Beware Fees Toll Roads (407ETR) in Canada!

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by timjet

The toll the OP paid for that short distance is outrageous. No one can justify that. Doesn't matter if it's US or Canadian.

I have never used a toll road with my RV. I have my GPS set to avoid toll roads for exactly the reason the OP experienced. I doubt this has cost me more than 10 minutes travel time vs using a toll road.

Northern Illinois tolls will test your patients. Using the wrong toll rood between Indiana and Chicago will cost you dearly (interstate 90). Use interstate 94 instead. Avoiding toll roads there can easily leave you stopping every 1/4 mile for distances that seem endless. Careful planning or experience are required. They still accept cash, but not at every exit. Some "freeways" end suddenly in city traffic.

[Persistent]

Western Mass. Is now free, although the you must still get a ticket. You only pay if you use the eastern section.

[hohenwald48]

I once set up my GPS to route me from Nashville to Bangor ME. It did it's thing and then showed a route that was something like 8,000 miles long. I still had it set to "avoid tolls". I think it routed me thru Seattle and then thru BC and across Canada and back into ME. I never took that trip.

[George Schweikle]

In addition to the earlier responses: In Kentucky the tolls were removed from the Bluegrass Parkway (KY9002) and the Mountain Parkway (Now I-64 and US 460).

Originally Posted by hohenwald48

Can you name any road in the US or Canada that had the toll removed once the road was paid for? Politicians really don't like to remove a tax.

[Cypressloser]

Originally Posted by richardgood

That is how they manage to keep their roads so nice, have great public transport, free healthcare and a safe, clean society.

You're not serious, are you?

[richardgood]

Originally Posted by Cypressloser

You're not serious, are you?

Compared to the USA absolutely. Now if you want to compare Canada to Germany I suspect Germany would come out ahead.

[Cypressloser]

Originally Posted by richardgood

Compared to the USA absolutely. Now if you want to compare Canada to Germany I suspect Germany would come out ahead.

We have relatives in Germany. The healthcare system is a government regulated, public and privately financed combination of public and private healthcare providers both offering very high standards of healthcare at a cost that is lower than what it is in Canada and the US - and if you choose to you can pay out of your own pocket for any treatment at a privately owned hospital or facility, which is against the law in Canada (well, at least in AB it is). Btw., Germany is not the only European country providing superior healthcare for it's citizens.

[richardgood]

Originally Posted by Cypressloser

We have relatives in Germany. The healthcare system is a government regulated, public and privately financed combination of public and private healthcare providers both offering very high standards of healthcare at a cost that is lower than what it is in Canada and the US - and if you choose to you can pay out of your own pocket for any treatment at a privately owned hospital or facility, which is against the law in Canada (well, at least in AB it is). Btw., Germany is not the only European country providing superior healthcare for it's citizens.

Yep, many European countries have great healthcare.

[OldBeaver]

Originally Posted by richardgood

Yep, many European countries have great healthcare.

You really have to examine the entire spectrum. In many cases the families have to fight the government bureaucracy to get treatments that are considered ordinary in the US.
However the do not have the FDA and many medications that are over the counter there are not even available in the US.
EU however has been spreading its nasty regulatory tentacles into areas that were previously unregulated and taken for granted. Suddenly herbal medicines are on the forbidden list. You can bet that big pharma had something to do with that.

[60sumtin]

Originally Posted by wingnut60

When was the toll removed? In '16, I crossed the Mann Bridge several times and 4 months later got the bill....

2017

[richardgood]

Originally Posted by OldBeaver

You really have to examine the entire spectrum. In many cases the families have to fight the government bureaucracy to get treatments that are considered ordinary in the US.
However the do not have the FDA and many medications that are over the counter there are not even available in the US.
EU however has been spreading its nasty regulatory tentacles into areas that were previously unregulated and taken for granted. Suddenly herbal medicines are on the forbidden list. You can bet that big pharma had something to do with that.

When I had prostate cancer in the USA, it took them almost a year to schedule surgery even though it has killed most of the men in my family. My file sat at the investigators office for months whilst they tried to see if they could deny coverage. When I had Salmonella poisoning, the hospital and doctors mismedicated me and almost killed me

[richardgood]

This was in the USA.

[evofxdwg]

Sorry folks! I didn't mean to kick off a war of words on Government benefits (or lack thereof). Im sure all systems have pluses and minuses and abnormal cases.

In my original post, I tried to emphasize my main issue of the 407ETR people not telling me up front of service fees or penalties for not having a transponder. (e.g. fees/penalties on a sign or at least a sign to check a URL online for service fees if I'm in a larger vehicle). I don't think I did a very good job of that emphasis.

I don't think we're going to solve the worlds problems or convert anyone here.
Please chill and enjoy the holidays!.

[Monacoach]

That's what happens when you blindly drive onto a toll road. A little research of your trip could have saved you this aggravation. It is highway robbery though.