I will be in Austin and Houston at the end of this week. I saw while planning my route that I will have to take toll roads to get to my destinations. However, toll roads are a very very foreign concept to me. I'm use to FREE roads, however, bad and under maintained.
So how does a out of stater navigate the toll roads since most of them are "cashless"? Do I just need to avoid them at all costs?
I will be in Austin for two days. I'm staying in Cedar Park for a concert, but my girlfriend wants to go bar hopping at night.
I will only be in Houston for a grand total of 30 mins. As I have a Global Entry interview with DHS.
So any locals have any tips on navigating your state?
The ones in Austin will send you a bill to the registered address of the license plate. If thats a rental car, that comes back to you eventually. You can get just about anywhere in Austin without being forced to use the tollway, but I35 can be pretty oppressive during rush hour. Dont plan on speeding, APD enforces and patrols the freeway pretty well.
The ones in Houston area are run by the county, not the state (like in Austin).. and Counties are prohibited by state law to extend credit... so.. if you dont pay, or go through a cashless toll plaza, you will get a mailed violation notice for the dollar toll or so, and every 3 or so violations earns its own $15 dollar fine. In Houston, if unfamiliar, the best recourse is to avoid them altogether.
That being said, if you keep some coin with you, the only toll roads to avoid are:
Hardy extension from IAH to Hardy Toll Road - its maybe a mile in length
Westpark Toll -entire length, cant think of any reason you'd use it.
North Sam Houston parkway East of US 59/I69 east to US 90 (there are free 3 lane access roads all the way around)
Fort bend Tollway south of the South Sam Houston Parkway. Cant think of any reason you'd use it.
The rest have toll booths of some sort, that even if unattended will take coins.
The toll roads that exist in Houston are the aforementioned Hardy, Westpark, Fort bend and then the outer beltway called the Sam Houston parkway/Tollway. There are free feeder/access roads the entire circumference of the Sam Houston except where it crosses the ship channel. There is also a few sections of the outer outer loop called the Grand parkway, and I cant think of any reason to use those either.
Average speed in Houston is 10-15+ the posted freeway speed, with minimal enforcement. May the odds ever be in your favor.
PM me if you need specific answers to specific questions involving Houston.