That depends on what you mean by "primary". CTRMA (Austin, TX) and NTTA
(Dallas/Ft Worth, TX) give discounts for using a transponder, but those
without are simply billed by mail at the cash rate. As long as the bill
is paid on time, there are no fines.

how does all this work with rental cars?

The rental car company bills your credit card when the charge arrives,
and sends you an e-mail saying that they did it.

R's,
John

Even toll roads in the USA are enforced by photographs of licence plates

No one enforces toll collection with photographs of license plates as
the primary system of enforcement. It supplements transponders.

We may have a problem with the word "enforce". While it's true that
transponders are the primary means of collecting [US highway] tolls,
supplemented in many cases by a cash-lane, what the cameras are doing is
enforcing a regime where people need a transponder (or to use the
cash-lane).

In some areas yes, in others, no. In Florida and Texas, and on the
407 and A25 in Canada, there is no cash lane. If you don't have a
transponder, they photo your plate and send you a bill. That's not
a violation unless, of course, you don't pay the bill.

In California, SR 91 has tolled express lanes which you can only use
if you have a Fastrak transponder, and driving on them without a
transponder is a violation. The regular lanes of the same road are
free.

R's,
John

On 21-Jan-12 14:16, tim.... wrote:
"Stephen Sprunk" wrote in message
...
On 21-Jan-12 00:13, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
Even toll roads in the USA are enforced by photographs of licence plates

No one enforces toll collection with photographs of license plates as
the primary system of enforcement. It supplements transponders.

That depends on what you mean by "primary". CTRMA (Austin, TX) and NTTA
(Dallas/Ft Worth, TX) give discounts for using a transponder, but those
without are simply billed by mail at the cash rate. As long as the bill
is paid on time, there are no fines.

how does all this work with rental cars?

In general, they send the bill to the registered owner of the car. A
rental car agency sends them back the contact information of the persons
who had rented the car at the specified dates and times on the bill, and
new bills are sent to those persons.

If you get a rental car at the airport, there is also an optional
program where you pay a flat rate per day, to be included in your rental
bill. If you paid for that option, the rental car company pays your
tolls rather than redirecting your part of the bill. (And the flat rate
is high enough they'll nearly always turn a profit doing so.)

The last time I drove on a turnpike I handed over a dollar bill to a man in
a kiosk

NTTA has closed all their cash lanes and is currently demolishing the
booths. CTRMA has kept their cash lanes open, but they are unstaffed
now and only accept coins; there is a sign on the machines saying "Don't
have correct change? Keep moving and we'll bill you!"

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

On Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:34:38 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:
paywave credit cards. Although I always feel a bit awkward using a
credit card for such small purchases.

Why? I usually have a rule that if I can pay by card I do.

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

On 21-Jan-12 09:29, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
In the UK we talk about "Law Enforcement" to mean the way in which
people like the police ensure people obey the law by various means, but
primarily by the pursuit of offenders.

It's rather Big Brother-ish, isn't it. There's no privacy and it's
gotten easier and easier to track the movements of everyone. The loss
of privacy hasn't resulted in the prevention of crime, although it
can aid in finding perpetrators after the fact when it's too late.

Here in America, the cops are quite capable of capturing the dumbest
criminals, the ones who record their violent assaults (even murders
at times) then post them to social media.

For The Onion's take on this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ380SHZvYU

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

On Jan 21, 9:24*pm, Neil Williams wrote:

On Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:34:38 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:

paywave credit cards. Although I always feel a bit awkward using a
credit card for such small purchases.

Why? *I usually have a rule that if I can pay by card I do.

I usually have a rule that if I can pay by cash for smaller purchases
then I do that.

"Stephen Sprunk" wrote in message
...
On 21-Jan-12 14:16, tim.... wrote:
"Stephen Sprunk" wrote in message
...
On 21-Jan-12 00:13, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
Even toll roads in the USA are enforced by photographs of licence
plates

No one enforces toll collection with photographs of license plates as
the primary system of enforcement. It supplements transponders.

That depends on what you mean by "primary". CTRMA (Austin, TX) and NTTA
(Dallas/Ft Worth, TX) give discounts for using a transponder, but those
without are simply billed by mail at the cash rate. As long as the bill
is paid on time, there are no fines.

how does all this work with rental cars?

In general, they send the bill to the registered owner of the car. A
rental car agency sends them back the contact information of the persons
who had rented the car at the specified dates and times on the bill, and
new bills are sent to those persons.

So they don't make some staggeringly high charge for doing this (like they
would in Europe)

tim

In general, they send the bill to the registered owner of the car. A
rental car agency sends them back the contact information of the persons
who had rented the car at the specified dates and times on the bill, and
new bills are sent to those persons.

Sometimes. In my experience, it's more common for the rental company
to pay the toll and then bill the customer.

So they don't make some staggeringly high charge for doing this (like they
would in Europe)

When I rented a car in Florida last year, I paid the rental car company and
it was about $3 plus the toll.

R's,
John

I usually have a rule that if I can pay by cash for smaller purchases
then I do that.

Why? If you get points for every purchase, why not charge everything
you can? That's what I do.

This does assume you have the discipline to pay off your cards every month.

R's,
John

On 21-Jan-12 16:06, tim.... wrote:
"Stephen Sprunk" wrote in message
...
On 21-Jan-12 14:16, tim.... wrote:
"Stephen Sprunk" wrote in message
...
On 21-Jan-12 00:13, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
Even toll roads in the USA are enforced by photographs of licence
plates

No one enforces toll collection with photographs of license plates as
the primary system of enforcement. It supplements transponders.

That depends on what you mean by "primary". CTRMA (Austin, TX) and NTTA
(Dallas/Ft Worth, TX) give discounts for using a transponder, but those
without are simply billed by mail at the cash rate. As long as the bill
is paid on time, there are no fines.

how does all this work with rental cars?

In general, they send the bill to the registered owner of the car. A
rental car agency sends them back the contact information of the persons
who had rented the car at the specified dates and times on the bill, and
new bills are sent to those persons.

So they don't make some staggeringly high charge for doing this (like they
would in Europe)

Nope; it's just the regular cash toll rate, plus a $2 fee per paper
bill, same as any other driver would get if they don't have a
transponder. Transponder users can choose electronic statements, which
are free, in addition to getting a significant (1/3) discount on tolls.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking