The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) has announced there will be no cash collections during the COVID-19 outbreak. Cash customers should simply drive through and pay via the "Missed Toll" option.
Texas' prepaid toll program is called TxTag. The TxTag is compatible with all toll roads in Texas. TxTag may also be used on Kansas toll roads, as part of the Central U.S. Interoperability agreements between Texas and Kansas.
As of May 2019, TxTag is compatible with Oklahoma toll roads, or PikePass.
The Harris County Toll Road Authority is a regional toll system that operates in the Houston metropolitan area, and it issues what is called an EZ Tag transponder. EZ Tag is compatible with any TxTag toll lane, and it is compatible with most larger regional transporation authorities, including the North Texas Tollway Authority in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area.
The EZ Tag may be used on all Texas toll roads and on the Kansas Turnpike in Kansas. As of May 2019, it is also compatible with Oklahoma toll roads, or PikePass.
The North Texas Tollway Authority serves primarily the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, and the NTTA issues a transponder called the TollTag.
If you have an NTTA TollTag, you may drive Oklahoma's turnpikes and the Kansas Turnpike.
The following lists show which passes are accepted on this state's toll roads.
NEED TOLL CALCULATORS?Use our toll calculators to learn how much your trip will cost. Calculate tolls for cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, RVs, commercial vehicles and tractor-trailers.
Texas vehicle classes and definitions are shown, along with information to pay missed tolls.
Orders for Texas are handled by the TxDOT Toll Operations Division. Order links will take you to the Texas TxTag website.
Customer service: 888-468-9824
Direct URL: https://www.txtag.org
The TxTag Personal Prepaid account is for personal, non-commercial users who have privately-owned cars, trucks, motorcycles or the like. The TxTag accounts have a limit of five (5) transponders, whether portable or sticker-type transponders. There is a deposit required for portable transponders, but not for the sticker.
Once you acquire your first TxTag, your account will require a minimum of $20 in tolls to cover your first trips.
The TxTag Commercial Prepaid account is for commercial business or companies. This account must be used if you have a vehicle with three (3) or more axles, or if you plan to have six (6) or more transponders on your account.
Accounts of this type require a form to be prepared in advance of opening the account. Once the form is completed, you may send it via FAX or mail it.
When you have completed the TxTag application form, you may mail it to the following address:
TxTag CSC
12719 Burnet Road
Austin TX 78727
To FAX your application, send to 214-210-0492.
Please see the map sections below for an easy-to-understand reference to toll pass interoperability. You may download these reference materials as well.
Regional pass compatibility has become quite common, particularly across the New England states to the Midwest and through the Mid-Atlantic. Additionally, two other large, regional networks dominate the Southern Plains and the Deep South.
To make certain your toll pass is compatible with other states' tolling systems, see the reference sections below for detail and maps.
Although toll interoperability was mandated by Congress in 2012, not all states' transponders are yet compatible. Read more about toll compatibility issues in our news section.
The E-ZPass system is the largest interoperable toll collection and payment system in the United States.
States connected to the E-ZPass system include Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia. Additionally, portions of Florida are also compatible with E-ZPass.
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The Sun Pass is used primarily on state and local toll roads in Florida. It is compatible with Georgia's PeachPass system, and can also be used in North Carolina. It is also compatible with Orlando's E-Pass. Sun Pass is not compatible with E-ZPass.
However, E-ZPass may be used on some Orlando toll roads, where the E-Pass is accepted. It may not be used on other Florida toll roads outside the Orlando area.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) has published a map detailing the specific portions of roads where E-ZPass is accepted in the Orlando-metro area.
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TxTag is the statewide pass used across the state of Texas, and it is nearly compatible with all local and state-operated toll roads. There are two other major regional systems: the TollPass from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the TollTag from the Houston area. Both systems are now compatible across the state of Texas.
Additionally, all passes from Texas may now be used in Oklahoma and Kansas, and vice versa. The Kansas K-Tag and the Oklahoma PikePass are also compatible across this tri-state region of the Southern Plains.
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FasTrak is California's statewide electronic toll system. It is not compatible with systems outside California.
There are other toll systems in states that operate toll roads, tunnels and/or bridges. These include Colorado's ExpressToll and Go Pass!, the Good To Go pass in Washington State, as well as various bridge passes and cards that are used at international crossings between the United States and Canada.
Toll passes are generally issued in three types of transponders: An RFID (radio-frequency identification) sticker, a portable transponder, and a bar or stick transponder designed to attach above or below the front license plate.
All devices have an identification number, which is stored on the circuitry of the device, along with other basic information about the transponder. The unit's ID number corresponds to a database in state records that contains your user account and vehicle information.
The most common type of toll pass is a sticker that gets affixed to your windshield. The sticker transponder utilizes RFID technology printed on a flexible circuit.
Stickers have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive, as well as easy to use. They are also disposable.
The nature of the circuitry in a sticker means it can only transmit data via your vehicle's GLASS windshield, which acts as a dialectric antenna for the sticker. Sticker transponders can not be used on vehicles that do not have a glass windshield, such as motorcycles.
Additionally, once a sticker is removed from your windshield, you must discard it, making sure to deactivate or unassign the unit from your vehicle. Stickers can NOT be moved from one vehicle to another.
Portable transponders come in a variety of shapes, most commonly an oblong box or smaller, rectangular box. These types of transponders make use of suction cups to affix to your window.
Portable transponders will have varied features, depending upon which agency issues the unit. Common features include audible alerts when going through toll plazas or a gantry, as well as alerts when account balances are low. Some transponders also have switches to select passenger counts, often used to determine rates on tolled express lanes, as well as to offer carpool discounts on toll roads and bridges. Some units may also include notification lights or LED's (light-emitting diodes).
Portable transponders cost more to purchase, and some agencies require a you keep a higher balance on your account when you register a portable unit. However, the advantage with the portable transponder is you can move it from one vehicle to another.
The third type or transponder is designed for large commercial trucks and tractor-trailers, and this type attaches to the front license plate or to the roof of the vehicle. This type is, as the name implies, an attachment to your license-plate frame, using the bolts that already are used to hold the plate, itself.
Roof attachments require a mounting plate that uses a special foam tape, to which the transponder is then attached.
Large vehicles, specifically tractor-trailers, and some vehicles with certain options or metal-oxide windows, must make use of an exterior transponder unit that affixes either to the license plate frame or vehicle roof. If the license plate option is unviable, then a roof-mounted transponder can be utilized.
Many of today's luxury and higher-end cars use metal oxides in their windshields, and that diminishes the signals from regular transponders. In such cases, special mounting instructions must be followed, or an exterior transponder must be used.
The state of California's Deparment of Transportation (CalTrans) has published a comprehensive and ever-expanding list of vehicles with metal-oxides that can interfere with your window-mounted transponder.
View the CalTrans metal-oxide list to see whether your vehicle is shown, and if so, you will want to consider a license-plate transponder option.
The placement of your toll pass is critical to making certain your unit and the information stored thereon can be properly read by electronic tolling equipment. All agencies have a preferred location, adjacent to your windshield's rear-view mirror, about one to one-and-a-half inches (three to five centimeters) from the top of the windshield, and about one to two inches (three to five centimeters) to the left or right of the rear-view mirror. See the illustration for reference.
IMPORTANT! Do not place the sticker or transponder in a location that will block the view of the driver or impede your ability to operate your vehicle!
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