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Old 02-01-2025, 05:49 PM   #1
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Travel to Florida

My wife and I are going to be back to full timing this late spring. We are leaving Idaho and going to Utah to see our daughter for a week and then leaving Salt Lake City heading across country to Florida I know there are two routes one north and the other south. Any tips on which one is the better of the two? I am concerned about tolls for the motorhome and the car I am towing. I heard someone paid $700 for a toll on his motorhome it could have been fake news I don't know. I have heard about tolls passes like EZ-pass and other ones not sure how they work.
Thanks
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Old 02-01-2025, 06:26 PM   #2
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Just been that way, and depending on your exact route, few if any tolls at all. Kansas has some toll roads, and there are some around Dallas, but rest in clear sailing on I 10 or I 20 to Florida. In Florida, you have the Florida turnpike toll roads from I75 south of Ocala to Miami, and a few toll bridges south of I 10 to the gulf of America. I have easy pass. If you paid a $100; in tolls max I’d be surprised.
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Old 02-01-2025, 09:25 PM   #3
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Plan your route to avoid toll roads. Easy Peasy!
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Old 02-01-2025, 09:35 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by twogypsies View Post
Plan your route to avoid toll roads. Easy Peasy!

Bingo, you nailed it!

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Old 02-01-2025, 11:19 PM   #5
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I pay tolls on some roads in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Those are toll road fees. I do not pay tolls in other states. Some I consider too high. Some like Florida, it seems every time they do any repairs, they make the highway into a toll road. And some of the newer ones can charge 5 or more dollars per mile for an RV with multiple axles.

I do not like driving the Florida Turnpike from Wildwood to Miami. Mainly because there is no way to get off for many stretches. If there is an accident, or a need to stop your RV - you are stuck inches from the high speed lanes. Or has happens to my Son-in-Law and his family - 8 to 12 hours long sitting in a backup.

We did two winters in Florida, centered around the Fort Lauderdale area and never drove on a toll road. It can be done.

$100 for a toll road - you can be surprised quickly and charged that much.

Almost no toll roads still have toll booths. You drive past and one of two things occurs. If you have a universal toll pass module, of a highway specific one like EZ-Pass, Sun Pass, NTTA Toll Tag, Pike Pass - that is billed.

If you do not have such a pass that tollway recognizes - your license plate is recorded, and a bill comes in the mail for the toll fee. Which is always higher than the pass rate, maybe 25% or more higher.

----------
Another big factor in pricing is the number of axles. That is how most toll roads determine the fees.

The OP is driving a two axle motorhome. Most places he gets billed at the same rate as a passenger car most places.

Three axles - a pickup pulling a single axle trailer - is a higher rate usually 150% to 200% the regular rate.

Four axles - a pickup and a 5th wheel, a motorhome with a toad - which is likely what the OP has - that is usually 200% to 400% of the base two axle rate.

Five axles - a motorhome with a tag axle and a toad - is 400% - 800% of the base rate. Anything with five axles is billed at the same rate as a 65,000 18 wheeler commercial truck. (and a tag-axle motorhome can often be over 50,000 lbs).

So, on. The Florida Turnpike 2023 toll sheet (https://floridasturnpike.com/wp-cont...rida-07-24.pdf) List the rate for two axles from I-75 south to the Three Lakes Plaza south of the Orlando Metro Area (73 miles) is $4.13 for two axles with at the Sunpass rate, $5.18 for billed to the plate
Three Axles - $6.21/ $7.77
Four Axles - $8.28/ $10.36
Five Axles - $10.35/ $12.95

This isn't too bad, because it was built when the state built and funded toll roads.

==========
A current 'fashion' is to create 'express lanes' down the center of a stretch of a highway, often in busy traffic cities. Most of these are run by FOR PROFIT companies under franchise type agreements and though not signed as toll roads, are very expensive.

One that comes to mind is from downtown Fort Worth, TX north next to I-35W to near Alliance Airport. A distance of 16 miles. On demand pricing for the TX-Tag highway was $14.05 about a year ago and took right at 13 and 1/2 minutes (80 mph speed limit) That was for a two axle vehicle (jeep Cherokee) at near noon. At five pm the rate would be $42.15.

For a four axles vehicle - $82.45, for a five axle vehicle $124.60.

If the person did not have an automated tag billing - that would be $166.75. And unless the GPS or other navigation was not set to Avoid Toll Roads - the driver would never know he was on a toll road, not the 'Express Lane' as it is billed. There are signs above the tollway a mile or two before the entrance with the current rate. Easy to miss in a new city.

My son-in-law says the on-demand toll lanes in I-95 in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties work the same way.

Those segment has 'demand based pricing' if you hit that area in what they call a high demand time - the price goes up by two, three or five times the normal rate.
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Old 02-02-2025, 05:19 AM   #6
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You will likely run into some tolls (KS, OK, FL). Unless you want to stop at each vs using a transponder and not having to stop, here is a consideration: https://myopenroads.com/innovative-toll-solution

Sounds like a nice trip!
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Old 02-02-2025, 06:52 AM   #7
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My wife and I are going to be back to full timing this late spring. We are leaving Idaho and going to Utah to see our daughter for a week and then leaving Salt Lake City heading across country to Florida I know there are two routes one north and the other south. Any tips on which one is the better of the two? I am concerned about tolls for the motorhome and the car I am towing. I heard someone paid $700 for a toll on his motorhome it could have been fake news I don't know. I have heard about tolls passes like EZ-pass and other ones not sure how they work.
Thanks
You didn't say where in Florida you are heading. You may not need to worry about toll roads in Florida.
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Old 02-02-2025, 07:28 AM   #8
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If the route that I wanted to take has tolls, I would go to that state's DOT site and look at the toll chart.
Here is a link to the Maps, and toll charts for Florida's multiple tool roads:

https://floridasturnpike.com/tolls/toll-rates/

Planning a travel route takes some research (along with fuel stops, overnight stops points of interest, etc.), so this is just another step in the process.
Safe Travels.

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Old 02-02-2025, 08:22 AM   #9
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We have driven across country on I-10, I-20, and I-40 several times without paying a single toll. We have driven north to south in Florida and never paid a toll. If for some reason you want to detour onto the toll roads on your trip, the toll pass for Oklahoma is good in Oklahoma, Texas, and the Florida Turnpike will reduce the cost of tolls.

As for the outlandish claim of $700 they would run up a significant bill travel many toll roads and rely on pay by mail, but $700? If you do plan to travel in the north east, you need an EZ Pass. Good for most of the east except Florida.

Another hint, set your GPS to avoid tolls and take a look at the route.
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Old 02-02-2025, 08:54 AM   #10
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Depending where in SLC, you can head E on the 80, toll free till Chicago area. Or work your way S from SLC & take the 70,or the 40. At some point start heading S. Or go from SLC going even more S, all the way to the 10.

All these will get you towards FL toll free, just need a little planning.

We just got back from a trip, these are the main points. So Cal to Chicago, then Charsleton, SC. Then Jacksonville, Houston, Dallas & back to So Cal. I have an IL Pay by Plate set up, but no other toll account. So far, I've received a $17 bill in the mail for the stretch between OK City & St Louis. It's double what it would have been if I had the OK-TX-parts of FL account, but I don't like them holding my $ for something i rarely use. When I KNOW I'll be using it more often, Ill set up an account. We still may get 1-2 more in the mail, but still should be total under $50-60 in tolls to go West Coast to East Coast & Back w/out any real route planning.

W planning , you can go Toll Free.
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Old 02-02-2025, 09:08 AM   #11
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My wife and I are going to be back to full timing this late spring. We are leaving Idaho and going to Utah to see our daughter for a week and then leaving Salt Lake City heading across country to Florida I know there are two routes one north and the other south. Any tips on which one is the better of the two? I am concerned about tolls for the motorhome and the car I am towing. I heard someone paid $700 for a toll on his motorhome it could have been fake news I don't know. I have heard about tolls passes like EZ-pass and other ones not sure how they work.
Thanks
If you’re TRULY going back to full timing…….why do you need to take interstate highways with tolls, or ANY toll roads? Full timing means you’re not in a hurry.
Take the roads before interstates were built and get to see the real countryside and small town people.

If I was full timing…..I’d get rid of any clocks and travel by climate dictated by the calendar. South in the winter…..more Northerly in the summer.
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Old 02-02-2025, 09:19 AM   #12
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I think you would have to try very hard and do a lot of backtracking to rack up $700 in tolls.

We have a VA EZ Pass from when we lived in the DC area and still use it. The most tolls we’ve encountered is in the northeast, running from MI to VA on OH and PA turnpikes. Never has been over $100 on a trip.

On your route, Several states have some tolls but as others have mentioned, they can be easily avoided. Also consider your fuel usage. Sometimes it’s cheaper just to pay the toll rather than taking a longer route to avoid it.
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Old 02-02-2025, 12:31 PM   #13
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We live in Florida and head out west every summer. We take I-10 to Mobile and then cut up through Mississippi and pick up I-40. Depending on our whims we will hit I-40 anywhere between Memphis and Amarillo. We absolutely avoid Atlanta, Dallas and Houston. Toll roads really aren't an issue. We use EZ-Pass which has worked for most tolls that we have encountered but that is more of an eastern thing than it is heading west. Texas has some tolls but they use a license plate recognition system so you can just drive through and they send you a bill in the mail.
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Old 02-02-2025, 02:11 PM   #14
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If you’re TRULY going back to full timing…….why do you need to take interstate highways with tolls, or ANY toll roads? Full timing means you’re not in a hurry.
Take the roads before interstates were built and get to see the real countryside and small town people.
This was my question. You don't have to drive interstates. In fact, it's a lot more pleasant and you see more interesting things if you drive state and county highways. In 16 yr of full-timing we rarely drove interstates except for small mileage to get from one secondary highway to the next.
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