Paying Tolls on a Motorcycle

One of the most annoying aspects of riding a motorcycle is paying tolls. A chore as simple as this creates major aggravation for many riders. It’s funny, but I think many of us actual pre-plan in our minds before we even crank up the bike, how we are going to pay the toll. The process seems quite straightforward:

Pull up to the toll booth, Place left hand on the clutch, Shift bike into neutral, Remove gloves, Remove wallet or cash, Pay toll, Put wallet away, Put on gloves, Pull in clutch, Shift bike into gear, Leave in one piece!

Seems like a brainless task yet I think the problem is we don’t want to look like jackasses taking up too much time fumbling around for money once we get up to the booth, or stalling out when we try to fire up again. To many of us, that simple act seems like it is lasting an hour not just a couple of seconds! Also, more than a few times I have stopped at a toll booth and went into a slight skid due to the oil and other gunk that accumulates when drivers stop to pay. Nothing beats going down on your bike paying a toll with the twenty honking horns blaring behind you!!

You can take a deep breath and do it the old way, or as more and more of us are doing, using the wide variety of toll pass units that we use in our cars or trucks. While this allows us to avoid looking like a toll booth dork and lets us drive past the toll without stopping it can create its own problems to look out for.

I first got an EZ Tag when I lived in Texas a couple of years ago and kept it in my pocket. When I got a letter in the mail that I drove through a toll illegally and my plate was being charged, I realized that the pocket is not a good idea.

I think the problem in Texas as it is in many states is that to activate the radio frequency in the toll unit and wake up your transponder to respond , the pass must be perpendicular to the signal.

The easiest way to totally avoid the aggravation of physically paying the tool or using a toll pass sitting in a pocket, a bag or your pants, is to buy a pass holder for your bike. I now live in California and here we have a similar system and it works wonderfully.

Usually made from a resin shell, the pass case mounts to the handlebars. When you install the holder, it sits at an angle that allows the signal to be read.

Fast, easy, painless and cheap to buy….and you don’t have to pre plan!