Don't ever drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when . . .

[Glenn MacGrady]

. . . on canoe trip business.

Driving to buy a canoe last month, I naively traveled seven exits (135 miles) on the Ripoff Pike and just got a toll-by-plate bill for $37. It's the most expensive toll road in the world!!!!!!

Thank Saint Scrooge, I drove home on a free and just-as-fast interstate route.

 

[billconner]

Do you have EZpass or just a cash user? Looks like around 50% premium for cash users

 

[dougd]

Happened to me in Mass. Tried to fight it but that didn't go so well!

 

[scoutergriz]

. . . on canoe trip business.

Driving to buy a canoe last month, I naively traveled seven exits (135 miles) on the Ripoff Pike and just got a toll-by-plate bill for $37. It's the most expensive toll road in the world!!!!!!

Thank Saint Scrooge, I drove home on a free and just-as-fast interstate route.

not even close! the 407 in Ontario can easily cost you $45 to go 20 miles.... $1 per km (about $1.60/mile) plus a whole pile of fees on top. Heck it even costs you $100 cdn to file a dispute over charges.
https://www.on407.ca/en/tolls/rate-charts/rate-chart-complete.html

 

[yellowcanoe]

not even close! the 407 in Ontario can easily cost you $45 to go 20 miles.... $1 per km (about $1.60/mile) plus a whole pile of fees on top. Heck it even costs you $100 cdn to file a dispute over charges.
https://www.on407.ca/en/tolls/rate-charts/rate-chart-complete.html

O Gawd.. Horrid memories. When it first opened we had no idea what electronic tolling was. We got a bill for something like $25 for a 5 mile trip. Being from a foreign country is no help. They must have pirhanas for accountants.

 

[Waterdog]

I live about 30 minutes North of the Turnpike (Bedford Exit) and I only get on the turnpike if the tolls are billable to a project. I was surprised that PA takes top honors. I hit the Dulles Toll Road in VA a lot and always thought it was pricey. Going to Minnesota I always thought I was getting hammered in Illinois, but maybe its because I had to stop and pay so frequently.

The turnpike is an ugly road, give yourself an extra half hour or so and take the more rural routes for some scenery. I heard on the radio today that PA is looking to increase road charges in one way one another (including I80) to make up lost revenue from gas taxes (caused in part by electric cars). Need to start another savings bucket to stockpile money for traveling once I retire.

Barry

 

[yellowcanoe]

Another nominee for a road of shame. Polk County Parkways. They are breeding like mosquitoes. This one saps you every three or four miles. However put a bike rack on the rear of your vehicle that covers the plate and enjoy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_State_Road_570

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I think the study claims the Pennsylvania Turnpike is the most expensive if you travel the entire length, not on a per mile basis. The EZ Pass saves 25%-50% depending on frequency of use and the state.

 

[billconner]

Just for fun, PA turnpike is 360 miles for $112.91 - just over .31/mile - most expensive if you travel full length. Personally, I like US 6 across PA.

Top 5 most expensive road tolls

1. Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway in New York - $1.25 per mile
2. 17 Mile Drive in California - $0.59 per mile
3. Chicago Skyway in Illinois - $0.51 per mile
4. Fort Bend Parkway in Texas - $0.51 per mile
5. Delaware Turnpike in Delaware - $0.29 per mile

Top 5 most expensive bridge tolls

1. Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia - $30 round trip
2. Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York - $15 one-way
3. George Washington Bridge in New York - $13 one-way
4. Golden Gate Bridge in California - $7 one-way
5. Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington - $5.50 one-way

Top 5 most expensive toll tunnels

1. Lincoln and Holland Tunnel in New York - $13 one-way
2. Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel in Alaska - $12 one-way
3. Fort McHenry Tunnel in Maryland - $8 round trip
4. Hugh L. Carey Tunnel in New York - $7.50 one-way
5. Queens-Midtown Tunnel in New York - $7.50 one-way

 

[scoutergriz]

O Gawd.. Horrid memories. When it first opened we had no idea what electronic tolling was. We got a bill for something like $25 for a 5 mile trip. Being from a foreign country is no help. They must have pirhanas for accountants.

Nah, can't be piranhas, even they stop biting you after they're full...

 

[yellowcanoe]

How about $39-$45 for car and driver for 7.6 miles? Funny, no one seems to mind. Until they hit the one and a half miles of dirt 1.5 lane road with no guardrails and two way traffic and a wee dropoff.. Then some just stop.

https://mt-washington.com/about

 

[billconner]

7.6 one way or round trip??

 

[Guest]

Some years ago I had a cross country companion who, for inexplicable reasons, wanted to take the PA Turnpike home when we were headed east. We did, or sorta did.

I had an EZ-pass. It registered go-ahead green at the entrance. It would not register green at our exit.

I sat there, backed up, crept forward, pulled the transponder off the wind shield and waved it around out the driver’s side window in case the canoes were in the way. Blew some “Come help me” on the horn.

Bupkiss.

By then I had a line of frustrated EZ-passers stacked up behind me. Screw this noise, I went on through the red. And later revieved a photo of my license plate, and $70 bill.

Never again. Plus long sections of the PA Turnpike are concrete. Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa, like riding the rails.

Some years ago a short (sub-20 mile) toll road opened in Maryland. The DMV at first devised a convoluted fee solution, a base price per mile, times X for the amount of traffic using the tollway, times X for time spent on the road. Brilliant!

There were, or course, accidents that backed up traffic. People got $100+ dollar charges for sitting motionless in stalled or stopped on the toll road, trying to travel 18 miles, or praying for the next exit.

 

[yellowcanoe]

7.6 one way or round trip??

my bad. 15.2 round trip. Brake repairs not covered by toll.

PA TPK? Way rather go Rt 80 don't care if its longer.

 

[Larry650]

Turner Turnpike in Oklahoma. No one wanted a toll road in Oklahoma. Government said it would only be a toll road for a short time, till it was paid off. That was in the 1950's and it's still a toll road today.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Government said it would only be a toll road for a short time, till it was paid off. That was in the 1950's and it's still a toll road today.

Yeah, I've heard that same government promise about many toll roads and bridges in my lifetime. Tolls are more forever than love. I also recall promises in the early 70's that cable TV would never have commercials because the cable networks would be fully financed by the user fees.

 

[scoutergriz]

O Gawd.. Horrid memories. When it first opened we had no idea what electronic tolling was. We got a bill for something like $25 for a 5 mile trip. Being from a foreign country is no help. They must have pirhanas for accountants.

that's because it's "leased" (owned for 99 years) by a foreign company so they went to the Hague to allow international billing...

 

[yellowcanoe]

that's because it's "leased" (owned for 99 years) by a foreign company so they went to the Hague to allow international billing...

Ya know if that was the only way around Toronto now on my way to Pukaskwa now and I were allowed, I would pay.