Currently, FasTrak transponders are not compatible with E-ZPass and other ETC systems used in other states because they use a different specification than Title 21. If a vehicle does not have a transponder, or if a transponder is not detected at the toll plaza, a violation enforcement system triggers cameras that capture photos of the vehicle and its license plate for processing. If the license plate is registered as belonging to a FasTrak user, the account is debited only the toll charge, and no penalty is charged. Otherwise, a toll violation notice is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle.
In the case of drivers whose vehicles are company owned or leased, as long as the vehicle license plates are properly listed, the violations will be sent to the registered owner and not the employee driver. A toll collected based on a license plate is called an Image Toll and can be identified on the customer statement by noticing the license plate number listed instead of the transponder number. If one fails to correctly list license plates on their account, the FasTrak customer will receive toll violation notices as if they were another driver.
Conversely, a license plate should be removed from an account after a change in ownership, otherwise resulting in paying for another driver's tolls via the Image Toll process. To activate a FasTrak Account, a prepaid toll balance and a $20 refundable toll tag deposit are required. When using a credit card, the initial prepaid minimum toll balance is $25; when using cash, check or money order, the initial prepaid minimum toll balance is $50. Once your account is open and activated, you can monitor it online at
Express lanes in California use electronic toll collection service. The toll rates are displayed overhead on the electronic pricing signs. PlatePass® is an electronic toll payment system that enables renters to use high-speed electronic toll collection lanes and bypass backups at cash lanes.
The PlatePass service also enables rental car customers to avoid costly toll violation fines otherwise incurred if high-speed toll lanes are used without special equipment. PlatePass is offered by participating rental car companies including Hertz throughout the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. If a customer travels on the any of the Bay Area Bridges when driving a Hertz rental car, the renter has the option of using the FasTrak® non-gated fast lanes. Each toll agency in Southern California has their own billing and customer service center.
For convenience, all toll facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area instead share the same billing and customer service center. Each center establishes its own fee and discount structures, and people may be charged a fee if the majority of their FasTrak use occurs elsewhere. Most of the toll plazas in California are being converted into fully electronic ones including the Golden Gate Bridge toll palzas, Orange County toll roads and express lanes.
Cash payment is accepted only at S Bay Expressway toll road of California. You can pay tolls in cash at all the toll bridges in California along with the 17 Mile Drive as well. When the Metro ExpressLanes opened in Los Angeles in late 2012, it introduced FasTrak transponders with a special switch that indicates the number of occupants in the vehicle. For the convenience of their FasTrak customers in the Greater Los Angeles urban area who may also use the Metro ExpressLanes, TCA began offering switchable transponders in 2013, and the 91 Express Lanes followed suit by 2015. The Bay Area FasTrak Customer Center then started to offer switchable transponders, under the name "FasTrak Flex", in summer 2015. In other HOT lane facilities, drivers "declare" that they are a carpool by covering their FasTrak transponder in a mylar bag.
Pay-by-Plate allows users to pay for their trips after using the South Bay Expressway when they couldn't or didn't pay at the time of the trip. For example, if a driver got on the road and then realized he did not have cash or a credit card, he could still drive on the facility, and then use Pay-by-Plate afterward to pay the toll and avoid a fine for toll violation. It is important that if you plan to use the Pay-by-Plate program, travel on the toll road is in the cash/credit lanes and not the full speed FasTrak lanes for pre-paid customers.
License Plate Accounts are an option for drivers who choose to "pay as they go." A License Plate Account uses your license plate number to identify your vehicle and matches it to your account. If the account is linked to a credit card, the toll is charged to the card each time your vehicle crosses a bridge. There is no prepaid balance required and there are no extra fees. A License Plate Account can be opened with a credit card or with cash, check, or money order.
If you open your account with a credit card, the Golden Gate Bridge toll is charged to your credit card each time your vehicle crosses the Bridge. There is no prepaid toll balance required and there are no extra fees. If you open your account using cash, check, or money order, a prepaid toll balance, equivalent to a single toll, is required, and the toll is deducted from the account each time your vehicle crosses the Bridge. Most registration holds will be lifted within one week but may take up to 30 days.
If the violation total was paid by check to South Bay Expressway directly, there is a minimum two-week hold placed on check payments to allow them to clear. We will attempt to remove holds once the two-week hold period has passed and the check payment has cleared. We recommend paying vehicle registration fees on time and registered owners wishing to receive their registration tags at the time of vehicle registration payment may also pay the DMV directly to do so. SANDAG and LGBS will not assume responsibility for any late fees assessed through the DMV for failure to pay vehicle registration fees on time.
If you are a FasTrak customer and will be driving a rental car for any reason, be sure to add the rental car license plate information to your FasTrak account so you don't receive a violation notice. In California, the preferred method to pay tolls is Fastrak toll tag. Some toll roads, bridges and other toll facilities also accept Pay-by-plate , cash, phone or by mail.
There has been a push to strictly use open road tolling, accepting only payments via a FasTrak transponder, a toll-by-plate account, or one-time payments via online or by phone instead of cash. The Golden Gate Bridge began requiring electronic payments for all tolls in March 2013, and all the Orange County toll roads run by TCA likewise did the same in May 2014. A plan to also eliminate toll takers on all seven of the state-owned bridges was approved in 2019. The only toll facility that still accepts cash is the South Bay Expressway in San Diego County, but it uses unstaffed toll booths with cash machines that require exact change. The two-antenna configuration reads a transponder mounted on the vehicle's windshield.
As the vehicle passes through the exit light curtain , it is electronically classified by the treadle based on the number of axles, and the ETC account is charged the proper amount. If the vehicle does not have a transponder, or if a transponder is not detected at the toll plaza, the system classifies it as a violator and cameras take photos of the vehicle and its license plate for processing. Clean Slate was a discounted violation recovery program that permitted individuals with open violations on South Bay Expressway to resolve them for a significantly reduced amount. Once all toll and violation were paid, drivers became eligible to become FasTrak® customers and save up to 80% off cash/credit tolls; license plate registration is required. South Bay Expressway's Pay-by-Plate Terms and Conditions require that customers pay their tolls within four business days of taking the trip on South Bay Expressway.
SBX has a separate toll schedule for Pay-by-Plate tolls that is $2 higher per trip than cash or credit card tolls. It's easy to pay your Pay-by-Plate tolls on our Web site at SBXthe125.com. If you fail to pay the toll, a violation notice will be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle. You can avoid a violation with our new Pay-by-Plate payment option for your South Bay Expressway trips. If you receive a violation, the minimum penalty for nonpayment of a toll is $40 plus the amount of the toll and any applicable fees under California Vehicle Code §4770 and any other applicable law. If a violation occurs, you will be subject to all fees, fines, and penalties as provided by law.
Cameras take a picture of every car's license plate as it drives under a sensor at the toll plaza. If the car has a working FasTrak transponder, it will beep and deduct the toll. If for some reason the sensor doesn't read the transponder — maybe it's buried deep in the glove compartmnet — then the system will match the license plate to the FasTrak account. If there is no FasTrak associated with the plate, the agency sends a paper bill in the mail to the address listed on the car's registration.
Those bills will come monthly and must be paid, similar to a utility bill. We appreciate your business and hope that if you have the opportunity to use the South Bay Expressway in the future, you'll choose to do so. You can pay for your tolls at our automated cash and credit card machines at the time of your trip, or you can take advantage of our Pay-by-Plate program and pay your toll within four business days. When your vehicle goes through the toll plaza, your FasTrak toll tag, when properly mounted on your vehicle, will be read by antennae and the toll tag will beep.
If, for some technical reason, your toll tag does not beep, cameras will capture images of your vehicle license plates. If this license plate is associated with your FasTrak Account, your account will then be charged the appropriate toll. Most states' and many regions' toll agencies have their version of an electronic toll sticker or transponder that may be used to pay your tolls without having to use cash. In most jurisdictions, the use of an electronic transponder will result in lower toll costs, as many agencies discount the toll rates for toll pass users. The discounts can be substantial for regular haulers and commuters, who may need to use a specific road or group of roads on a consistent basis. Pay-by-Plate is intended for occasional users to avoid receiving a violation because they were unable to pay at the time they used the road.
Closing your FasTrak account to solely use our Pay-by-Plate option would cost you more than using your FasTrak account. FasTrak is the easiest, least expensive, and most convenient way to pay tolls on South Bay Expressway, allowing you to bypass tollbooths at full highway speeds. FasTrak customers also receive significantly discounted toll rates. If you use the South Bay Expressway even a few times per month, we suggest you keep your FasTrak account open. If you couldn't or didn't pay at the automated cash or credit card machine, you can avoid receiving a violation with our Pay-by-Plate option for your South Bay Expressway trips. Note that Pay-by-Plate tolls are $2 higher per trip than cash or credit card tolls and must be paid within four business days.
Cash and credit card customers will find the toll amounts printed on the automated cash and credit card machines at the entrances and exits to the South Bay Expressway. Cash and credit card tolls for two-axle vehicles on South Bay Expressway range from $2.00 to $3.50. Vehicles with three or more axles pay two times the two-axle toll rate. The 10-mile express toll road extends from Otay Mesa Road/SR 905 in Otay Mesa near the international border north through eastern Chula Vista to SR 54 in Spring Valley. This connection gives drivers convenient access to Downtown, Sorrento Valley, Santee, I-8, and I-15, as well as Otay Mesa, Mexico, and more.
When you open your FasTrak account at South Bay Expressway with a credit or debit card, the card is charged $40 in prepaid tolls for accounts with up to two transponders. Additional transponders require an additional $20 each in prepaid tolls. When your balance reaches or falls below the minimum account balance, your credit/debit card will be charged a minimum of $40 or $20 per transponder, whichever is greater. For instance, if you have two transponders, your automatic re-bill amount would stay at $40.
For questions specific to your account, please contact Customer Service. If a rental vehicle and/or trailer travel on a toll road, U-Haul will be billed. As the registered owner, U-Haul is obligated to pay the toll company, and will charge the customer as stated in the rental contract addendum.
If the jurisdiction allows the transfer of liability, U-Haul will attempt to transfer it to the customer. Once you sign up for a FasTrak account, you will receive a transponder to attach to your windshield. (See picture to the right.) This transponder will automatically charge the correct toll to your account, based on trip length and traffic in the lanes. When you carpool, remove the transponder from your windshield and place it in the mylar bag provided to prevent being charged the toll. FasTrak is the electronic toll collection system used in the state of California in the United States. The system is used statewide on all of the toll roads, toll bridges, and high-occupancy toll lanes along the California Freeway and Expressway System.
Tolls vary based on your entry and exit point and the number of axles on your vehicle. To quickly and easily determine the toll for trucks and commercial vehicles, or for the cash or credit card toll, use our Toll Calculator on the right side of this Web page. If you fail to pay the required toll, you may receive a violation notice under California Vehicle Code §4770 or another applicable law.
FasTrak is the statewide toll collection system used to pay tolls electronically in California. FasTrak lets customers pay their tolls electronically on the I-15 Express Lanesand South Bay Expresswayin San Diego County, and any toll road, bridge, or express lane in California bearing the FasTrak logo. To use FasTrak, you need an account with a prepaid balance and a toll tag. You deposit money into your FasTrak account and each time you cross a bridge or use an express lane, the toll is deducted from your account balance. Maintaining a FasTrak account is free - when you close your account and return your toll tag, the remaining prepaid balance will be refunded to you. Your tolls are automatically deducted from a prepaid account that can be opened using a credit card or cash.
At the Golden Gate Bridge, FasTrak offers a discounted toll rate and is required for carpools. To learn more about carpools, visit our Carpools & DMV Decals page. With a FasTrak Account, a vehicle-mounted toll tag is read by antennae. If no toll tag is present, cameras are positioned in each toll lane to record images of your front and rear license plates as your vehicle passes through the toll plaza. The toll can be assessed electronically to your License Plate Account or to a One-Time Payment transaction.
If neither has been set up, a Toll Invoice will be issued and sent to the registered owner of the vehicle. There are four easy ways to pay a Golden Gate Bridge toll - a FasTrak Account, License Plate Account, One-Time Payment, and Toll Invoice. Tolls may be paid using credit card, cash, check or money order, and can be paid online, by phone, or in person. There is a $30 administrative fee for tickets and a $1 administrative fee for every toll charge against a contract. If the ticket charge is paid by the customer within seven days, that fee is reduced to $15 as a customer courtesy.
If the customer has not paid within the seven days, and there is a credit card on file, the system will auto-bill the customer at the reduced administrative rate of $15 on the 8th business day. You are responsible for any citation or violation in conjunction with your rental and/or use of the equipment. In general, U-Haul rental trucks are not considered commercial vehicles when used for the occasional transportation of personal property by individuals not for compensation nor in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise. However, some jurisdictions may define vehicles as commercial based solely on the weight or type of vehicle, not just its use. You are responsible for paying attention to road signs pertaining to trucks such as weigh station stops, truck, lane or bridge restrictions and overhead clearance postings. For first-time users, the $57.50 penalty is waved if you pay the toll within 30 days of receiving the first mailed penalty notice, FasTrak spokeswoman Sarah King said.
If you don't respond to your first violation notice, a second violation notice will be mailed with an additional $42.50 penalty. If you ignore the second notice, the California Department of Motor Vehicles could place a hold on the vehicle's registration. BATA estimates that 8% of bridge crossers will end up in the violation or DMV registration hold category. One thing people often don't know, Rentschler said, is that it's possible to get a prepaid FasTrak transponder that doesn't require a credit card.
They sell them at BATA headquarters in downtown San Francisco and by mail with a check. Additionally, you can sign up for Uproad after you take a toll road, but within the typical time frame required to pay the fee. For example, if you have 5 days to pay, you could sign up for Uproad on day 2 after you take the toll and it is expected to handle the payment for you before the deadline. Under California law, the California Department of Transportation was given the mandate to develop and maintain an open, statewide ETC specification.
