoid Toll Routes

This may seem like an obvious option, but in some situations, you may only be saving a matter of minutes by taking the toll route. If you’re traveling for pleasure, non-toll roads will often offer a more exciting or scenic drive, so enjoy the road trip and avoid the nasty bill.

Mapping systems such as Google Maps allow you to define your route options with the choice to avoid tolls.

Pay Cash Where You Can

Paying cash won’t always get you the cheapest toll rate possible, but it will be a lot cheaper than incurring a possible admin fee per day or even per toll from the rental car company.

Make sure you approach the toll plazas at a reasonably slow speed so that you can establish which lane you need to pass through to pay cash.

Use Your Own Transponder

Some toll roads accept multiple transponders, so it’s worth doing your research beforehand to see if your personal transponder is accepted.

A particular region often works with the same system for electronic payment, so if you’re planning a road trip around the likes of Florida, then you’ll have no problem using the same SunPass transponder throughout your journey.

SunPass transponders can be purchased from CVS Pharmacy, Publix Super Markets, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Sedano’s Markets, and Walgreen’s. You will purchase a mini transponder (which won’t work again once removed from the windshield) or a portable device.

Disable the Car Rental Company’s Transponder

If you’re using your own transponder or another method of payment, then be sure to close the box for the car rental company’s transponder. This should prevent the signals from being read, but to be extra safe, you can also use a mylar/antistatic bag to cover the transponder.

Pay Tolls Directly Where You Can

This is not possible in all cases, but there are some roads and bridges that allow you to pay your tolls directly. California’s State Routes 73, 133, 241, and 261 allow payment 5 days before or after traveling on that road. Crossings of the Golden Gate Bridge are also directly payable up to 30 days before travel or up to 48 hours after.

Choose a Rental Company With the Most Suitable Pricing Structure

As you will have seen within the information above, car rental companies can charge wildly different fees. Map out your route to see how many tolls you will encounter, as you may want to go with a company that offers an all-inclusive package versus a company that charges an admin fee per day of usage.

U.S. Cashless Toll Locations

Final Thoughts

Everyone hates getting their car rental bill and seeing unexpected charges on there, however, with a bit of pre-planning, this can be avoided.

Cashless tolls are only going to become more common on U.S. roads, so make sure you check out the policy for your prospective car rental company before booking, purchase your own transponder, or map out your journey for alternative toll-free routes.