![]() ![]() A toll booth worker wearing a mask and gloves as protection from the virus happily took our $5.80. Drivers can pay, in real time, with cash or credit. But at the privately-owned Chicago Skyway along the Indiana/Illinois state line, it's a different story. ![]() There is nowhere along the Illinois Tollway. "There was nowhere to stop and pay the cash," she said. She recently moved back to Illinois and wasn't aware of the new rules of the road. You can pay online," said Robin Martin, who was also surprised by the change. They are forced to go through I-PASS lanes. Instead, drivers without transponders have only one option. Families and business owners who want to use a single account to manage multiple transponders may do so by using the Shared Balance program. Ordering an I-Pass transponder requires an initial 30 for the first transponder. Cash has been a familiar way to pay the tolls for decades.īut, when the COVID-19 pandemic exploded in March 2020, toll collectors and coin catchers vanished in the name of safety. Illinois offers a 50 discount to drivers using the Illinois I-Pass on state toll roads. Illinois’s I-Pass system costs 30 to obtain, a 10 refundable deposit and 20 prepaid tolls. However, if the site is down most of the time, then this option could be a big headache and I could end up being fined if I don't pay within the 7 day grace period.ĭoes anyone with knowledge of the Illinois Tollway system have any advice about this situation? Is their website for toll payment available most of the time and what I have experienced lately is only a rare exception or is it often unavailable? If their website is unreliable I may just take my chances and drive through Chicago center hoping to avoid the traffic jams.The Illinois toll system was created by law in 1953, and the first freeway was converted to a pay road in 1958. So I'm thinking of skipping the use of the transponder and just paying the toll later to save the cost of having to rent the transponder. So now I will shortly be returning, and I see that you can pay your toll afterwards on line on the Illinois Tollway website. I figured it out in time for the next collection point that you had to open the transponder and everything was fine after that except for the fee charged by the rental company. Well, I didn't have enough US currency on me, so that the cash lanes weren't an option, and didn't have enough time to sort out how the transponder worked so I missed the first toll. Very strange, in France you can always use a credit card at a booth and why they don't do this in the land of plastic is beyond me. When I came to the first toll collection point, I was surprised to have the choice between either the lanes without any booth (fully electronic) or the lanes in which you could only use cash (no credit card). I complained to the agent at the telephone number indicated on the credit card charge afterwards and was refunded the difference) The agent explained that Budget would charge me a fee of approximately $4.00 /day but only for the days I incurred toll charges (this turned out to be false by the way, they charge for every day of the rental contract whether you use it or not. I already knew that I-294 was a toll road so at the Budget rental car counter I discussed the charges involved in using the I-Pass transponder. So I tried it earlier this year and behold, I discovered the electronic toll collection system. However, after speaking with friends who have connections in the Naperville area, I believe it's probably better timewise to take 294 around Chicago. In the past, I used to drive straight through the center of Chicago on my way to the Skyway and into Indiana. Whenever this is the case, I rent a car at Ohare and drive to Michigan. In the last few years, airline prices have made it much more economical for me to travel to Ohare from Europe on my way to Michigan. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if this is often the case or just exceptional. As a resident of France travelling one or two times a year to the Mid west I was inspired to write this post because I'm noticing that the Illinois Tollway web site seems to be having performance issues since I started checking it a few days ago. ![]()
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