Editing Toll road (section)

==Collection methods==
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{{see also|Tollbooth|Toll house|Electronic toll collection}}

[[File:Balintawak Toll Barrier.jpg|right|thumb|Balintawak toll plaza of the [[North Luzon Expressway]] in [[Caloocan]], [[Philippines]]. The toll barrier has both electronic toll collection and cash payment in the same barrier, before a new toll plaza was added.]]
[[File:Electronic Toll Equipment in Ontario.jpg|thumb|Overhead cameras and reader attached to a gantry on [[Ontario Highway 407|Highway 407]] in [[Ontario]]]]
Traditionally, tolls were paid by hand at a toll gate. Although payments may still be made in cash, it is more common now to pay using an [[electronic toll collection]] system. In some places, payment is made using [[transponder]]s which are affixed to the windscreen.

Three systems of toll roads exist: ''open'' (with [[Barrier toll system|mainline barrier toll plazas]]); ''closed'' (with entry/exit tolls); and ''open road'' (no toll booths, only electronic toll collection gantries at entrances and exits or at strategic locations on the median of the road). Some toll roads use a combination of the three systems.

On an open toll system, all vehicles stop at various locations along the highway to pay a toll. (This is different from "open road tolling", where ''no'' vehicles stop to pay a toll.)  While this may save money from the lack of need to construct toll booths at every exit, it can cause traffic congestion while traffic queues at the mainline toll plazas (toll barriers). It is also possible for motorists to enter an 'open toll road' after one toll barrier and exit before the next one, thus travelling on the toll road toll-free. Most open toll roads have ramp tolls or partial access junctions to prevent this practice, known in the U.S. as "[[shunpiking]]".

With a closed toll system, vehicles collect a [[Ticket system|ticket]] when entering the highway. In some cases, the ticket displays the toll to be paid on exit. Upon exit, the driver must pay the amount listed for the given exit. Should the ticket be lost, a driver must typically pay the maximum amount possible for travel on that highway. Short toll roads with no intermediate entries or exits may have only one toll plaza at one end, with motorists travelling in either direction paying a flat fee either when they enter or when they exit the toll road. In a variant of the closed toll system, mainline barriers are present at the two endpoints of the toll road, and each interchange has a ramp toll that is paid upon exit or entry. In this case, a motorist pays a flat fee at the ramp toll and another flat fee at the end of the toll road; no ticket is necessary. In addition, with most systems, motorists may pay tolls only with cash or change; debit and credit cards are not accepted. However, some toll roads may have travel plazas with ATMs so motorists can stop and withdraw cash for the tolls.

The toll is calculated by the distance travelled on the toll road or the specific exit chosen. In the United States, for instance, the [[New Jersey Turnpike]] and most of the [[Ohio Turnpike]] and [[Indiana Toll Road]] currently implement closed systems. The [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]], [[Massachusetts Turnpike]], [[Florida's Turnpike]], [[Kansas Turnpike]], and [[New York State Thruway]] are toll roads that used to feature closed toll systems, but have been converted to [[open road tolling]] in recent years.

The Union Toll Plaza on the [[Garden State Parkway]] was the first ever to use an automated toll collection machine. A plaque commemorating the event includes the first quarter collected at its toll booths.<ref>{{cite web | title = Union Watersphere | publisher = lostinjersey.wordpress.com | date = March 19, 2009 | url = http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/the-union-watersphere/ | access-date = February 23, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130829085826/http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/the-union-watersphere/ | archive-date = August 29, 2013 }}</ref>

The first major deployment of an [[RFID]] [[electronic toll collection]] system in the United States was on the [[Dallas North Tollway]] in 1989 by [[Amtech]] (see [[TollTag]]). The Amtech RFID technology used on the Dallas North Tollway was originally developed at Sandia Labs for use in tagging and tracking livestock. In the same year, the [[Telepass]] active transponder RFID system was introduced across Italy. Several US states now use [[US Mobile Tolling Platforms|mobile tolling platforms]] to facilitate use of payment via smartphones.

[[Ontario Highway 407|Highway 407]] in the province of [[Ontario]], Canada, has no toll booths, and instead reads a transponder mounted on the windshields of each vehicle using the road (the rear licence plates of vehicles lacking a transponder are photographed when they enter and exit the highway). This made the highway the first all-automated toll highway in the world. A bill is mailed monthly for usage of the 407. Lower charges are levied on frequent 407 users who carry electronic transponders in their vehicles. The approach has not been without controversy: In 2003 the 407 ETR settled<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.407etr.com/documents/news/ni03-07-03.pdf |title= 407ETR.com |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100101044301/http://407etr.com/documents/news/ni03-07-03.pdf |archive-date= January 1, 2010 }}</ref> a class action with a refund to users.

Throughout most of the East Coast of the United States, [[E-ZPass]] (operated under the brand [[I-Pass]] in [[Illinois]]) is accepted on almost all toll roads. Similar systems include [[SunPass]] in [[Florida]], [[FasTrak]] in [[California]], [[Good to Go (toll collection system)|Good to Go]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]], and [[E-470|ExpressToll]] in [[Colorado]]. The systems use a small radio [[transponder]] mounted in or on a customer's vehicle to deduct toll fares from a pre-paid account as the vehicle passes through the toll barrier. This reduces manpower at toll booths and increases traffic flow and fuel efficiency by reducing the need for complete stops to pay tolls at these locations.

By designing a toll gate specifically for electronic collection, it is possible to carry out open-road tolling, where the customer does not need to slow at all when passing through the toll gate. The U.S. state of [[Texas]] is using a system that has no toll booths. Drivers without a TollTag have their license plate photographed automatically and the registered owner will receive a monthly bill, at a higher rate than those vehicles with TollTags. A similar variation of automatic collection is the Toll Roads in Orange County, CA, US, wherein all entry or collection points are equipped with high-speed cameras which read license plates and users will have 7 calendar days to pay online using their plate number or else set up an account for automatic debits.

The first all-electronic toll road in the northeastern United States, the InterCounty Connector ([[Maryland Route 200]]) was partially opened to traffic in February 2011,<ref name=sun>{{cite web| title =First phase of ICC to open Feb. 22| work =Baltimore Sun| author =Michael Dresser| date =February 7, 2011| url =http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/2011/02/fiirst_phase_of_icc_to_open_fe.html| access-date =February 7, 2011| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110210063121/http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/2011/02/fiirst_phase_of_icc_to_open_fe.html| archive-date =February 10, 2011}}</ref> and the final segment was completed in November 2014.<ref>{{cite web| title =Final section of ICC to Laurel, new I-95 interchange to open this weekend| work =Baltimore Sun| author =Kevin Rector| date =November 5, 2014| url =http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-icc-opening-20141105-story.html| access-date =June 19, 2015| url-status =live| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150626170331/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-icc-opening-20141105-story.html| archive-date =June 26, 2015}}</ref>  The first section of another all-electronic toll road, the [[Triangle Expressway]], opened at the beginning of 2012 in North Carolina.<ref>{{cite news|title=Drivers roll on state's first toll road|url=http://www.wral.com/traffic/story/10554492/|access-date=April 7, 2012|newspaper=WRAL.com|date=January 31, 2012}}</ref>