Open Roads (TSD) - Toll Program

[palmeris]

Toll Solution

Looks like a separate program , updated and now rolled out by TSD on their open roads site linked above.

One Tag- Innovative Toll Solution allows you to have one transponder that works across the nation at all tolls and bridges. No need for multiple transponders like TX-Tags and EZPass while you're out RV-ing. Worry Free Through Open Roads' partnership with Innovative Toll Solution, you don't have to wait for monthly bills from various states or run the risk of getting sent to collections for not receiving and paying statements. Seamless Payments Toll transactions are automatically deducted from the credit card you attach to your account when you pass through toll roads while driving. The transponder is free and the annual fee is just $24 per year!

[Kirk W]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:06 AM, palmeris said:

One Tag- Innovative Toll Solution allows you to have one transponder that works across the nation at all tolls and bridges.

I would point out that nowhere on their site is there any listing of what toll systems will accept their tags. I just checked both TxTag and also NTTA(TollTag) from Texas and both list where their tags are honored but neither mention the "Innovative Toll Solution" as being honored. Innovative Toll Solutions claims to be honored on all toll roads. I just used the "contact us" from the NTTA to ask if it is honored. I would want to know for sure that it really is honored before I paid them $24/year. 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Kirk W
Add information.

[palmeris]

Yes I agree and did the same, notice they dont say its a single transponder in the FAQ section but do in the anouncment section ....We cover all toll roads nationwide and provide toll transponders/stickers for coverage. 

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by palmeris

[lappir]

1 hour ago, palmeris said:

Yes I agree and did the same, notice they dont say its a single transponder in the FAQ section but do in the anouncment section ....We cover all toll roads nationwide and provide toll transponders/stickers for coverage. 

 

I'll keep my "Free" Florida and Kansas Toll transponders. When I go to Colorado I will avoid their toll road like the plague I think it is. Just my opinion. 

I don't visit many other places that have toll roads, but if I do I think if they offer a service I'd rather pay them than someone who may or many not actually be accepted. 

Rod

Rod

[Kirk W]

On 11/7/2023 at 10:31 AM, lappir said:

When I go to Colorado I will avoid their toll road like the plague I think it is.

I have used the E470 Express Toll on several occasions to bypass Denver when going to WY and they are expensive ($28 each way) and the last time they didn't send a bill to the right address, then added a $79 late fee. I have the North Texas Toll Authority (NTTA-TollTag) transponder and they state the following: Use your TollTag to explore all of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and most of Florida with the same ease and convenience. In the future, your TollTag may include additional access to the Orlando area of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina toll roads.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Kirk W
add link

[Kirk W]

As an update on the viability of the advertised toll tag that is good everywhere, I just spoke with an employee of the north TX toll system (NTTA) about it. I had sent in an email inquiry about the validity of it and a nice lady called me from NTTA and she assured me that they do not honor the Toll Solution and that they have not been contacted by that organization and have no plans to add them. 

[lappir]

38 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

As an update on the viability of the advertised toll tag that is good everywhere, I just spoke with an employee of the north TX toll system (NTTA) about it. I had sent in an email inquiry about the validity of it and a nice lady called me from NTTA and she assured me that they do not honor the Toll Solution and that they have not been contacted by that organization and have no plans to add them. 

Thanks for going the extra mile Kirk. 

Rod

[mike5511]

14 hours ago, lappir said:

I'll keep my "Free" Florida and Kansas Toll transponders. When I go to Colorado I will avoid their toll road like the plague I think it is. Just my opinion. 

I don't visit many other places that have toll roads, but if I do I think if they offer a service I'd rather pay them than someone who may or many not actually be accepted. 

Rod

Rod

I was just in Colorado and ran the toll portion from I 70 up to I25 going to Loveland. $28 both ways? Wow! Haven't got the bill yet and not looking forward to that! 

[Kirk W]

5 hours ago, mike5511 said:

Haven't got the bill yet and not looking forward to that! 

Using the E470 toll calculator for 3 axels, from I70 west to I25 north (my truck and single axle travel trailer or 2 axle class A towing car):

License Plate Toll ~	$26.90

With 4 axels, same route:  (tow vehicle and 2 axle trailer)

License Plate Toll	~ $40.35

 

With 5 axles (class A tandem rear and towed car):

License Plate Toll	~ $53.80

 

 

[Chalkie]

When we lived in Colorado I used E-470 as infrequently as possible. It was good to get to the airport from Colorado Springs. Once coming back from an RV trip they tried to charge me almost $70 for the loop around Denver from I-25 to I-25 because the truck had temp tags although I did have the transponder. I argued what was the point of the transponder if they were not going to use it and eventually got the charge reduced to the tag rate. From then on I just gritted my teeth and went through Denver in the center lane with the RV. Because E-470 is a private company and not a public entity they can charge pretty much what they want.

 

[Kirk W]

33 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

Because E-470 is a private company and not a public entity they can charge pretty much what they want.

The last time that we used E470(June 2021) they read my truck & trailer plates accurately but then sent the bill to the address that they had on file for my TX plates, not bothering to verify it and so see that the address had changed, so I didn't receive any bills. After a few months they turned it in to a collection agency that did check the address and send the bill + a $79 late fee to the proper address. one for each direction trip. When I contacted the toll authority to point out the address change they told me that I had to prove that my address had changed before I drove over their road. Looking at their website I was able to locate a copy of the original bills so I printed each one and put a check for the original charge without the late charge in it and they did accept each check and I have heard nothing more from them in about a year.

As a side note, I also used the Northwest Parkway toll road twice while in the area and they sent the bill such that it arrived in less than a month and I paid it. Unlike the E470, they also put both trips on a single bill based on the license plate and then mailed it to the current address. When I was fighting with E470 I emailed NW Parkway and the sent a copy of their license plate number/address and the date it was read but E470 was not willing to accept that. 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Kirk W
Add information.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I have the TSD transponder in our rig and so far, it has worked as advertised in Texas, Florida, Kansas. Indiana and others. Note that you have one, sealed box but two transponders are inside the box.

[palmeris]

Is that their original Best Pass program ?

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

I have the TSD transponder in our rig and so far, it has worked as advertised in Texas, Florida, Kansas.

That is interesting, especially in light of what the lady from North Texas Toll Authority told me. Were you on an NTTA road?

[mike5511]

14 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Using the E470 toll calculator for 3 axels, from I70 west to I25 north (my truck and single axle travel trailer or 2 axle class A towing car):

License Plate Toll ~	$26.90

With 4 axels, same route:  (tow vehicle and 2 axle trailer)

License Plate Toll	~ $40.35

 

With 5 axles (class A tandem rear and towed car):

License Plate Toll	~ $53.80

 

 

Well I'm 4 axels. Bet I don't go that way again!

Edited November 9, 2023 by mike5511

[Chalkie]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:36 AM, Kirk W said:

The last time that we used E470(June 2021) they read my truck & trailer plates accurately but then sent the bill to the address that they had on file for my TX plates, not bothering to verify it and so see that the address had changed, so I didn't receive any bills.

I truthfully think that the E470 company will scam you anyway they think they legally can and then the burden of proof is on you, not them. At one time I had co-signed on a vehicle for my son. When it was paid of I signed full title to him. E470 tried to get me to pay a license read toll my son incurred well after the title was all his claiming I was a co-owner. I took a picture of the title, highlighted the date and emailed it to them. Never heard from them again. I do not know for sure how it works but the state does give them legal authority to collect tolls and levy fines if those tolls are not paid. However, I do not think they have direct access to state records and thus have to purchase them and do not keep them up to date.

[Kirk W]

44 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

I truthfully think that the E470 company will scam you anyway they think they legally can and then the burden of proof is on you, not them.

That fits with what our eldest son has to day. He worked for a software company that supplies interface software between the toll readers and various accounting programs and the company keeps a list of toll agencies that they do not do business with for ethical reasons and E470 is on that list. 

[palmeris]

Got a phone call today from innovative toll solutions regarding my inquiry of their program. The lady indicated that they cover all tolls, either by transponder or license plate reading.  I asked her to provide a comprehensive list of all the toll authorities they have agreements with. Her response was that she would email it to me, then asked if I wanted to sign up. Told her I would need to see the list prior to signing up, she assured me I would have it within a few days.

She indicated that they had been in business providing this toll service to over the road truckers for several years, and now are partnering with Open Roads, that she was new with the company and said i was the first one that had requested such a list.

More to come.

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, palmeris said:

More to come.

I'll be interested to see the list. The idea is certainly a good one if they can actually make it work. As to them paying the fee via the license plate reader, I can see how that might work with major truck-lines, but find it difficult to see how they could intercept the fee bill when the license is to an individual since they mail it to the address on the vehicle registration. 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Kirk W

[GeorgiaHybrid]

On 11/8/2023 at 1:22 PM, Kirk W said:

That is interesting, especially in light of what the lady from North Texas Toll Authority told me. Were you on an NTTA road?

Kirk. The NTTA's site indicates the are interoperable with Kansas's K-tag, Oklahoma's Pike Pass,  Texas's TxTag and EZ Tag as well as Florida's Sun Pass.

I'm pretty sure I have been on at least those roads around Dallas and they were paid by the transponder company.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Kirk. The NTTA's site indicates the are interoperable with Kansas's K-tag, Oklahoma's Pike Pass,  Texas's TxTag and EZ Tag as well as Florida's Sun Pass.

Just so that you know, I have had a toll tag with NTTA for more than 10 years now and as an account holder I get regular updates on where it is accepted, and that is how I came to be in touch with the NTTA employee who called me. If you will look at the NTTA website, as I stated before it does list "Florida (except for some tolls roads in the Orlando area)" but there is no mention of EZ Pass or Sun Pass. However that is a listing of where the NTTA tag is valid and accepted and says nothing at all about what other toll transponders that they accept. I would be very surprised if the Sun Pass is not accepted by NTTA, since their transponder is accepted on Sun Pass roads but I highly doubt it would be accepted by EZ Pass, since it is only in the Orlando area and that area does not accept the NTTA. In my experience, accepting another transponder is always a two way agreement so I'd expect that any system that accepts my NTTA tag would be accepting transponders from those systems. I specifically asked the NTTA if they accept the Toll Solutions transponder and was told no. I didn't ask if any of the other TX systems accept it, so perhaps they do?

Quote

1. What states participate with EZPass? EZPass can be used in the following states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, and ONLY Orlando area in Florida.

Quote

Florida (except for some tolls roads in the Orlando area) joins tolling agencies in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to provide convenience and the lowest toll rate with your TollTag.

You can pay for toll roads in Texas electronically with the TxTag, EZ Tag, TollTag, PIKEPASS or K-Tag, depending on where you are driving. Pay by Plate is also available on all toll roads. The first 3 are from TX systems, PIKEPASS is OK and K-Tag is Kansas.

You mentioned a box with two transponders inside so I'm wondering what it looks like? I have only seen the flat, decal like transponders recently but NTTA was originally a plastic item that was about 1/8" thick and some people would move it between vehicles, which may be the reason that they changed a few years back and replaced the old style.  What does your TSD transponder look like?(I haven't driven in FL for about 15 years.)

Edited November 10, 2023 by Kirk W
correct typo

[palmeris]

sunpass pro

Sunpass pro TX map

FYI

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, palmeris said:

sunpass pro

Which fits with what NTTA says about their transponder being accepted by Florida, except around Orlando and that they accept the SunPass. Are you saying that the TSD device has a SunPass imbedded into it? If so that might be how they could be accepted without being listed by NTTA as acceptable. Making them all accept the transponders from all of the other toll authorities is certainly the ideal answer but until that happens the commercial ones are probably the best answer for truckers and RVers who travel into all or most states. I don't have a great record in predicting the future, but I suspect that we will see more toll roads built in the future as a way to pay for new roads.

It has been a while since we were last there but family in California reports that they have had a nightmare with 12 different toll authorities but it seems that they now have FasTrak that works with all of them. 

Doing a search for a nationally acceptable toll road transponder, I found these others.

BestPass             NationalPass        RV-TollPass

Edited November 11, 2023 by Kirk W
add a link

[lappir]

4 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Are you saying that the TSD device has a SunPass imbedded into it?

Be careful Kirk, you may have hit on their "Trade Secret". Maybe we all just need to get  a big box and put all the transponders in there. Of course then you would get double and maybe triple billed if they all triggered with the system. 

 

Rod

[Ray,IN]

NationalPass.com was the first to claim nationwide acceptance, but cheap it isn't.

 Presently this is where varying toll passes are accepted.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Ray,IN