Chicago Toll Road Advice

[8ntruck 9,029]

In our recent travels, we made a wrong turn exiting O'Hara airport and found ourselves going in the wrong direction on a toll road.  Had we made the proper turn, we would not have been on the toll road.  We took the next exit and turned 

 

The toll roads around Chicago are now fully electronic.  I've been on line trying to find our toll - with no success.  All I get is a screen saying that I have entered incorrect information, please try again.  Calls to customer service have not been too helpful, either.  Today's call said I need an account to pay by phone during the 14 day grace period, otherwise I need to call after 30 days to pay by phone - that is what I am going to do.

 

This system is incredibly confusing and inconvenient for the out of state occasional user - the last time I used a toll road in Chicago, I tossed change into a basket at a toll booth.  I don't anticipate needing to use this road system in the near future - certainly not often enough to set up an account.

 

Does anybody know of a method where I could pay this toll on line with just my license plate number and no toll road account?

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 31,679]

I never go to the Chicago area. This is just one of the reasons. But you probably will get a bill in the mail in a couple months with a picture of your license plate. I've had that in a couple other states.

 

Classic toll road logic - let's spend $20 to collect $4...

[8ntruck 9,029]

I wonder if I'll even get the bill.  Our mailing address is a P.O. box, not the physical address on the car's registration.

 

A couple years ago, I went across the new bridge on I65 over the Ohio River at Louisville.  They used the physical address the toll bill.  The first 2 notices used the physical address and were returned.  The 3rd notice was aladdressed to the physical address, but the postal clerk recognized it and put it in the PO box - and advantage of a small town post office.  By that time, there was a lein on my truck and a $70 penalty.  I argued with the customer service person, pointing out that they got the wrong address and that it is very hard to pay a bill that you don't know about.  No quarter given.  I gave up, paid the bill, and we haven't used that bridge since - we add about 12 miles to around it. 

 

This is why I'm trying to stay ahead of the Chicago deal.

 

Next time I have to go to O'Hara,  we are going to hire a car - let somebody else fight the traffic and worry about tolls.

[Pullstart 70,549]

We picked up an ezpass in Ohio one time, actually two of them.  For the 75 cents per month they cost in rentals, it’s worth having for the few times per year we hit tolls east or west of Michigan.  The savings are close to 50% of the advertised rate as well, so it’s money saved to rent them indefinitely.

[Achto 32,090]

There is no charge for the Illinois I-Pass. Cuts your bill in half. Also works as an EZ Pass in other states.

 

https://agency.illinoistollway.com/about-ipass

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Achto

[WHX?? 57,359]

First time to the BS I dropped coins in the proverbial basket. Tolls with no basket I had the attendant sticking his head out the window and count axles and really took it in the shorts. 

2nd tie we borrowed @PeacemakerJack Ipass and the cost/hassle went away.

 

Another toll road score we just ran the damn thing figured  pay on line. Well they didn't post my plate and what i owed until AFTER the due date and took it in the shorts with a overdue charge. I took it up with the Ipass Nazis goons to no avail. 

After that I got my own which was rather painless. It's free but you give them plastic numbers and a amount to charge to it when tolls rack up and its paid automatically. Works pretty good and like Dan said good for the countries of IN, OH, PA and others. 

$369 to go both ways to the BS for us so we still take it without being kissed. 

 

Trick is to know the best routes with low tolls even if it takes a tad longer. 

 

Chi town yer on yer own or like Sylvia says one of the many reasons to stay the hell out. We gotta pay 30 just to go have breakfast with @stevasaurus.

 

 

[ML3 2,390]

EZ Pass!  And with it most tolls are reduced some. Nice to breeze right thru & not have to stop to pay or get tickets. Online account all tolls are itemized so its easy to recognize any possible errors. When I picked up the 702 in Chicago I spent more $$ on tolls than I did on fuel. 

[Racinbob 13,034]

12 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

In our recent travels, we made a wrong turn exiting O'Hara airport and found ourselves going in the wrong direction on a toll road.  Had we made the proper turn, we would not have been on the toll road.  We took the next exit and turned 

 

The toll roads around Chicago are now fully electronic.  I've been on line trying to find our toll - with no success.  All I get is a screen saying that I have entered incorrect information, please try again.  Calls to customer service have not been too helpful, either.  Today's call said I need an account to pay by phone during the 14 day grace period, otherwise I need to call after 30 days to pay by phone - that is what I am going to do.

 

This system is incredibly confusing and inconvenient for the out of state occasional user - the last time I used a toll road in Chicago, I tossed change into a basket at a toll booth.  I don't anticipate needing to use this road system in the near future - certainly not often enough to set up an account.

 

Does anybody know of a method where I could pay this toll on line with just my license plate number and no toll road account?

 

 

 

6 hours ago, WHX?? said:

First time to the BS I dropped coins in the proverbial basket. Tolls with no basket I had the attendant sticking his head out the window and count axles and really took it in the shorts. 

2nd tie we borrowed @PeacemakerJack Ipass and the cost/hassle went away.

 

Another toll road score we just ran the damn thing figured  pay on line. Well they didn't post my plate and what i owed until AFTER the due date and took it in the shorts with a overdue charge. I took it up with the Ipass Nazis goons to no avail. 

After that I got my own which was rather painless. It's free but you give them plastic numbers and a amount to charge to it when tolls rack up and its paid automatically. Works pretty good and like Dan said good for the countries of IN, OH, PA and others. 

$369 to go both ways to the BS for us so we still take it without being kissed. 

 

Trick is to know the best routes with low tolls even if it takes a tad longer. 

 

Chi town yer on yer own or like Sylvia says one of the many reasons to stay the hell out. We gotta pay 30 just to go have breakfast with @stevasaurus.

 

 

 

Check this out.

 

Pay By Plate - Illinois Tollway

 

I set up a pay by plate account a while back when I went to the @stevasaurus pad in Elgin. It works well but you don't know for sure when you're getting your picture taken. I used it again when I took a tractor to Oak Creek, WI last summer. I relied on the phone to find the route with the least tolls. It will save you some and with auto-pay you won't get late charges. Their notifications work well and it was easy to keep tabs on it. 

[WHX?? 57,359]

Nice thing about the I Pass little blue box is you can put it in any vehicle. Couple months ago Dan with down to fib land on a score and just took mine down with him. Still had to pay about 4o in tolls but the tractor was FREE! 

Now they did away with the little blue box I been told and it's some kind of sticker on the wind shield. 

[WHX?? 57,359]

1 hour ago, ML3 said:

I spent more $$ on tolls than I did on the tractor. 

Fixed that for ya ... 

[JoeM 10,081]

I use ez pass

Oh yeah, plate readers......run but can't hide. You just can not believe how many cameras are out there. Scary

Smile your on candid camera!